I recently read this incredibly long critique of The Sims Social:
http://www.actionbutton.net/?p=1076
The old Sim games, like Sim City, Sim Farm, Sim Ant, Sim Life, and The Sims were all a bit of a simulation, in that they made the mechanics of the simulated world act as a model of a real world entity. If that review is to be believed, they’ve thrown that all out, in favour of “social” mechanics that are modeled around manipulating the player. For example, in The Sims, your Sim made money by getting a job but apparently in the Sims Social, you can get money from making your bed. One of those is modeling the real world, one is just applying standard social game mechanics to a Sims-themed “metaphor.”
It also makes me sad that Maxis is making “The Sims” cash-ins, but SimAnt never got a sequel.