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.