Zynga works 'social magic' with new games, Project Z

We have all heard of Facebook's games such as Farmville, and Mafia Wars.  We have all taken a peek at what they were about, and we have all received requests from fellow Facebook friends who want us to help with their "farm", or give them money or weapons in Mafia Wars.  Well, for those of us Facebook users who are obsessed with these games, or even for those of us who are closet Facebook gamers and pretend not to know anything about them, you will all be happy to hear that Zynga, the company that makes these games is coming out with new games for Facebook users.



The first game introduced is a completely new game called Hidden Chronicles, which is a puzzle game where you "search for objects hidden in graphics, either in competition or partnership with your friends."  I know this will be a new addiction for many Facebook gamers.  I do not really play and this game already sounds intriguing.  There will also be several updates on old favorites such as Mafia Wars 2 where players will have more advanced features, and a twist on Zynga Poker, with Zynga Casino.  There will also be a new "Ville" game released that also sounds like it is going to be very popular with frequent Facebook game players.  This one is called CastleVille.  For those who are familiar with the very popular FarmVille and CityVille, this is very similar to those where you can play with friends, but according to this article the game is very story oriented where players are more involved with the non-player characters.  Execs describe this game as a  "true manifestation of Zynga's social magic."

 As I stated before, I am not gamer on Facebook, not because I do not like them, but because I do not really have time.  However, I definitely understand the appeal these games would have.  Just like games such as Second Life, these games allow the user to enter a different world where they can become someone or something else.  From hearing about friends and family who play very often, this games are very addicting, fun, but addicting.  I have no personal or vested interest with the release of these games, but I am sure that many people will be excited.  These games are another way to keep in contact and interact with friends so there are many positive social aspects, but my personal opinion remains indifferent. I am not interested with the games but I am interested in people's reaction to this news.  I have no doubt that this will generate a lot of buzz within the Facebook community. I think games like this are fascinating, and the reasons people play them are even more fascinating. When you think about it Facebook is not just a social media site where you can see or talk to your friends but also play with them as well.  There are so many different ways to interact with people through new media, and these games are continuing those possibilities.

Oprah Live on Facebook

For 25 years, Oprah has been ruling television with her talk show that boasted millions of viewers.  She has interviewed everyone from Tom Cruise to President Obama.  So what is she up to now, you might wonder? Well besides still being the queen of daytime with her own television network, appropriately named OWN, she will now be appearing live on Facebook.  CNN released an article about the event that will take place September 8th at 4:30 pm.  Oprah Live on Facebook will be a one hour live streaming video session with the star herself.  She will be answering questions from people who log on the event's page.  Viewers can submit questions and see if their questions are answered by her live.

When I first saw this article I thought Oprah on Facebook, what is the big deal?  However, I then read that she would be live on air answering questions from people on Facebook and  became intrigued.  I first wondered why she would be doing this.  Isn't she done with interviewing people, but this is actually a chance to interview her.   I am not Oprah's biggest fan but, I know that I would have some questions for her, and I bet many other people do as well.  This would be a great chance for some of her fans to actually talk directly to her which does not happen very often with your favorite celebrities.

So not only is this about being able to talk to Oprah, but the fact that now not only can you talk to your friends on Facebook, but you might be able to talk to your favorite celebrity.  I mean obviously you can friend request them, but that does not mean you can talk directly to them. That is why this article really caught my eye.  This could start a new trend in new media.  First, there was being able to friend request your favorite celebrity on Facebook, then there was being able to follow your favorite celebrity on Twitter, now you could talk to your favorite celebrity on a social media site.  However, this article was really short and did not give enough of a description of how this was going to be done, or how they are going to handle all the traffic Facebook is going to get that day.  So from the little that the article provided I was not really impressed.  The article is about something that could change the face of social media as we know it, and I think there could have been more information about that.  For instance, once Oprah starts something it usually catches on pretty quickly.  Considering some of the stats included in the interview which are that she is followed by more than 7.2 million people on Twitter, and the day she announced her new Twitter account the traffic on the site rose 24%.  So, I think that this event might not seem that important to most people especially if you don't like Oprah, but I feel that other celebrities might jump on the bandwagon and start doing more things like this through social media sites.  Frankly, I hope the next celebrity to do a live interview on Facebook is Bradley Cooper, but that's just my opinion.

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Think about it :)