Farmers on the net: 49M and counting!

My wife has become a farmer and so are my many friends. Every time off late we all meet up, my wife and our common friends speak about how their farms have come up and exchange ideas on farming. I was initially happy about their conversation but when I got to know that their new found activity is not in the real world but on the “world wide web”, it became my story idea. They all have become addicts to this game called FarmVille on Facebook-the social networking site.

These are the new age farmers who are into farming on the net. They speak the language I don’t understand and when they speak about that lone black sheep that they found in their farm, they become sad. The consequences of finding that black sheep, again I don’t understand.

This game, I learnt is fast catching up. People arrive on Facebook to meet and make new friends as well as find those lost ones and in the process, they all are becoming farmers as this new “Agricultural Facebook Application” has managed to attract 49 million users since it was started in June last.

FarmVille, I believe, is a simple social game in which players create and manage virtual farms. Paying attention to crops, growing them (which actually takes real-time hours and days), harvesting and selling them. Sales earns users money and experience points. Then, a player can buy more crops, animals, farm equipment and outbuildings.

A player can also invite friends to come and farm in the plot next to theirs, and help them out by watering or harvesting their crops for them. If a player is a really generous farmer, he or she can even buy them a cow as a gift.

It's addictive. So addictive, in fact, that the makers of this game cunningly tempt the player to pay for extra “farm coins” via credit card — if a player is too impatient to wait for his or her crops to grow (well, the makers had to be making money somehow).

What’s funny is that in a recent party that we hosted, these farmer friends of mine got so restless when I asked them to stay back for a little more time. They said they have to get back home to get on to their screens to take care of their virtual farms. That was unbelievable.

So, if you are still not on Facebook yet, my advice to you is to get your farming lessons before you open an account. Else, you won’t be worthwhile knowing as a farmer friend.

Next time I invite my friends again to meet up; I have to make sure their farms can survive without their owners for an evening.