ReadWriteWeb (RWW) is one of my favourite (du jour) websites. Packed with innovation and inspiration – an incredibly important component of my ritualised morning ingestion of RSSness since a very liberal dose of each daily keeps the creative leeches from your brain.
RWW the other day offered 50 free invites to Empire Avenue, in beta mode until tomorrow.
It’s a stocks and shares game. With a difference.
Until an hour ago I thought it was the latest in a long line of biggest wastes of time.
At precisely one minute ago I realised that it could quite literally change my life – and yours.
So, about that difference…
Empire Avenue - she's electric...
Down Empire Avenue you trade stocks and shares in people.
You start with 10,000 credits. You connect your social media accounts to see who’s already up and running from your networks. And crucially, it is these networks that ‘vote’ on your worth.
Then slowly you start gathering intel on your prized posse. There are groups to join – of influential people from down your street, or a neighbouring city. Or anywhere on earth, for that matter.
As these players on the ‘Avenue grow in the eyes of their peers, so does their net value. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook: all is fair game and your value is indicative of how you’re performing.
This is all new to me so I’ll let the crazy kids of Empire Avenue elucidate on the objective and rules of the show:
Empire Avenue is a revolutionary online influence stock exchange combined with an advertising platform that allows individuals and organizations to convert their online influence and reach into revenue. To this end we will be connecting advertisers, consumers and influencers in a manner not as yet undertaken in the online space. Through the Empire Avenue influence stock exchange and its tracking features we will measure the influence value of individuals registered with Empire Avenue.
Influencers will be given control over the advertising they carry, and advertisers will be better able to reach their target consumer. We believe that this better targeted advertising approach will lead to better returns and leads for advertisers. Empire Avenue sets itself apart not only in its unique feature set, but also by paying influencers the majority of advertising revenue generated unlike other major advertising networks.
In short, here’s why it can’t lose:
Everyone has an ego. Everyone wants to overperform, to be seen to be the best. As you achieve these goals, so your value soars. So people buy into you. So you become recognised for all that you are.
It’s a fundamental flaw and shining orb of being homosapien that you yearn to be loved. Empire Avenue sates your demands with relative aplomb.
I have no doubt Empire Avenue will soon start to become the equivalent of Farmville for narcissists, ne’er-do-wells and idiot savants.
And I absolutely love it.
And here’s hoping I can stop humming Electric Avenue by the time Empire Avenue is released from its beta cage on July 28. Go be addicted.