You’ve got game: Social media analytics in a game

03/23/2011 By Scott Wendling 25 Comments

If 2010 was the year of the location game, 2011 is the year of full blown social gaming. Social gaming is simply a social network that has the ability to “win”, whether it’s simply earning rewards or beating your friends. Foursquare and other location games helped introduce us to this concept but this year social gaming is moving well beyond “checking in.”

I present Empire Avenue. Empire avenue is essentially a basic stock trading game but it stands out by making you the stock, and so anyone else that plays the game.

Your stock price is based on activity in your social networks. Facebook, Twitter, Facebook pages, YouTube, Flickr, your blogs, and last but not least: Empire avenue itself. That’s correct, Empire Avenue is a game based on your social networks, and is a social network itself. The first day I joined I met someone that lived not far from me. He promoted my account and got me into Team Zen which is an active community on EA. I had a noticeable bump in blog traffic and people started actually following my YouTube channel.

The more activity you do on your social networks the larger your stock dividend payouts are. Dividends go to your share holders so the larger your dividend the more people will buy you. The more people that buy you the more your stock price goes up, just like real life stock!

As you earn more ea (the currency in Empire Avenue) you have the option to buy upgrades that allow you to purchase more stock in people, join more communities, or advertise yourself. These upgrades can also be purchased outright with cash. What makes this setup awesome is that you can play the entire game with EA’s. Most games like this tend to put a curtain over cool things to entice you to pay $ for it but Empire Avenue gives you the opportunity to enjoy everything without putting a single $ into it.

At first it seemed like a fun gimicky concept that would keep me entertained for a week. But then I realized something: I had a burning desire to increase my stock price. I looked at the scores for each of my networks and focused on what I needed to do.

My Twitter score was the highest of the bunch so I continued to do what I do there. My Facebook score was lower than I thought it would be so I knew I needed to pick up slack there. Since then I have increased my Facebook score to be larger than my Twitter score. I also started uploading vids to YouTube and pics to Flickr for that little extra oomph. I found I am more dedicated to blogging because it has a significant impact on dividends, and a good post can reverberate into your other networks.

So what I started with is a fun game that depends on actual people. What I ended with is a light weight social media analytics service, with a built in social network, that also has a fun element to help push me along. I definitely recommend giving Empire Avenue a shot. What’s your social media stock worth?

Filed Under: Digital Tools, Empire Avenue, facebook, Other Social Networks, Social Media, Twitter Tagged With: blogs, facebook, social gaming, social media gaming, social media stock, stock, twitter, YouTube

Keep Ya Head Up, Myspace

07/15/2010 By Colby 1 Comment

I know it’s easy to forget about Myspace. After all, the former third grade Spelling Bee star is now a high school junior water-boy while Facebook is the All-State QB.

But Myspace’s 57 million unique U.S. users – 27% of the U.S. Internet population – are nothing to scoff at. As recently as December 2009, Myspace was the second most popular social networking site in the U.S. Although Facebook is a dominant first, Myspace has second place on lockdown for the foreseeable future.

Myspace still holds attention

The average Myspace user visits the site 14 times per day (Dec 09) and spends an average of just over 8 minutes on the site per visit. I’m no math whiz, but that’s nearly 2 hours a day spent on Myspace. Sure, it’s not Facebook, but it’s 2 hours that your brand could be interacting with.

Myspace is younger

In December 2009, 44.4% of Myspace users were 24 and under, up from 37% in December 2008. In contrast, 26.8% of Facebook users were 24 and under in December 2009, down from 32.3% in December 2008.

Myspace found a niche

Despite Facebook kicking their asses in overall numbers, a rededication to Myspace Music led to a 98% growth in that area, according to Comscore. Personally, I know a lot of my friends in the music industry, some as struggling musicians and some as marketers, rely heavily on Myspace for band promotion. Often times, it’s a small-time band’s main website.

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What does this mean?

1. Myspace holds powerful segments

I grew up an active member in the local music scene, and this continued until a year or so ago. If there’s one thing I can say with certainty, it’s that local bands have influence. Lots of it. A friend of mine from high school, who also happens to be the front man for a local group, once said to me, “I’m not sure if it’s pathetic or awesome that when I say, “JUMP!”, they jump. But I know it’s pretty damn cool.”

2. Music is passion

Anyone who has ever played an instrument knows where I’m going here. Sadly, I had to sell my drumset before college, but I still get the shivers every time I sit on a throne. Musical artists, and their fans, are often deeply passionate people. Music is just one output of this passion. Find a way to tap into that passionate nerve, and you will have some very strong brand advocates.

3. Mix it up

Old Spice just mixed it up by personally answering tweets through Youtube videos. They took a television advertising campaign and made it social by using Twitter, Youtube and Reddit. They mixed it up and stood out because they did. How can you use Myspace to mix it up?

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Is Myspace right for everyone? No, but neither is Facebook. Just because the mainstream declares something as “dead” doesn’t mean you should forget about.

Tupac’s been dead for years and is still putting out better albums than Justin Bieber.