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The Complete Guide To The Social Media Exchange: Empire Avenue - Part 1
If you are curious to see what happens at the convergence between social networking, social influence and reputation, online engagement and gamification, I think it is about time you gave a good look, if you haven't already done so, at Empire Avenue.
Photo credit: JGraphic, Empire Avenue, mashed by Robin Good
Empire Avenue is an online community game based on the idea of a stock market where you buy and sell shares in individuals and where their value is based on how active and effective they are in their use of social media.
In other words, this is the best free social media training playground camp on planet Earth. It is a social media real-time bio-feedback machine...
In fact, if you want someone to get a fast grip on how you use effectively social media, without being in an isolated vacuum, Empire Avenue is the perfect boost, motivator, monitoring dashboard and progress meter for any serious new buddying social media guru.
Its pros?
- It's psychologically rewarding and very enjoyable to play
- It really boosts your awareness of your own social media performance
- It can help you boost your network and visibility
- If you are unfamiliar with it, it makes you learn how the stock market effortlessly
- It helps you learn new social media techniques from other players
Its cons?
- It's addictive like a heavy drug,
- It takes time to understand how it works
- It has an overwhelming interface
- It may become boring and unsatisfying if you are just starting with social media and have little or no presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube
- If you like it too much it may start to cost you money too
But the most fascinating aspect of Empire Avenue, may be actually something that it is not there yet.
I myself have a hard time distilling in a few clear words what this is, but the overall feeling is that Empire Avenue is ushering us into a new, unexplored and fascinating dimension. But notwithstanding it, here, in this curated multi-part guide to EAv, you can find all that you will need to know, to get on board and start moving your first steps in the right direction.
P.S.: A really special thank you goes to Chris Pirillo - e(PIRILLO) on EAv, who has been the first to truly understand, appreciate, and then to embrace, support and evangelize Empire Avenue benefits and great potential.The first time I got a message from him about EAv I was intrigued, but the game sounded too alien and foreign to my interests that I did not go out to try it. A month or two later I bumped into a new video from Chris explaining more and showing how EA really worked... and in a matter of minutes I was hooked myself.
In this two-parted curated guide to Empire Avenue you will find lots of content, including video clips, a Chrome extension and a wonderful investment guide all authored or inspired by Chris' passion for EAv.
And if there is something you can do, to reward Chris for his outstanding job, while making a hell of a great investment, is to buy some of his stock, as that will enrich both you and him at the same time.
Here is Part 1: all you should know, see or check, before diving into Empire Avenue.
What Kind of Animal Is This?
The Social Stock Market - Empire Avenue
Duration: 14:22 - Empire Avenue may finally place a virtual value on social media activity.
A virtual simulation game that provides you with real-time feedback on your true performance and actions in the social media world while injecting a powerful motivational mechanism for the players involved in it. A game that measures, motivates and boosts your real activity and approach to social media marketing.
I find this interesting, to say the least.
Very interesting is in fact to analyze how Empire Avenue will evolve, to see how effective their business model already is, and to anticipate how the data EAv aggregates and makes visible could be used by advertising agencies or brands to select or identify great influencers or potential brand ambassadors in specific markets.
If you are curious to learn and discover in more detail what Empire Avenue is all about, after spending three weeks on board as an actual player myself, I have decided to curate a Complete Guide to learn and invest inside Empire Avenue, by distilling and organizing the growing wealth of videos, articles, guides and resources are available out there.
Since Empire Avenue may appear a bit overwhelming or confusing at first, the tutorials and resources listed in this guide should help you move much more swiftly through it.
Duration: 52:07 - The guy behind Empire Avenue, Dups, spends an hour with Robert Scoble talking about social media.
How Does It Work
Duration: 17:43 - How do you maximize your value? Do you know what makes a good investment? This video should help get you started.
Empire Avenue is a social media stock exchange and the people who participate in this game have one common goal: to accrue the largest earnings and dividends as to produce wealth both for them and for their investors.
Each EAv player, receives daily "dividends" from those individuals that he has invested in.
"For example: You buy 10 shares in someone, and if that someone has activity that engages other people and is creating value in their networks, they will produce "earnings". Every morning you will receive a part of the virtual currency (Eaves) that they earned. You get to be part of their success. And the more you invest in them, the more you will earn as dividends from them."
- New Social Influence Ranking System?
"Empire Avenue is a curious new site that has attracted the eyeballs of numerous early adopters as it could be used to determine an effective ranking system for humans using social media channels.
In essence, the site lets you buy and sell people as if they were stocks, assigning a value to each person using the virtual currency "Eaves.""
- How Your Value Is Determined
"Your share price is your value on the web!
It's made up of what you do online (your activity), and each of your network scores. Most importantly, it's influenced by buying and selling of your shares.
As people buy, your share price will increase."
...and there seems to be an initial rise in share value once the calculations are updated from your social network score as long as you are somewhat socially active."
- Buying and Selling People
"The idea behind Empire Avenue is that you buy or sell people based on a universal value based index. You can buy or sell anybody who is on the site using your own "Eaves" and then sit back and watch as your investment rises and falls.
It gives you a connection with the person that you are invested as their value rises and falls depending on how good their social media profiles are and the volume of people investing in them."
- Light-Years Better than Klout or PeerIndex
"Although it's just a game right now there are interesting spin-offs that could come out of this including people with virtual currency in "their shop" and as an interesting way of ranking people.
We've seen services like Klout try to do this through algorithms but the approach from Empire Avenue is far more engaging."
- A Social Engagement Measurement System
"Really, an Empire Avenue share price is a measurement of your engagement and activity across social media -- we call it "network value," but you can really call it whatever you want :).
It does have some element of subjectivity, though, thanks to the market layer -- so rather than relying solely on metrics, we can add a human element, which brings some manner of trust and reputation to it.
In short, how we currently see Empire Avenue is as a great place to meet new people, analyze your social media activity and have fun."
Source: Tom Ohle - http://fyre.it/seU
EAv Why - What Are the Benefits - Usefulness
The Top Ten Key Empire Avenue Benefits I See
- Get in direct touch with experts, gurus, personalities and key people in your industry in an easier and more direct tangible fashion than via Twitter or Facebook.
- Expose yourself, your product / service or brand to new partners, customers and potential supporters / fans.
- Reward and motivate yourself psychologically for your social media activities outside EAv.
- Discover more social media marketing techniques, tools and approaches by simply playing the game and looking at what others do.
- Learn directly from those who are much better than you. Something I haven't seen much happen elsewhere. Here, those who "get it" and are really good at it, start proactively helping and teaching their shareholders how to increase their share value and dividends.
- Appreciate tangibly the power of helping others become successful in order to be more successful yourself. There isn't a better game for me to communicate this concept.
- Stay alert and motivated on your social media responsibilities, as EAv helps you remember about the importance of your engagement in a playful way.
- Get great advice from like-minded people in your industry, who you can get ideas and tips from, as well as opportunity for business or informal social networking.
- Get to interact with the social media marketing teams of international companies and to see their approaches and strategies.
- Understand how the key principles behind the stock market and share trading work without needing to take a course or having to make a serious effort at it.
Duration: 10:34 - Chris Pirillo lists and explains some of the key benefits of playing Empire Avenue.
Fun Tracking System and Social Media Exchange"Empire Avenue provides a fun way of tracking your ability to leverage social media effectively.
It serves as an invaluable social media exchange and connects you to some of the best minds (me included) in the social media world. In business terms, Empire Avenue can be used to connect with individuals for recruitment, advertising or reaching out to like minded individuals.
Moreover, since your perceived value is at stake, it gives you another reason to be serious about your social media endeavors."
Pure Entertainment"The game can also be played with a longer-term view and an eye on dividends, and this is where the value of EAv beyond pure entertainment resides: understanding what makes yourself / anyone a valuable asset in a social economy.
For those looking to improve their value as perceived by others, EAv brings together a broad range of metrics - including (critically) the direct perceptions / predictions of other players - and distills them into a few KPIs.
Tending those KPIs is like an exercise program, it will make you stronger over time, but it involves effort and is not for everyone."
Source: Scott Wheeler on Quora
A Social Network Too?"Empire Avenue has the right ingredients to become a major player as a social networking platform. It is addictive to users which makes it attractive to advertisers and companies (they want to be where their customers are) and it is adopting more and more engaged users every day.
The team in place is hard at work and more than willing to interact with users."
Source: 5 Reasons Why Avenue Empire Could Be the Next Big Thing in Social Media (part 2)
A Great Game"Empire Avenue has got the perfect combination that all good games have: A simple pull to entice you in, enough stickability to keep you exploring and a great chance to network strategically benefiting you professionally.
I'm completely immersed in it and finding more ways to explore, understand and get more greatly immersed (looking for one or two large businesses I can case study with)."
Source: Empire Avenue Business Benefits? A Conversation with Robert Scoble and Jeremiah Owyang
Recruitment Potential"It should be no secret that Empire Avenue will be used by businesses to recruit members of staff, and at this stage specifically those skilled in social media. Why wouldn't it?
Empire Avenue offers a chance to see people in action networking, sharing content, showing their winsome attitude to the online community."
End of Part 1
Inside Part 2, you will find:
- Who Can Play
- How To Start Playing
- How To Move On and Make Your Investments Soar
- Will It Take Off Or Is It a Fad?
- EAv Ultimate Resource List
Originally written and curated by Robin Good and first published on MasterNewMedia on July 12th 2011 as "The Complete Guide To The Social Media Exchange: Empire Avenue - Part 1".
Photo credits:
EAv Why - What Are The Benefits - Usefulness - David Humphrey
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