How World of Warcraft Translates Into Social Media Prowess

World of Warcraft (WoW) is a pretty big deal. I have an epic mount, people know me. That sort of thing. Gnomes FTW etc.

I played WoW throughout college and had a character (Stumanji) at launch. I played the game with friends and generally had an awesome time. WoW is unique because it is a game that is largely based off of cooperation, team building and networking. In other words, it's pretty much like the business world (except with lots of dragons).

Some people like to dismiss the merits of this kind of cooperative play due to ignorance and a lack of understanding of what the game is truly about. WoW can also be incredibly addictive, I actually had to stop my senior year and haven't played since. Now that I've given people the initial downside to playing WoW, here are the benefits:

1. Networking Practice

Like life, World of Warcraft is all about who you know. In my case it was the main guilds on my server Silvermoon: Endless or Tiras (It's been 2+years...my brain is foggy) if you were in tight with those guilds you were guaranteed a decent shot at loot, high level dungeons, and all sorts of awesome. Basically, my goal was to get in with those people so I could build up my characters (a Paladin and a Lock) and make me uber. However, to do this it was almost like a job interview. I had to go through trial dungeon runs, talk about myself and my communication skills, and generally show off how useful I was to the other players. Alright, I take it back...it WAS a job interview.

The same tenets apply to Social Media. Who you know in the space is damn important. It means the difference between success and failure. No matter how awesome you are at something...if no one knows about it no one will care.

2. Teamwork

Anyone involved in a 40 person raid on a dungeon knows that teamwork can make or break a successful session of play online. You are in tight with these people for a reason, they will watch your back and you have to watch theirs. If one person screws up: the entire raid can wipe. Guess what? Your intern can probably screw you up just as badly.

3. Clear Objectives

You aren't in the game to screw around if you play it seriously. People will realize this and quickly move on to find someone who shares their goals. In WoW, if all you are interested in is dancing in Elwynn Forest...well you probably won't get very far. The same is true with marketers who try out social media without any true objective or idea on how to be successful. They will wither and die on the vine, because they didn't try to participate actively in the community or just didn't know how (and were unwilling to learn).

4. Seeking out New Talent

You always want to surround yourself with good, helpful people in WoW. In social media (and especially social bookmarking ), finding new aggregators and people who will submit your content is a constant search. You are always looking to make more connections and find the next MrBabyMan or MSaleem. Getting in on the ground floor of a new social media service is just as important. You should always be looking to create new avenues for revenue and new contacts who you can share submissions with.

5. Communication

All in all, WoW is a lot like the real world. It provides a great opportunity to grow your communication skills in an non-traditional manner. If you don't communicate effectively and clearly who you are and what you want no one will listen. You need to have clearly formed thoughts and expressions to be successful.

6. Luck

Great luck can mean the difference between a wipe and an FP. Most social bookmarking sites and World of Warcraft are largely based off of algorithms. Sometimes you get lucky...sometimes you die (either by fire from a dragon or an auto-bury from a Digg mod). Learning to understand and accept that things in life are often left up to chance, can greatly improve your outlook and attitude. Remember...I think Social Media and WoW are fun, you should too.

7. Grinding

Grinding sucks. It just does. But it is a necessary evil in social media. Do I really want to upvote all those stories or find 5 dragon pelts? Hell no. I want to FP everything and fight Arthas. But to get the opportunity to do so, you need to put the time in. Spending time grinding it out will also provide you with occasional interesting content that you can spread to other sites (or sell at the Auction House).

So there you have it. WoW is a LOT like social media, because it provides a microcosm of life in a digital space. All the downsides and upsides are readily available for study and understanding: You just have to play the game.

GNOME POWER!!!!!

tagged as epic lootz, grinding, mmorpg, Social Media, team work, work, world of warcraft, WoW