Increasing numbers of students are logging on to their Facebook or MySpace accounts to play new forms of games designed to run on social networking sites.  The reactions are mixed, but the revenue dollars aren’t — the social gaming industry attracted an estimated $98 billion in 2008. Companies like Zynga, Social Gaming Network and Playfish have turned that added capital into increased popularity. Zynga now claims 40 million people actively play their games.Many students find themselves logging on to play the games, often at the expense of their studies. Marketing freshman Robin Penley said she plays Farmville and Restaurant City a lot more than she should. “It’s a great way to put off homework,” she said.Biology freshman Stephen Tyer said he plays Mafia Wars at least once a day.Other students say the games are simply entertaining.”It’s something fun to do when you’re on Facebook and you’re bored,” said computer science freshman Andre Pujol, adding he plays Vampire Wars at least once a day.Social game companies launch their game applications on pre-existing social networking platforms like Facebook or MySpace. This marketing strategy gives the companies instant access to millions of potential customers. Facebook now boasts 200 million regular users.Some people spend real money on these games, which is one of the major ways social game companies make money. Players can purchase virtual objects or products with their credit cards and enhancements that will help the player perform better or beat the game. Other games include a subscription or premium mode where players can pay for access to an advanced version of the game if they become dissatisfied with the basic version. But few students like the games enough to spend money.Using social networking platforms also provides the advantage of built-in customer demographic information, which they can then use to develop marketing strategies and new games.Various social games exist, but they all involve using social information from the networking sites as part of the game. Facebook allows applications access to certain personal information. The Facebook privacy policy states: “If you, your friends or members of your network use any third-party applications developed using the Facebook Platform, those Platform Applications may access and share certain information about you with others in accordance with your privacy settings.”Some have raised concerns about protecting user privacy from Facebook applications, while others advise caution when using these applications because users consent to the privacy policy when signing up for Facebook.”As the consumer, you want to be especially cautious about giving your information to a third-party provider,” said media law professor Craig Freeman, adding he thinks Facebook makes a good effort to protect privacy rights.Freeman said these applications have the right to use personal information for their own purposes, but it may be unethical to share that information with outside parties.Some students even say these games help to strengthen social ties to friends they may not spend much time with or talk too often.”I have a few friends who play [Vampire Wars],” Pujol said. “We’ll talk a little more because it gives us some common ground.”Political science sophomore Jordan Revon agrees, saying the games provide more contact with “some people I’m friends with, but I haven’t talked to in a while.”Not everyone sees the rise in popularity of social games as a good thing. Many people publish status updates about the games, and some find those updates annoying.”I ignored two of them yesterday,” biomedical engineering freshman Kelly Bui said. “What’s the point of spending so much time on that when you could be doing something active?”Graduate student Kundan Kadam said he doesn’t find the games very appealing compared to existing game formats. “They are very low tech,” he said. – – – -Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]