What do all these items have in common? They are just some of the things we’ve given away to fans during Free Stuff Friday. Our Twitter giveaways have been very successful, and I wanted to share a behind-the-scenes look into how we do them. At the least, I hope companies can stop using Twitter as just another avenue to push a marketing message.

EA had an interactive photo contest at Comic Con. But it’s not that simple. They encouraged patrons to “commit acts of lust” with their “booth babes”. Because apparently sexual harassment is awesome.

Homophobia is a problem in all virtual communities, but especially in gaming communities. GLAAD recently launched a project to combat this, beginning with a panel discussion with gaming industry leaders next week. Through statistics and video, GLAAD makes some compelling arguments about why this important issue needs to be addressed right now. I’m proud to be working with GLAAD on this — as a gaming industry employee, a community manager, and an out lesbian.

Why aren’t there more women gamers? It seems like one of those unanswerable questions, but I don’t think it actually is. Perhaps it’s the game plots, the game design, or the way women have been portrayed in games. There is a tremendous up-and-coming market of non-traditional gamers that would be incredible for gaming companies to reach. How do we do that without alienating our current consumers? How do we go from a straight man’s world to a more inclusive one? I don’t have the answers, but I do have some ideas. And I welcome the conversation.

Setting rules and expectations for your users from the beginning is crucial. If you skip this step, you’ll spend a lot of time and money wishing you had. The developers of City of Heroes found this out the hard way.