1991: They Call It “The Internet” – remember this?
Highlights the sense of community and fellowship – “tapped a world wanting to connect” for individuals to “indulge deep into abiding passions”. Just like social networking, online communities and of course, MMORPGs.
I recently read over at Mashable! a great article on the similarities between MMORPGs and Social Media. Briefly, they compared the two online forces across a number of areas.
Let’s compare these two pursuits:
Friends/Contacts vs. Allies
Stats and Skills/Experience
Quests/Deeds vs. Accomplishments
Property/Territory vs. Publication
EntrepreneurismFrom MMORPG Gamers and Social Media Junkies More Alike Than You’d Think
Being a former Diablo II addict, I couldn’t agree more. I’m a huge fan of MMORPGs (and yes, the suspense for Diablo III is killing me – and it has its own Diablo III community already) and have a passion for social media – but what I was reminded of was the fact that these parrallels are what is driving all communities, online and offline.
Which brought me to more points about the evolution of social media and online communities as we know them today. So next time you’re thinking about social media, think back to the original User Groups – and to Dungeons and Dragons.
These are all groups of people with passions coming together and driving conversation and compelling content. The difference isn’t what people want or how they want to do it – it’s the improving technologies that enable us to do it better.
