Is Social Gaming a Healthy Recreational Activity?
While the World Wide Web has long being accepted as a broad and diverse informational resource, it is now beginning to challenge the conventional concepts of communication and interaction. A key aspect of this is social gaming, which is an expanding feature of networking sites and media outlets, and offers subscribers the chance to experience role playing games while interacting with fellow users. As it continue to grow at a rapid pace, there are issues concerning its consequence as a recreational activity.
Facebook are the most prolific source of social network games, with titles such as FarmVille and CityVille extremely popular amongst users. Statistics suggest that out of the estimated 500,000,000 subscribers who utilize facebook as a daily resource, approximately 68 million of them will be playing at least one game a week by the end of 2011. This, in addition to the increasing number of designers who are producing games within the media, is showing a clear trend in where social networking sites are set to direct their efforts in the next 12 months.
The Changing Face of Social Networking
This trend is a statement of how social media as progressed since its inception, and also mirrors the changing landscape of the internet as a whole. Social networking sites such as Facebook were conceived with largely simple goals, in order to connect people and make it viable to interact through an alternative and cost effective methodology. However, as Facebook in particular has grown to be the most visited and influential website in 2010, its core purpose and aspirations has changed to suit this demand.