I was introduced to Empire Avenue at BlogWorld Expo New York. I heard about the site before BWE but never really checked into it. Empire Avenue is like a stock market for social media junkies. You can invest in any social media profile by buying their shares, meeting new people, unlocking Achievement badges, and earn boatloads of virtual cash by being active and social.
At its heart, Empire Avenue is a big game, and it can be a lot of fun when your share prices are going up, up, up. I “IPO” John Chow dot Com (symbol JCDC) at 20 EAVES (the virtual currency used in the game) and the stock quickly climbed from there. Right now, shares of JCDC are trading at 68.97.
With rising share prices and more people buying me, my virtual net worth is approaching 800K. At this rate, I should break the million mark before the weekend. I can use the virtual cash to buy shares of other Empire users, or I can spend it on virtual toys at the Empire Avenue shop. Right now, the most expensive item is a jumbo jet at 10 million EAVES.
Joining Empire Avenue is really easy. All you need is to connect your Facebook profile. There is a normal sign up with an email address for the five or six people who are not on Facebook. Once you join, you can connect your Social Networking accounts, and Empire will score activity and engagement in each account and give you a virtual share price. The connections you make on Empire Avenue create “value-based” relationships, a deeper relationship than simply “following” someone, in a completely less intrusive context than becoming “friends.”
I’ve purchased shares in one profile so far, picking up 200 shares of Vancouver Sun writer, Gillian Shaw. At this time, you are not allowed to short sell a profile. You can only buy and sell a stock that you own.
If you think I should buy some shares in you then post a comment and let me know why I should. If you’re not on Empire Avenue, then go set up an account and I’ll buy some shares in you. Let me know in the comments. Otherwise, I might have to buy that big jumbo jet.