I think "social media" (the kind of "always-on" network that's different than texts or calls) would be an incredible and very fun thing to have in a life simulation game, if done right. I think it would be so, so hard to do well, though, just because of the incredible amount of content you'd have to build into it to make it feel the slightest bit realistic. That's why I don't plan to ever include such a thing in my games - even a world that seems to be set in the near future is going to be different enough from ours to justify not having that kind of modern consumer tech. Similarly, unless it's a game set on the frontier of space, I'd hesitate to include features like a Google Earth system or the modern internet or automatic guns. They remove too many of the mysteries, adventures, and struggles that we find interesting in games. If done perfectly, they'd probably be great features... but how do you do something like that perfectly, in a way that keeps the game interesting? Maybe some people will disagree with me, but as a general rule, I feel like the world of a few hundred years ago was a much more ripe place for adventure (per se) than the world of today.
Anyway, I'm being bit of a grump above, but I really like your idea to start a topic like this.
