Empire Avenue – So much more than just a game
When most people think of social media, they think of Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. To a lesser extent they may also think of Digg and StumbleUpon. One of the ‘newer’ social networking sites that I have been playing around with for the last few weeks is Empire Avenue.
Empire Avenue at it’s very simplest is (to quote Wikipedia) a ‘stock market simulation social network game’. In other words, you buy and sell shares in other users to increase your own share price, wealth and overall influence. However after a couple of hours searching the site, joining communities and interacting with other users, you begin to realise that Empire Avenue is so much more than a game, in fact I wouldn’t describe it as a game at all.
Empire Avenue hasn’t really taken off in the UK yet in the same way that it has in the States, but it will, and I think it will in a big way. Some major brands are already using Empire Avenue to increase their online presence, just a few examples of companies using Empire Avenue are BMW, Nokia, XBox and Betfair.
Signing up is as easy as connecting your Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter accounts – or you can add all 3 plus your YouTube and Flickr accounts, the more you add the better. You can even add your blog feeds too. The more you add to your social media account, the quicker your ‘Empire’ will grow. All of your Tweets, FB updates and blog posts are visible for anybody on Empire Avenue to see – increasing the overall ‘reach’ of your social media efforts and thus increasing your overall value and share price. The higher your value, the more shareholders and recommendations you are likely to receive, increasing your social media reach even more.
It’s also encouraging me to be more socially active, communicating with more people and sharing more valuable content, but not in a ‘spammy’ way. Empire Avenue rewards social media activity, but not just by quantity but more importantly by quality. You can send out tweet after tweet, or update your Facebook status every 5 minutes, but if people aren’t retweeting, mentioning you, liking or commenting on your status, then you won’t see your share price increase as much as someone who is providing ‘valuable content’. As I mentioned above, the higher your share price, the more people will notice you and invest in you, increasing your overall influence.
The main benefit of Empire Avenue for me has been that it has connected me to people that I would never have normally come into contact with via Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. People such as David Cable who has some really interesting ideas on Seo and Social Media, and Marketing Managers such as James Parton who is involved with some really exciting mobile app work with O2.
Empire Avenue has provided me with a good few benefits already on both a professional level and a personal level. I’m making some good connections but at the same time I’m sharing with people with similar interests to my own.
If you’re using Empire Avenue, it would be good to hear any success stories, or indeed answer any questions, in the comments below.
If you’re not using Empire Avenue yet, I’d suggest you give it a go, it can be a little overwhelming at first but definitely worthwhile. If you do sign up, use this link so that we both get extra Eaves when you register – that’s pretend money to buy shares 
http://empireavenue.com/?t=ss3uvbrt
