What is real in social gaming?

In a recent editorial in the New York Times, a reader laments that 60 million people playing Farmville might better spend their time getting out and growing some actual plants.

I actually agree with the dismay of the author that so many people would spend both money and time investing in Farmville. It can be argued in defense of Farmville that people enjoy playing games and as such it stands on the merit of entertainment. However, I would argue that Farmville offers poor value as social entertainment and to this point I should draw some very important distinctions between Farmville and social networks such as Facebook or Real Life Plus, a social network I am currently building.

The first point is that Farmville is not truly socially interactive. Players build and optimize their farms in a bubble without any real time interaction with friends. The sole purpose of roping in your friends is to increase your farm efficiency through networking, not meaningful socializing. The mechanic exists for marketing purposes and it is very good at sucking in new players. Social networks like Real Life Plus want to facilitate genuine, lasting friendships through chat, sharing and interactive social play.

The second point is that Farmville is completely endogenous. No value is created from Farmville that exists beyond the scope of the game. Social games ought to build an online community by building a space in which users can play, explore and chat in real time. Real Life Plus creates meaningful value that is tied into the real world through our Personal Assistant who will suggest movies, books and activities the user might like based on their personalities. After you have your adventures, we encourage users to share their experiences with friends online.  In the end, both Farmville and RLP will teach players basic skills in economics, but players at RLP will have additionally built meaningful friendships.

Online social spaces are now the norm for the new generation. You can't separate online socialization from reality - it is part of our society in every sense that cell phones and e-mail are part of our society. The lack of a cell phone or e-mail is considered a huge social handicap. Ultimately, I believe games like Farmville will fall in and out of fashion, but social networks like Facebook and RLP will have a lasting presence because they have the social glue of true friendships to sustain them. I can't wait to look backwards ten years from now to see where things went.