ISU Students are wasting time with facebook games

Charles Oliver is very enthusiastic about Facebook games.

“I play 15-20 games on Facebook,” said Charles Oliver, a junior in business administration. “I spend an hour or two on them a day, my favorite being Country Story. The games provide short-term enjoyment without the risk of long-term addiction, unlike World of Warcraft.”

Country Story is similar to Farmville, a game where players manage a farm.

With over a thousand games available, Facebook caters to every taste.

“I don’t think there’s a game I don’t play,” said Erica Mastin, a graduate history student. “I had to limit myself to two hours a day. They very easily take over vast amounts of time.”

Mastin’s current favorite game is My Town, in which players develop their own cities.

Oliver said he doesn’t play religiously, adding that he has too much to do.

Justin Levesque, a freshman criminal justice major, had similar reasons for limiting himself to only three games.

“It kills time,” Levesque said. “It was my parents that got me hooked on some of the games, though I originally joined [Facebook] to get in contact with people I know.”

According to Pew Research Center’s Web site (pewresaerch.org), 70 percent of 18 to 29 year olds have or are currently using a social networking site, with 23 percent of that age group visiting the site several times a day.

Part of why Facebook users play, or avoid, the games is because they are invited to play by those on their friends list.

“I explicitly avoid them,” said Brandon Donham, a sophomore education major. “I don’t know how many times I’ve had to block invites. I don’t want to get addicted.  People are like ‘Ah! I gotta go check my pigs!’”

Nicholas Feltner, a sophomore secondary science education major, could not agree more.

“You could easily find something more interesting to do,” said Feltner, who had previously played games on Facebook. “I checked Facebook maybe four times a week and played Ninja versus Pirate and Jedi Versus Sith [games where players join one team and battle the other] but found other things to spend my time doing.”

Feltner called Farmville the “gateway game,” citing his mother as an example.

Feltner’s mother started out on Farmville and then began playing Mafia Wars—a game where players join a simulated crime syndicate and challenge rival players for fictional territory—to earn a special tractor for her Farmville farm.

For some, the temptation to play Facebook games in class is great.

“I see people playing in class all the time,” said freshman open preference major Jordan Boden. “It’s crazy.”

Some people, like sophomore dietitics major Amanda Pedro, have never played a Facebook game and prefer the classic computer games.

“I don’t hate [Facebook games], but I never actually tried them,” Pedro said. “I’m constantly getting requests to join Farmville or Mafia Wars. I’ll stick to solitaire on my computer.”