Online Networking Sites or Popularity Contests?
Rachel Rosmarin at Forbes asks whether online social networking is basically a Popularity Contest for teenagers.
xuqa.com relaunched in August as a social-networking-site-cum-contest, where users compete for popularity points by accumulating virtual kisses and hugs, winning poker games, spending.
Overall, the number of social networks evolving into games is on the rise. “Any site with a digital incentive system–like currency, avatars and control over the environment–is a game,” says Moiz.
This raises some questions:
- What about adults?
- Will people far down on the list be “losers” and quit using the site?
- How does this relate to Game Theory?