– Zynga, creator of “FarmVille” and other hugely popular online social games, launched a new title on Facebook on Wednesday, “FrontierVille,” which features pioneers seeking to tame the Wild West.

“You’ve gone out into the wilderness to start a new life,” said Brian Reynolds, Zynga’s chief game designer. “You’re actually raising a virtual family on the frontier.”

“You can add a frontier spouse, create little child avatars,” Reynolds, who led the development of FrontierVille, told AFP.

Zynga claims more than 230 million monthly active users of its games, which include “Mafia Wars,” “Treasure Isle,” “Zynga Poker,” “Cafe World,” “FishVille” and “PetVille” in addition to “FarmVille.”

FrontierVille shares some similarities with FarmVille but provides “a fresh game play experience in a new setting and some really new interesting ways to interact with your friends,” Reynolds said.

“The heart of social gaming is your ability to play them with your real friends on Facebook,” he said. “You can tend their crops, feed their animals — boost your reputation by helping your friends.” Read the rest of this entry →

What’s that? A young college grad lecturing her elders about online privacy?

It might go against conventional wisdom, but a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project is adding fuel to the argument that young people are fast becoming the gurus of online reputation management, especially when it comes to social networking sites.

Among other things, the study found that they are most likely to limit personal information online — and the least likely to trust free online services ranging from Facebook to LinkedIn and MySpace.

Marlene McManus, 21, is among those young adults. On the job hunt since graduating from Clark University in Massachusetts, she’s been “scouring” her Facebook page, removing photos that contain beer cups and any other signs of college exploits. Read the rest of this entry →

After the ban of Facebook in Pakistan, Pakistani Students have launched their own social network with the name Life.

Pakistani Life