Walking Down The Avenue

I’ve been doing some experimenting with offering Missions.   While the next version of my book is already set and will include a fairly basic explanation of why and how to use missions,   this post is more on the order of food for thought for that inevitable next release.

I have seen a lot of people do missions that offer only 500 eaves.  When the 500 eaves are offered for a fairly basic action,  I believe that most users will get at least 50% completion by those who click the link and take the 500 eaves.   I have heard more than a few savvy players complain stridently about folks who ask for multiple actions or major actions for just 500 eaves.   I believe that on 500 eave missions that instruct or worse command folks to do more than is reasonable risk having a much higher percentage of folks taking the eaves and not completing the task.   I have found that on 500 eaves missions in particular if I politely ask for things like Shares, Comments and Likes I often get near 100%  completion with one of these three extras or another  (ie  give away 50 sets eaves and have a total of more than 50 Likes and Shares and Comments).

I found that offering 1000eaves rewards in Missions also seem to pay off at least 50% of the time and often considerably more when I demand little but ask nicely for lots.      I have also done one small mission where in I offered 2000 eaves but rather than stating that I was happy to give the eaves to anyone who stopped by,  I asked the folks contemplating the mission to please only do it if they were genuine fans of literary fiction.     I got about either likes, shares or comments at the rate of about 70% though again,  some folks liked And shared And commented.    I believe that about 50% of those who took the eaves did one or more of the things I asked,  but enough of the did all three that it shows a 70% success rate.

People who have good people skills (as opposed to Social Media Rock Stars) already know that you get MUCH farther with almost anyone by asking nicely rather than demanding service for payment.       And that certainly seems true in the case of Empire Avenue missions.

It was a thread in Team Zen,  but it felt as though it really could have used a bit of self help from the 1970’s.    Empire Avenue is a very intriguing and complex web site.   It is in one sense an equivalent or perhaps competitor to sites like Klout and Peer Index.   But at the same time it is most definitely a social networking stock market trading game.    And I honestly don’t think it is in the least bit fair to criticize one’s friends because they are  ”playing to win”  in what is most definitely a game, that has been specifically offered as such by the gentlemen  (Are there any ladies on the EAv  Team?) who put the site up on the web every day. Some people are on Empire Avenue because they are trying to be or consider themselves or are paid to be social media rockstars  err managers or managers in training.   Some people are just using EAv as a tool to see how they’re doing elsewhere.  Some folks are playing the game,  and some of those folks are playing to win.  Some folks care mostly about the play money and the score.   Some folks care mostly about the people.  And everyone really IS trying to promote not only their stock but also in many cases also their ideas.   Some folks are using Empire Avenue primarily as a social network on which to meet people with whom they are in fact trying to change the world.   And you know what?   They are all friends of mine.    Empire Avenue is a tool as well aa a game as well as a social network.   And like a good party,  it’s also whatever you decide to make it. So if you’re old enough,  do a little mental time travel and remember when I’m OK, You’re OK was a best seller.    Try at least for a little while to remember the days of TM and est.     Recite your mantra if you remember it.    And repeat after me.   There is NO Right or Wrong way to play Empire Avenue.     Brad and the EAv  team have made clear that they are strongly committed to enforcing the rules and there is no reason that any of us should ever turn away in friend ship from one another who do follow the rules.   In my considered opinion Brad and Dups and all of the rest of their great team are more than quite capable of enforcing the rules.    And if you see anything  that you think is wrong,  but all means press the report button and talk to them about your concerns. But I respectfully state that criticizing erstwhile friends for choosing a different style of game play which is in fact perfectly within the rules and is not in fact per se harmful to the game or to any of the other participants in the game or in the communities.   It seems to me there was very wide criticism of some very over the top blog spamming.  (eg publishing Project Gutenberg is perfectly legal,  even in 300 word bites with dozens and dozens of posts per day, but is so obviously cheating that it was intolerable—- they got rid of that) although as a person who is very serious about blogging I was disappointed that part of the fix was that they greatly devalued even the five blog post per day that they count.  But I can live with that.   I’m doing what I’m doing on my blogs and social networks because it is Exactly what I want to do.   For me that is HUGE.       So please,  no matter how passionately you feel about newbies needing a better welcome experience than getting bid up and churned down (In my case only if they DON’t connect) all in their first week,   don’t blame folks who try to buy and connect with new folks most every day and hold them for a while,  and then sell them if they don’t connects.    That’s just the game and if you’re really saying that folks who take it first as a game shouldn’t be welcome on the Avenue?   Well then I can only say how presumptuous of you.

If you blog on Wordpress.com and have more than one WP.com blog AND have connected WP.com to Empire Avenue,  this is a tip for you.   You want to be sure that your most active blog  (the on which you post most frequently an/or get the most comments/visitors) is listed in WP.com as your Primary blog.   By default WP.com considers the first blog you set up on that site as your primary blog.   Luckily,  it’s very easy to check and change.   While logged in to your WP.com account and on any WP.com page look at your toolbar and to the very upper right of the screen.    Click on your name and a pop up menu will appear.   On the menu select Manage My Blogs.    You will see a list of all of the blogs you have on WP.com and notice that on only one of them there is a check mark in the little white box next to the word Primary.   If the check mark is not where it should be,  just check next to Primary on the listing for the blog you use most.

I am shamelessly piggy backing on a gentleman whom my friend Shirley Williams points out is a very #socialmedia savvy guy,  and it’s just to make a point really.   Being a successful blogger requires understanding and using a whole bunch of different sites,  and using them in a way that is appropriate not only for each site and the prevailing ethics of its user community but also within your own personal ethics as a blogger.    Because I am posting this Tumblr specifically in response to something Shirley wrote on her blog,  I feel it is perfectly reasonable to title the post Justin Bieber and Social Media.   That is  (sort of) the subject of Shirley’s post.  (And to give Shirley her full due,  she expended a great deal more effort to tie in her post to the celebrity she piggy-backed on than I did.)   And a short one paragraph post that illustrates a #socialmedia concept fits in pefectly on Tumblr,  so there is definitely no problem there.   While I do think it would be a bit tacky to try to exploit a celebrity for any major #socialmedia campaign or even for a much-promoted pillar post,   I think it’s fine for an ordinary post or a quick Tumble.

It seems to me that if you have an account on Empire Avenue and list a Facebook account on your Empire Avenue profile,  it really is not okay to report someone to Facebook for sending you a friend request after buying your shares.   If you don’t want to be friends on Facebook even though I am a shareholder,  that’s fine.   Just click the Ignore button and I will go away.   That we are not connected on Facebook may make me re-evaluate the relationship.   I may sell off your stock.   When and if I feel like it.     

If I’ve done something that pisses you off,  please block me.     If you don’t like me and don’t want to see me or hear what I have to say,  just click the block button.     It will completely and permanently remove me from your Facebook existence.       I personally think that simply blocking people you don’t care to hear from is the smartest way to manage your social networks.    And in Facebook’s new Timeline incarnation,  you don’t even have to unFriend someone who has become obnoxious and tiresome.    You can simply unsubscribe from them and leave them as friends.   They’ll never notice you did and you remain free to enjoy using your network to talk to people you truly value and remain full control over the signal to noise ratio.