Of Influencers and Investors

A couple of thoughts on the two primary roles that each member of EA plays: that of an Influencer and an Investor.

The Influencer part is already a given, and since it is the primary premise and goal of the game, it is understandable that EA has put in considerable energy to develop and continuously refine the algorithm to measure influence. Still, there is a lot to be desired, although I am not sure how far can EA go. The challenge as I see it is in being able to measure only meaningful activity. I mean, if a person posted three times in a day that he is simply having breakfast, lunch, and dinner respectively, and another post only once a day about an article or a meaningful thought, who would normally have greater influence? But since we have a machine measuring the activity, I doubt that such quality can be considered.

Another equally interesting role is that of the Investor. Much like in a typical stock market, you want to make the best investment. Stock prices are affected not only intrinsically (by one's activity), but also technically (by promoting yourself and having people buy you, which can create a sort of herd mentality). So each one can invest in a manner that fits his style and availability. Those who can hang around for longer periods of time may opt to invest in a stock that's currently generating buzz, regardless that the person does not show any significant activity, and then dumps the stock when he already made a profit and before it begins to go down. Or you can be like me that only has one or few times a day to visit the site, so I will choose investments that show that the person will have consistent activity (such as having regularly updated blogs and tweets).

I know that EA is still in beta, and people have been pointing out some areas to improve on. I will be posting about these in the future. Hopefully EA will continue to improve and have new features, especially as it nears commercial release.