Social networking sites have contributed to the creation of more opportunities to stay in contact with friends and, more importantly, to make money. Dr. Mark Griffiths, Professor at Nottingham Trent University, discusses how the development of social networking platforms has also impacted gaming opportunities

Griffiths, MD

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world online gambling may 2010(typically young girls) create ‘Fluff ’art. To do this they have to earn‘munny’ - a type of virtual moneyearned through pet racing. Petracing costs 1 point per race andwinnings can be up to 4,000points. Clearly, there is no moneychanging hands but young childrenare learning the mechanics ofgambling and there are seriousquestions about whether gamblingwith virtual money encouragespositive attitudes towards gamblingin young people. For instance, doesgambling with virtual money leadto an increased prevalence ofactual gambling?Social gaming on the internet isbig business and not just thedomain of the young. Profits haveincreased from $600 million in2008 to a projected $1.6 billion in2010, with a prediction that itcould reach $4 billion by 20134. Atpresent, one of the most popularonline games on the socialnetworking site Facebook isFarmville5. Farmville is a real-timemarket-based farm simulation inwhich players have the task tomanage a virtual farm by planting,growing and harvesting crops, treesand livestock. Farm-simulationgames are not new and farm-basedsimulation games like HarvestMoon have been around since1996. Players earn points forcultivating crops and rearinganimals depending on howsuccessful they are6.On signing up to the game, allplayers are given virtual money (inthe form of virtual coins) to buildtheir farm. Selling the harvestedcrops brings in extra revenue thatcan be used to help maintain thefarm. To speed the game up and toprogress more quickly, players canuse real money to purchase virtualseeds, tools, and equipment to helptend their virtual crops7.Farmville has a number ofcompetitive elements. Not only doplayers compete with each otherfor the best farm, but players alsotry to earn money by helping thefarm's upkeep. However, like a lotof other online games, Farmvillealso has a cooperative componentas it is possible to help otherplayers on their farms by wateringtheir plants and feeding theiranimals. Players can also earnvirtual money from ‘experiencepoints’, making the game acombination of real life simulationand a role-playing game. Thisactivity shares many similaritieswith the Tamagotchi craze wherechildren looked after virtual petsand often developed an emotionalattachment to them8.The rise of Farmville has beenrapid. Since starting as a gameapplication on Facebook in June2009, it has established itself as oneof the world's most played gameswith 82 million users. Recentreports claim that more peopleplay Farmville than use Twitter. Aswell as being a guilty pleasure,some of the more sensationalistnews coverage talks about themany downsides of Farmville.Some employers have claimed it asan issue that can affect workplaceproductivity. For instance, onecompany in Chicago installedsoftware to track employee internetusage and found that 8% of theirstaff members were playingFarmville at work. There was also arecent case of a local Bulgarianpolitician losing his job after beingcaught milking a virtual cow on hislaptop during an importantcommittee meeting. There are alsogrowing complaints by non-playing Facebook users about theconstant promotion of the gamevia updates, encouraging players topost messages about Farmville intheir profiles.Others have written first personaccounts of their own addiction toFarmville9, and there are alsointernet sites - such as the ‘My LifeIs Farmville’ website - that areSOCIAL NETWORKING12The online social networkingphenomenon has spread rapidly inthe UK, and playing games viasocial networking sites likeFacebook and Bebo has becomevery popular1. Despite the fact thatthe minimum age for most majorsocial networking sites is usually 13or 14 years, just over a quarter ofeight to 11 year olds have a profileon a social networking site2. Someresearch has noted that content-generated risks from this newleisure activity have not beeninvestigated in any detail, yetyoung people using these sites areable to gain access to gaming andgambling-like games.It has been claimed that thepotential of social networking sitesto normalise gambling behaviouras part of the consumptionpatterns of a non-gambling leisureactivity may change socialunderstandings of the role ofgambling among young people3.According to pilot research, therewere 25 poker applications onBebo (and over 500 separate pokergroups), and over 100 pokerapplications on Facebook (andover 1,000 separate poker groups).These poker sites featured somewith real prizes, some with cash-play options - and all easilydownloadable by those under 18 -along with many free trial games.A type of pseudo-gamblingamong ‘Fluff Friends’ has over100,000 active users per month. Inthis social networking forum, usersGaming in social networkingsites: a growing concern?Social networking sites havecontributed to the creation of moreopportunities to stay in contact withfriends and, more importantly, tomake money. Dr. Mark Griffiths,Professor at Nottingham TrentUniversity, discusses how thedevelopment of social networkingplatforms has also impactedgaming opportunities.dedicated to people talking abouttheir excessive use of Farmville,positively and negatively. At theextreme end of the playingspectrum, a recent January 2010television programme featured thecase of a ‘Farmville obsessed’mother who neglected her childrento play the game10. Although noresearch has been carried out onFarmville, it appears to be the senseof reward that keeps peopleplaying. Farmville could bedescribed as virtual Lego, buildingsomething from scratch, and seeingit grow, gives players a sense ofaccomplishment and apsychologically rewardingexperience.On the face of it, Farmvilleappears to be fairly innocuous butthere are similarities between theplaying of the game and gambling.In March 2010, the British pressreported the case of a 12 year oldboy who spent £625 on hismother's credit card and £288 ofhis own savings playing Farmvillewithout his parents’ knowledge11.The mother tried to get a refundfrom her credit card company.However, they advised her that shecould only get one if she reportedher son to the police and obtaineda crime number. The family wasforced to pay the money as the 12year old boy lived at his parents'house. Facebook has since disabledthe boy's account, and thecompany who created the game -Zynga - simply advised the boy'sparents to use password protectionon house computers in the future.The mother has admitted that herson was at fault but claims that themain stakeholders (Facebook,Zynga and her credit cardcompany HSBC) should take someresponsibility in situations likethese, and implement systems tostop incidents like this happeningagain, such as more thorough ageverification procedures. Othercritics argue that games likeFarmville should not be‘monetised’ to raise additionalrevenue for the game's owners andoperators. Interestingly, the creditcard company said that if the cardhad been used on an internetgambling site, the company wouldhave investigated the incident as anexample of unusual usage.However, in this case, purchasing£625 of Facebook credits withintwo weeks was not viewed as anexample of unusual usage.This article has attempted tohighlight some new types ofgaming and gambling-likeexperiences that people of all agesare now being exposed to andraises various moral, ethical, legaland social issues. Given that mostof the issues highlighted here aresomewhat anecdotal, moreempirical research is needed inthese new online activities as thelines between social gaming, non-financial forms of gaming, andgambling are beginning to blur.Dr Mark D. Griffiths ProfessorInternational Gaming Research UnitNottingham Trent Universitymark.griffiths@ntu.ac.uk1. See Griffiths, M.D., King, D.L. &Delfabbro, P.H. (2009), ‘Adolescentgambling-like experiences: Are they acause for concern’.2. See Office of Communications (2008),‘Social Networking: A quantitative andqualitative research report into attitudes,behaviours and use’, atwww.ofcom.org.uk.3. See Downs, C. (2008, September),‘The Facebook Phenomenon: socialnetworking and gambling’, Paperpresented at the Gambling and SocialResponsibility Forum Conference,Manchester Metropolitan University,Manchester.4. Red Orbit (2010), ‘Farmville leads tosocial gaming revolution’ (25 March) atwww.redorbit.com/news/scifi-gaming/1841765/farmville_leads_social_gaming_revolution/5. See Bolton, S. (2010), ‘FarmVille agrowing social network trend’, TheExpositor at www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=24898746. Vaidyanathan, R. (2010), ‘Down on theFarmville’, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8585999.stm7. See, among others, Dawson, D.B.(2010), ‘FarmVille game infecting cubicleemployees across the world, employerstake notice’, The Examiner atwww.examiner.com/x-3040-Life-in-the-Cubicle-Examiner%7Ey2010m3d22-FarmVille-game-infecting-cubicle-employees-across-the-world-employers-take-notice8. Griffiths, M.D. (1997), ‘Are virtual petsmore demanding than the real thing?’,Education and Health, 15, 37-38.9. Appleby, L. (2010), ‘Farmville addictsanonymous’, at www.stuff.co.nz/technology/blogs/connector/3371258/Farmville-addicts-anonymous10. Warmoth, B. (2010), ‘Dr. Phildiagnoses Farmville addiction’, athttp://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/01/25/dr-phil-diagnoses-farmville-addiction/11. Insley, J. (2010), ‘Farmville user runsup £900 debt’, The Guardian, atwww.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/apr/07/farmville-user-debt-facebookworld online gambling may 2010 13SOCIAL NETWORKINGClearly, thereis no moneychanginghands butyoungchildren arelearning themechanics ofgambling andthere areseriousquestionsaboutwhethergamblingwith virtualmoneyencouragespositiveattitudestowardsgambling inyoung people

Adolescent gambling-like experiences: Are they a cause for concern’.

Are virtual pets more demanding than the real thing?’,

Dr. Phil diagnoses Farmville addiction’, at http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/01/

Farmville addicts anonymous’, at www.stuff.co.nz/ technology/blogs/connector/3371258/Fa rmville-addicts-anonymous

Farmville user runs up £900 debt’, The Guardian,

Office of Communications (2008), ‘Social Networking: A quantitative and qualitative research report into attitudes, behaviours and use’, at www.ofcom.org.uk.

September), ‘The Facebook Phenomenon: social networking and gambling’, Paper presented at the Gambling and Social

Gaming in social networking sites: a growing concern?

Gaming in social networking sites: a growing concern?

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