Building a Sopranos Online Community

The Arts & Entertainment cable channel will be airing reruns of the series “The Sopranos” in order to get viewers to watch the reruns with renewed interest “A&E created a game to gain viewer interest and build a “Sopranos Community.” This article sparked my interest because from our guest speaker Diane Hessen and what we’ve learned in class, there is a trend growing towards brands building online/social communities.

This Sopranos game is similar to a fantasy football league, in which “actual football games supply the raw data for parallel competitions for points and rankings. The Sopranos game depends on action in the series to win points and rankings in the online game.” Players must find virtual tokens that represent characters, objects and places that are central to the series, and they are rewarded with bonus points if the pieces are arranged in order that reflects the same order in the episode. This game is user-friendly to all viewers. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Sopranos enthusiast or if you’ve never seen the series before.

I think this online game is a great idea because it generates a buzz among viewers and it enhances the experience of watching the television series. Honestly I don’t know the details of the fantasy football league but I have friends that actively participate in it. If there is a deadline to choose your “fantasy team,” my friends would literally stop and drop what they are doing to “draft” a team for the game. If the Sopranos can mimic the user participation for the “Fantasy Football League” and create a “Sopranos Community,” this online game will be successful.

Erica Lee