Farmville in the city

“Can I use your computer to harvest my pineapples?”

For those who aren’t too technologically inclined, this may be the most confusing question ever, but for those living in the era of Facebook, it’s completely normal.

Upon entering my apartment, my friend asked me this because she, like many college students, is obsessed with the Facebook game Farmville.
The point of Farmville is to start a farm and gain points by befriending other internet farmers and harvesting fruits and vegetables.

For some, the farms are a break from urban life in New York City, while others have a personal connection to farming. My friend used to have trouble growing vegetables in her garden as a child, but on Farmville her crops grow like magic.

Having grown up in a somewhat rural area myself, I’m glad to have escaped from the farms of my youth and don’t really need an e-reminder of them.

But while I can understand the point of real farms, what’s the point of growing electronic food and making fake money when you can’t use them in the real world?

Sure, most computer games are pointless time wasters, but why farms of all things? If I want to kill time, I’d rather sit down to a game of Tetris or Text Twist, both of which are far more stimulating for your brain than watching a character walk around farming your crops.