I love this post for two reasons:

1) It’s Monday, my stock is down, and that makes me feel like crap. And I am not the only one!

2) Now that I’ve read it, I am reminded that I shouldn’t feel like crap…I should focus on what attracts me to Empire Avenue in the first place: influence via connections.

You should read it to, and think about what you hope to achieve on Empire Avenue. Wealth in a fake currency, or genuine influence that might make you some real dough.

Was it ever about fun? Wasn’t it about influence? Is this a game or a measure of how much people value your opinions.

Hmmmm…

I am still digging the social experiment that is Empire Avenue, and find that there are 3 broad types of people playing.

1) The Spammers: Thankfully there aren’t too many of this type, although some of the Strategizers are dangerously close. It’s all about the number of eyeballs they can get looking at their profile.

2) The Strategizers: These people want to make friends with the leaders, learn from them, and then take them out. They are all about the money, the leaderboard, the success.

3) The Influencers: Until such time as Eaves are accepted as real currency, these people are in it for the social aspect. Perhaps they are boosting their own brand(s), networking or plotting success in some fashion but unlike the Strategizers they are less concerned about portfolios and leaderboards and more concerned about real influence; the kind Eaves can’t buy.

The question is: what kind of player are you? Is this even a game for you? And what kind would you rather be?

Do you agree with these categories? Disagree?

Some philosophy for y’all…I meant to start a community about this! Think I’ll go see what’s out there and what I can possible contribute!

I’m on a train, I can’t trade, and it’s bugging me. A lot. Kinda how not having a cigarette used to bug me…

Why is this so addictive?

It’s exciting to see so many people getting hooked on Empire Avenue. I find it completely fascinating.

I will continue to reiterate that my reasons for this Tumblr site are because I love debate, discussion, and philosophy. If it makes my stock go up, so be it. But that’s not why I post.

Over the weekend, so many new users have joined it’s now beyond my OCD threshold to try and stay on top of - and profit from - every single one of them. Which made me think:

Is that really the point?

I have a feeling that because Empire Avenue is still in beta, very few of us are able to resist the addictive rush of the rapid-fire buy/sell action to see the forest for the trees. Remember; the other half of this game is influence.

Sure, we’re all doing our best to follow as many people as we can, leave shout outs, be “social” in general; but really, how much influence do we actually exert on each other that way?

Case in point: I currently have 34 followers. I can tell you right now I don’t know any of them well enough to send them an email - although I have had a few substantial “chats” over Twitter. How much do I influence them, really?

If you asked me how many people I follow, I couldn’t tell you. So whether I hear their message or not, how much does that truly influence me?

The point I’m trying to make is this: yes, following every single user participating on Empire Avenue will obviously increase the number of times ads, tweets, updates, and blog posts are viewed.

Does that increase you influence though?

Are we still lemming enough to blindly buy into something or someone just because they are constantly in our face?

I wish there were forums on the Empire Avenue site…

Staring. Watching. Plotting. Definitely not sleeping.