Social networks are all about repeat visits.  I get that.  If people don’t come back, they don’t see the new ads, they don’t see what everyone’s been up to, and your user base shrinks like ku klux klan sign-ups during a sheet shortage.

Games like farmville get people to come back, again, and again, and again, and again.  People with addictive personalities are especially useful gamers to social networks because they’ll actually HOUND their friends to come play to if it somehow benefits their own progress/success and the cycle repeats.

Think about this: The bigger the userbase, the higher the number of visits, the bigger the “value” of the social network.  What am I talking about? Well, Facebook has an estimated annual revenue of $1.2 billion and 400 million users.  That means each of  you reading this, that are members of facebook, are worth about $3/year.  Some of it comes from ads, some of it just from growth of the co., but roughly speaking, each person that “joins” facebook brings the company~$3 in annual revenue.

Are you starting to see the big picture yet?

I have nothing against the concept of a social network and sites that are designed to connect people, but I have a problem with the idea of turning everyone into a button pushing George Jetson to speed up the growth and value of a company and calling it a “game”.  Games usually involve skill or chance, and I see neither in the current crop of popular social networking games.  The greatest factor driving your success in any of these “games” is your willingness to come back, over and over again.

Count me out.  I’ll stick with “Call of Duty”.  Call of Duty never sends me messages reminding me to come play it, I can play as much or as little as I want, my success is tied to my skill and strategy, and nobody wants to be my neighbor.