What is Gamification?
Gamification is "the usage of game elements in non-game contexts in order to increase motivation and engagement. It can range from something as simple as likes on a Facebook post, to levels and badges for completing certain actions on a social media site. Gamification is a method for driving users to interact and engage with each other and with the site itself - it’s difficult to describe because there are so many ways of gamifying media. Why Gamify Things?
There has been a recent shift in the minds of advertisers and social media experts that focuses on what users are willing to do for intangible rewards - instead of directly offering rewards for engaging in the site, users are rewarded socially for engaging with others, in the form of “group identification and social approval”. By engaging with others, and having others engage with us, we’re rewarded. It’s the positive reinforcement of social interactions, and the more gamified this social interaction with others becomes, the more we will seek it out beyond the norm. This cycle of rewards is why gamification works so well, and why companies have begun to jump into gamifying their own sites and brands. |
What's Ethics got to do with Gamification?
A decent bit, actually. Ethics is important in the realm of gamification because it allows for scrutiny as to what companies are attempting to encourage by way of gamification. If the behaviors encouraged by gamification are unhealthy - e.g. spending inordinate amounts of time on a social media site - it calls into question whether it should be regulated or not. To read more, check out my paper on the subject of gamifying social media below.
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