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comment by thenewgreen
thenewgreen  ·  4356 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why gamification is changing the face of 21st century education
    Gamification is a creative solution to many problems, but it often isn't being implemented by creative people. They usually just copy what happens to be working at the moment.
When you see a good idea in the world that doesn't seem to be working the way it should, it usually comes down to this. It's not enough to say, "Gamification works, let's dangle a carrot in front of them and see what happens". You have to understand your audience, the factors that motivate them and their desired outcome, not just yours. I would imagine that it takes a good amount of training in human psychology to understand how to properly implement gamification in a way that provides the desired results.

But you're right about it being a "buzz word", and a sort of flavor of the month. I've started to see it creep in to my professional life via online training modules and I'd be glad to see it creep out again. -I'm not 10 years old, I don't need a "gold star". -Money however, is always accepted.





newgameplus  ·  4355 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Come to think of it Hubski has badges too, but they're purely social. I don't know if they're actually motivating users to post more insightful content, but I think they're undeniably a good feedback mechanism to show one's contributions are appreciated.

Reddit has plenty of ludic aspects as well. In fact, Reddit is probably one of the better examples of how gamification should work. Many users are quick to point out that the voting system, coupled with a user base rabid to use it, creates a Skinner box. Skinner box's are most effective when the payout is set to 50%. Subjects naturally get giant spikes of dopamine when they honestly don't know whether they'll win or lose, and when posting to Reddit most people seem to have no idea if their post will be met with adulation or derision.

That's only one mechanic though, and that's where I feel most people would stop and think, "Well, we just need some kind of operant conditioning mechanism to hook users." That is probably a good place to start, but the truth is the community of Reddit happens to create something more worthwhile. It creates spontaneous cooperation and competition. For instance, "Let's all band together and try to set up this rally," or "Let's all take different sides to this controversial issue and discuss it." This is a more pure aspect to play that strikes closer to the things that motivate real people and not laboratory subjects. The fact that Reddit does have achievements but no one pays attention to them anymore is exemplary of this.

I think there's also a very negative aspect of this that doesn't get talked about. Which is these games can also create very motivated destruction. Instead it becomes, "Let's all band together and send death threats to this person we suddenly hate," and "Let's split into Feminists and MRAs and spend 6 years just shouting at each other." When we finally get a better grip on how to use these ideas to tap more energy from people, we also need to be able to focus that energy towards meaningful endeavors.

thenewgreen  ·  4355 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I can't speak to the Reddit examples as I'm not an avid redditor, but what little experience I do have with the site have been positive. I gave money to a little boy that had life saving surgery at Duke because I learned of it from Reddit. -Very cool stuff. But I don't know much about their "gamefication".

On Hubski we wanted to allow people to earn badges based on their input to the site but we wanted the badges to be something that our users didn't keep. They aren't trophies to collect dust on the shelf but rather trophies that you can give to content that you appreciate. It's less about gaming and self rewarding than it is appreciation and giving. For example, I remember giving this badge because I really enjoyed the comment. I think this is a pretty cool system. I know that when I have received a badge from another Hubskier, it has made my day. If I just received a badge from Hubski, it wouldn't be nearly as cool.

Hubskiers trump Hubski any day!

newgameplus  ·  4355 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Oh definitely, that's what I meant by purely social. I think it's a very interesting idea. Though I must admit I didn't even realize you gave me one for that comment until just now. :)
thenewgreen  ·  4355 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I'm pretty sure we have email notifications set up for them. Also, just an fyi that you can click on your name and see how many you've earned and given. In your hub you can see in your "stats", how many badges you've received from others.