by Robert van Alstyne
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- Mobile social gaming app Favortree wants to improve communities by offering consumers virtual incentives to be better neighbors. Think of it as FarmVille for real-life do-gooding.
- Favortree players complete real-world favors for one another, and their willingness to lend a helping hand is reflected in each user profile’s digital fruit tree (the more someone helps others, the more fruit grows on her tree). Active do-gooders can exchange some of their virtual fruit stockpile for their own favors.
- The game is being piloted on two university campuses; Favortree’s collegiate crowd has mostly been sharing textbooks, videogames, cooking supplies and rides to the airport (PSFK.com, 10 July 2012).
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- Digital community-building tools continue to proliferate and mainstream as busy consumers look for seamless ways to strengthen connections between one another and satisfy mutual needs. Services like Favortree make it easy for consumers to join a community and initiate engagement smoothly on their own terms.
RESOURCES
