Monday, February 1, 2010

Are you on FarmVille?

Do you have something that distracts you? Something that you can justify wasting time on because it “helps you relax?” For my mom it was Tetris. She plunked down in front of the computer on a trip to Florida and played for the better part of a morning.

She is not alone. I have battled addictions to solitaire and checkers. Facebook was responsible for at least one paper being handed in late in college. Now, it’s FarmVille and I’m not the only one.

FarmVille is an application on Facebook where you plant, grow and harvest your farm. It involves little more than a point and click level of participation and it is HIGHLY addictive. So addictive in fact that Dr. Phil berated a woman his show about her addiction.

Everyone is talking about FarmVille. Facebook has a fan page and hosts the application, Twitter has a thread and there are countless videos on YouTube. Bloggers everywhere are posting hints, cheats and opinions. Gamespot.com posted on the subject. With almost 78 million users FarmVille is the fastest growing application on Facebook. Billions of man hours have been lost to this game.

Most reviews , and there are many, describe FarmVille as a simple game. By requiring very little brain power, FarmVille provides the user with a distraction from life. Just point and click your way to a more attractive and crop filled existence.

What I want to know is this. What is it about FarmVille, The Sims, celebrities and movies that is more attractive than our actual lives? Are we really so boring ourselves?

I don't know about you, but I would like an answer.

Just not right now, my crops need harvesting.


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