For social networks, it's game on - USATODAY.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Life on FarmVille has had a transformative effect on Laura Phillips. For 45 minutes a day, Phillips, a 41-year-old marketing contractor in the Silicon Valley town of Morgan Hill, Calif., gets lost in the digital game on Facebook, managing crops and animals on her virtual farm. "This is my escape from city life; it's my relaxation," she says. "Since Day One, I've been a complete addict. I lose sleep at night, worrying about my farm."

Phillips is one of more than 56 million monthly users of the game created by Zynga, a company that specializes in social games for platforms including Facebook, MySpace, iPhone and Bebo. FarmVille had just 354 users on June 20, the day after it launched. It's widely believed to be the largest and fastest-growing social game ever...