Empire Avenue

Up in the middle of the night for no good reason I can think of, I stumbled across a curious tweet from Zack Arias: “Ummm… Andy, @unknown_photog, told me to do this. Empire Avenue –> (eZARIAS) http://bit.ly/zmsDoa via @EmpireAve”. Zack’s message piqued my curiosity so I followed the link.

That was 19 hours ago. Sure, I did sleep, eat and tend to other normal functions, but the truth is that I’ve been pretty much addicted to what I discovered ever since.

Empire Avenue is bit of a cross between a social media hub and an online stock trading game. Starting with a moderate stipend, one quickly accumulates more of the game’s currency, called “Eaves”, by filling out profile and bio information. Connecting various social media sites to EA establishes surprisingly concise reports on activity relating to those sites, and unlocks Achievements, both of which add value and Eaves to your account.

For me, the real fun started kicking in when I realized, to my complete surprise, that people were quickly buying “stock” in my newly formed account. Like a typical response to an IPO, dozens of other AE players started snatching up shares in my stock, sending the value of (e)IANSPIERS soaring. It turn, I began the vicious cycle of exploring people’s profiles, accounts and interest groups on the site, which opened more activities and achievements, which earned me more Eaves….

It really doesn’t take that much involvement to see that there’s real social networking potential behind EA’s approachable interface. While this is the first I’ve heard of Empire Avenue (’cause I live in a cave), I’ve found that EA has a respectable amount of press, a rapidly expanding following, and a broad base of support. If you invest time in social media and enjoy playing online investing/trading games, this definitely something you’ll want on your radar.

On the other hand, you may want to avoid Empire Avenue like the plague….

1/16/12
p.s.: I eventually decided to spin the madness of EA off onto it’s own blog. At the time of this writing it was located at http://ianspiers.wordpress.com.