Munich - Social networking sites. They are where you go to make contacts and set up an internet presence. Shepherding and running an organized crime family are not usually what you expect to do once you are there. But those are two of the activities with which many social networkers are whiling away their days, thanks to online games accessed via these sites that are growing in popularity. Two of the more popular entries can be found on Facebook: Farmville and Mafia Wars. Both have raised eyebrows with data privacy advocates. Ease of use and access is a major draw with these games. "It doesn't take much to load them up and they are positioned on the site where you are anyway," says Johannes Schleimer, a 22-year- old German student who plays between his studies.
Finding the time isn't hard, since the games are designed to be easy to use, controlled with just a few mouse clicks. The games reflect the character of the networking sites that support them. In FarmVille, players are challenged to raise as many different kinds of animals as possible, says Schleimer. But the game also allows players to help their neighbours when those other players are away. "It's just fun to get to know the other players and discover things on their farms that I might be able to add to my farm," he says. Schleimer is not alone in his enthusiasm for the games.
The 10 most popular online game titles alone have more than 100 million players worldwide, according to Javier Olivan, a manager with Facebook in Palo Alto, California. About 11 per cent of Germans who say they play games on social networking sites say those sites are where they do the bulk of their gaming. That figure reaches 24 per cent in the US. The results, posted at gamesindustry.com, are based on an international survey of 13,000 people conducted by TNS Infratest. Most of these people are looking for quick, short-term entertainment, says Marc Wardenga of Connected Games, a division of Germany's Federal Association of the Digital Industry (BVDW). Gamers tend to have 10 to 15 minute chunks free to game.
"Their expectations are completely fulfilled by these games."But privacy advocates are concerned about the way the games suck people into these social networks, particularly about the kinds of information people have to volunteer - and in what combination - to access the sites and the games, says Marit Hansen, who works for a German data security organization. "There's no way to make a legal ruling on it yet," she says, particularly since many members are not from the countries where the sites are based, causing complicated international legal issues. San Francisco-based Zynga is the creator of games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars.
There have already been a series of lawsuits against the company in the US because it has allegedly sought to sign up participants for advertising campaigns or mini-tests of fee-based SMS subscriptions. "In the end, you can only appeal to the judgement of the user," says Hansen. Anyone who wants to rule out any possibility of access to their profile data won't ever allow these applications access. In other words, they will skip out on raising animals or engaging in street wars with their Mafia friends. Nonetheless, games have been and remain important parts of social networking, long the favourite parts of applications like Facebook, says Olivan. A games dashboard is in the works that will give users access to a special area devoted to games they have recently played or which have been recommended by friends. Updates and other information about their favourite games will also be available there.
