Not so corny: Users of wildly popular Facebook game tend virtual farms, learn about production

Facebook’s virtual farm game attracting millions

ST. LOUIS — Sex therapist Laura Hawkins Grimes calls Chicago home, but in her heart, she’s a country bumpkin with sprawling homestead.

Grimes is one of tens of millions of users of FarmVille, a wildly popular online fantasy game in which folks plant, harvest and tend livestock.

Just months old, the FarmVille application on the Facebook social networking site has lured in both city slickers like Grimes and real farmers, while encouraging people to think about where their food comes from.

With more than 72 million monthly users worldwide, FarmVille is the biggest of a growing number of online farm games. Grimes says she likes FarmVille’s neighborly feel and getting rewarded for such things as helping an online neighbor.

On the Net:

FarmVille: www.farmville.com/