As a ramp-up for the next week’s SMC-LA meeting on social media and gaming, here are a few recent blog posts on the topic to get attendees ‘in the mood’ for the panel discussion.

The Social Media-Gaming Connection by Mark Walsh

What are the hottest business trends in social media? Gaming and virtual payments are among the fastest-growing segments, according to social media experts gathered at the Advertising 2.0 conference.

Games and Social Media by Dave Taylor

One thing is for sure, it’s clear that both next-gen console developers know that games developers want to add integration between their games and social networks. Microsoft can pretend that it wanted to add the Facebook and Twitter features for users, but it’s developers that have forced them to open up to these services.

Twitter, Facebook added to xBox 360 Dashboard

Could be that TV trays will be coming back in style because you’ll be able to use social media and play games right from your couch. It seems as if everyone is trying to jump aboard the social networking train. Although it is very hip, it could potentially cause an outbreak of couch potatoes like the world has never seen before.

Top Ten Massive Multiplayer Games On Facebook

So why are they called “Massive Multiplayer Online” Games, or MMOs for short? Because the popularity of social media gaming has gone through roof and the numbers of players now engaged have skyrocketed into the millions. While many MMOs can be played on stand-alone systems like Play Station, Nintendo and Xboxgam players, the latest trend is registering for the online versions of these games on the world’s largest social network…Facebook!