Skip to main content

And I hope democracies can regulate to put an end to this system before it puts an end to democracies. Because, as with most things, it’s a systemic problem not one of personal responsibility. The people being addicted to these systems are the victims.

nitter.net/OmanReagan/status/1…

#PeopleFarming

#peoplefarming
in reply to Aral Balkan

Lucia Cervi
Lucia Cervi
• •
yup, increasing calls from various corners of academia (corporate responsibility, design, HCI) warning against gamification & its impacts on human behaviour and living conditions. For instance, gamifying serious issues like sustainability might make us take them less seriously than we should

Aral Balkan reshared this.

in reply to Lucia Cervi

Aral Balkan
Aral Balkan
• •
Also, it is inherently anthropological/colonial in nature, exploits cognitive and behavioural psychology to satisfy corporate greed, and, at best, holds an infantalising view of the people who will be using the things you’re making.
in reply to Aral Balkan

Dr. Quadragon ❌
Dr. Quadragon ❌
• •

Not to say that gamification is essentially bad, it's an efficient way to get people to do *something*. It reduces friction. I used it all the time in my days as a teacher. Also, look at projects like StreetComplete, who turn a menial, boring, complicated task of making maps into a fun little satisfying challenge. It still has ways to go, but supplying precious data to a socially-valuable project using SC is nowhere near as frustrating as entering it through, I dunno, Vespucci.

Intentions are the key here. That *something* is the question.

⇧