A marketing research firm found that 17 percent of social gamers - Farmville, Mafia Wars and the like - consider themselves "addicted," though it's not clear if they say that regretfully or as a lighthearted self-description.
Anyway, when the likes of Lightspeed Research (a global firm) delves into the latest it-topic in social media and gaming, it's usually doing so to point out the boatloads of money to be made from it - especially with their expert analysis. So don't take this as the findings of a medical journal. The survey said that two-thirds of respondents play one to two social games five days a week, about a third of all respondents do so daily, and the 55 to 64 age range plays more frequently than 18-34 year olds. Draw your own conclusions as to why.
Most notably, 14 percent of all surveyed said they've spent money on social games, either by purchasing in-game currency, items or whatever. That sounds small - except it's a direct revenue conversion rate of 14 percent for what is basically a big clickable ad, which is tantalizing. And 33 percent said they've done things like clicked on ads or signed up for offers to get free in-game rewards, which is pretty healthy from an advertising perspective.
It's Game On for Social Networkers [Lightspeed Research]