Shanti Bergel is a social gaming entrepreneur based in San Francisco. You should follow me on Twitter here. Alternatively, you can also get in touch by email at sbergel at gee mail dot com.Tumblr (3.0; @nattomaki)http://shantibergel.com/<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lupntpn2Ik1qzapabo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/14/mobile-games-may-be-taking-off-but-how-are-their-creators-going-to-make-money-infographic/" target="_blank">Infographic: Mobile Gaming Explodes, Transitions To Freemium</a></p>http://shantibergel.com/post/12840026686http://shantibergel.com/post/12840026686Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:06:21 -0800social gamingmobilemobile gamingsocial mobileFreemiumfree to play<iframe width="400" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qQT_ES4pFtc?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/><br/><p>My presentation at Casual Connect 2011: “Navigating The Red Oceans & Green Fields Of Social Gaming”</p>http://shantibergel.com/post/9084773009http://shantibergel.com/post/9084773009Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:17:00 -0700social gamingfacebookSocial mediavirtual goods<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmqu14Fosi1qzapabo1_500.gif"/><br/><br/><p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.vincos.it/world-map-of-social-networks/">The Global Expansion of Facebook:  2009 - 2011 </a></p>http://shantibergel.com/post/6495644505http://shantibergel.com/post/6495644505Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:27:02 -0700social networkSocial mediafacebookApple appears to be cracking down on the use of offer wall providers in an effort to curtail third...http://shantibergel.com/post/4748843974http://shantibergel.com/post/4748843974Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:49:00 -0700mobile gamingmarketingViral marketing“This is the unlit social graph, and this is where Facebook is vulnerable.” - The Unlit...http://shantibergel.com/post/4507524534http://shantibergel.com/post/4507524534Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:05:14 -0700Social mediasocial networksocial graphAccording to a new report released today from market research firm Parks Associates, social gaming...http://shantibergel.com/post/4425854776http://shantibergel.com/post/4425854776Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:56:00 -0700mobile gamingsocial gamingThe more things change, the more they stay the same.  Cross-promo trickery on the iOS AppStore would...http://shantibergel.com/post/4284138548http://shantibergel.com/post/4284138548Sat, 02 Apr 2011 09:21:20 -0700“Social Gaming By The Numbers: The Seven Deadly Social Metrics” - Albert Lai http://shantibergel.com/post/2583045041http://shantibergel.com/post/2583045041Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:15:14 -0800social gamingSocial mediasocial gamessocial graphmetricsmonetizationmarketing<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lajn8g6S1G1qzapabo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Country by country breakdown of the European market for virtual goods </p>http://shantibergel.com/post/1351736856http://shantibergel.com/post/1351736856Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:33:51 -0700virtual goodsVirtual Currencyvirtual economy<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9y45x0vdn1qzapabo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Map of Online Communities: Summer 2010</p>http://shantibergel.com/post/1265643649http://shantibergel.com/post/1265643649Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:32:20 -0700Social mediasocial networksocial graphsocial gaming“The key insight is that the interactions of one person affect and organize the interactions...http://shantibergel.com/post/1258431828http://shantibergel.com/post/1258431828Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:11:47 -0700facebookSocial mediasocial graphsocial artifact“Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do…Play consists of whatever a body is not...http://shantibergel.com/post/660667801http://shantibergel.com/post/660667801Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:34:23 -0700game designSocial mediasocial gaming<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l33amyMv4y1qzapabo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>A Brief History of Social Games: 3100 BC - 2010 AD</p>http://shantibergel.com/post/638142189http://shantibergel.com/post/638142189Thu, 27 May 2010 10:44:57 -0700social gaming“Badges are at risk of becoming the new banner advertisement” - Foursquarehttp://shantibergel.com/post/568559263http://shantibergel.com/post/568559263Mon, 03 May 2010 10:02:15 -0700Social mediasocial networksocial gamingad fatigue<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="348" id="VideoPlayerLg44277"><param name="movie" value="http://g4tv.com/lv3/44277" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://g4tv.com/lv3/44277" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="VideoPlayer" width="400" height="382" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br/><br/><p><strong>The Game-ification Of Everything</strong></p>http://shantibergel.com/post/405065596http://shantibergel.com/post/405065596Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:56:00 -0800game designsocial gamingsocial graphfacebook“NFO (News Feed Optimization) is the new SEO” - Justin Smith Presentation by Hiten...http://shantibergel.com/post/354570954http://shantibergel.com/post/354570954Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:01:32 -0800facebookoptimizationmetricsAtul Bagga analyzes the video game space for ThinkEquity and has recently been doing an interesting...http://shantibergel.com/post/319977953http://shantibergel.com/post/319977953Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:28:00 -0800Facebooksocial gamingARPU<object width="400" height="292"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff" /><param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/MalcolmGladwell_2004-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/MalcolmGladwell-2004.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=320&vh=240&ap=0&ti=20&introDuration=16500&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=2000&adKeys=talk=malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce;year=2004;theme=tales_of_invention;theme=not_business_as_usual;theme=what_makes_us_happy;theme=unconventional_explanations;event=TED2004;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="334" height="292" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/MalcolmGladwell_2004-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/MalcolmGladwell-2004.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=320&vh=240&ap=0&ti=20&introDuration=16500&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=2000&adKeys=talk=malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce;year=2004;theme=tales_of_invention;theme=not_business_as_usual;theme=what_makes_us_happy;theme=unconventional_explanations;event=TED2004;"></embed></object><br/><br/><p><b>“Beyond the age of information is the age of choices”</b></p> <p><i>-Charles Eames</i></p> <p>The legendary design thinker almost certainly did not have virtual goods in mind when he made that statement but, in my opinion, it informs our industry all the same.  For, like the consumer staples sector, ours is a business based on consumer choice.  The work of Howard Moskowitz (see video) is extremely inspirational to me in this regard.</p>http://shantibergel.com/post/248637241http://shantibergel.com/post/248637241Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:50:00 -0800virtual goodspsychologyWith its recently announced acquisition of Playfish, Electronic Arts is now the first traditional...http://shantibergel.com/post/239251331http://shantibergel.com/post/239251331Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:28:00 -0800Electronic ArtsPlayfishfacebooksocial gamingsocial networkcross-platformcross-promotion“In virtual economies, you have perfect information.” - William Grosso http://shantibergel.com/post/238206442http://shantibergel.com/post/238206442Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800metricsvirtual goodsvirtual worldvirtual economy