C ULTURAL INFLUENCES ON PLAYER INTERACTION IN SOCIAL NETWORK GAMES Game observed : FarmTown (Facebook)

T HE IDEA Distant learning – team work Countries Skills Time Schedule Working habits Gender Age groups

T HE IDEA Main difficulties Online cross-cultural collaboration Team building Main difficulties Online cross-cultural collaboration Team building Collaboration needs to be forced en controlled Learning/working environments Collaboration emerges naturally Social Network Games HOW? WHY? HOW DO CULTURAL DIFFERENCES INFLUENCE COLLABORATION? HOW TO IMPROVE ONLINE COLLABORATION IN A DISTANT, CROSS-CULTURAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT?

G AME DESCRIPTION

G ENERAL OBSERVATIONS / HIRING ACTIVITIES US / UK Market Easy hiring / getting hired Discussions other than FT US / UK Market Easy hiring / getting hired Discussions other than FT FR Market Hiring / getting hired – communities Little other discussions FR Market Hiring / getting hired – communities Little other discussions NL Market Easy hiring / getting hired Multiple discussions other than FT NL Market Easy hiring / getting hired Multiple discussions other than FT No activity since … Farmers moved to UK/US

S AMPLE DEFINITION Participants in several countries : Belgium Netherlands France United Kingdom Unites States of America Canada

D ATA GATHERING Initial questionnaire 3 weeks survey (over several months) Observation: Countries / languages Age groups Gender Professional background Countries / languages Age groups Gender Professional background Nr of FT friends / buddies Nr of visits – markets Nr of collaborations Triggers for collaboration Nr of FT friends / buddies Nr of visits – markets Nr of collaborations Triggers for collaboration Friend-filtered collaboration? Collaboration on larger scale? Friend-filtered collaboration? Collaboration on larger scale?