The Wall Street Journal has a nice little article up about laid off employees getting into games and social media networks as a way to escape the grim reality that they're out of a job.
Internet games, gambling and other forms of online entertainment have seen significant surges in use in the several months since the economic downturn deepened. Social-networking services like Facebook, blogs and discussion forums — all well-known time sinks even during good times — are also seeing strong growth. Some purveyors of online entertainment say business has never been so good for them.
I'm kind of sad that the example they use is someone who's resorted to Big Fish Games. I don't mind so much that they're only pointing to an increase in casual game consumption, but I think it'd be more of a statement for someone to turn to World of Warcraft in their jobless state.