Blog #3 - HSX.com

Trying out the Hollywood Stock Exchange was an interesting experience for me. HSX is an online game/community which acts as an imaginary stock market for current movies, television shows and stars. The site gave me a lot of in-game money to start with, which was nice because it was free and it also allowed me to immediately go start trading stocks. After using up all of that money, I headed over the community forums to check out the portfolios of other members and talk about the game; unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to post in the forum for a bit because my account was still brand new. At the end of the week I came back and checked on how my stocks had changed in value and was finally able to post in the forums. These were my results:

The "virtual community" aspect is integral to the success of HSX. Otherwise, it might as well be a single-player game with stock values becoming lower and higher as dictated by an A.I. program. The value of different stocks raises and lowers according to what other users just like you are buying and selling, so community interaction is what makes the game work. The forums encourage players to discuss strategies for trading stocks, predictions for future values of certain stocks, etc. It's a bit hard to understand everything people discuss there because of the jargon involved, but that's just because I've never done anything like HSX before. The game is driven in a very big way by the community's interaction -- both with the game itself and with each other -- so it definitely qualifies as a virtual community. 

HSX could be seen as an online "third place" because games like this could be an escape for a lot of people. All members start out on neutral ground and are made to feel like a real part of the community since their actions have a direct impact on the imaginary stock market and vice-versa. Once one's account is old enough to post to the forums, they are encouraged to seek advice from more experience players and the atmosphere is very open and friendly. Those with more experience who tend to post sound advice or possess admin privileges are like the "elders" of this community; if they post enough, they stand out as a "regular" of the site. From my experience browsing the forums, there were a few different people who seemed to fit this description. The community uses HSX's imaginary currency as its primary capital and those who wish to "outscore" others are encouraged to stay updated with the website as much as possible in order to make decisions which they believe will earn them more currency. 

As I stated before, I wasn't able to participate in the forums for a while, so I never really had a chance to communicate within the community. However, once I was granted posting privileges I was able to do so as I pleased, usually just reading through others' discussions and making small comments. Overall, I was pleased with my experience with the Hollywood Stock Exchange. It's a fun way to practice making smart investments without losing any real money as you learn. The HSX virtual community is helpful and serves as the fuel which keeps the whole thing in motion, rather than simply being some discussion board on the side. It's important to the game; without the community, HSX would cease to be.

-B