I recently blogged some thoughts about Empire Avenue, and I concluded at the time that unless real-world benefits were forthcoming, I didn’t see it holding my interest for long:
“What is true is that if Empire Avenue doesn’t do something to keep me interested soon, I might take my “eaves” elsewhere…”
I’d like to change that opinion.
As this graph shows, in the 21 days between 06-06-11 and 27-06-11 I’ve had pretty steady growth – it’s nothing to write home about, but my share price has been rising nicely. Something I aim to keep up!
Introducing Google+
This week I was given access to the new Google+ social network and I was immediately struck by how little I can ‘do’ with it by way of interaction with other networks. I really want to give Google+ a go, but I’m compelled by my Empire Avenue share price to make full and proper use of my other networks so that my share price will go up and I will become a better player of ‘the game’. (Not to be confused with ‘the game’ 
)
It has since dawned on me that I’m beginning to use only the social networks that I can connect to Empire Avenue in order that my efforts be recognised in a vaguely meaningful way: my share price.
As much as I think Google+ might not be a failure, I feel like I’m doing myself a disservice by not using Facebook instead.
Klout, Peer Index, etc…
It’s true, there are plenty of other grading sites out there that can tell you ‘how influential’ you are across your social networks but none of them has quite the same draw as the game-like style of Empire Avenue.
As a direct result of the gamification of Empire Avenue I’m improving the quality and frequency of use of my other profiles – I want to be CEO of my index and to get there I must use my networks properly. I know that ‘playing’ Empire Avenue has had a positive effect because since signing up my Klout score has risen 6 points to 54!
More things I’d like to see:
- More connectivity: Foursquare, Google+, heck even Reddit and Quora, etc.
- Mobile apps: They may only have 2.5 devs working there, but a Windows Phone app would be a blessing from heaven allowing me to use the service on the go; not just when I’m at a PC.
- Better Communities: Threading of posts is a little clunky and there’s no way for me to ‘like’ a comment – if a post gets lots of comments it can become difficult to follow very easily.
- More intuitive UI: So, it’s not so bad that my mum can’t use the site – but even so, it’s still sometimes difficult, slow and unintuitive to navigate.