The use of game mechanics in social media
Game elements are a necessary part of any social media project. Human society is completely based on games (career, war, flirting, litigation - these and many other life phenomena can be viewed as special games with their participants, location and clear rules), therefore it is very important in social networks to give people gaming tools, which is so important to us. It can be a variety of ratings, the mechanism of karma, points for status and other numerical parameters for accumulating and comparing users with each other. American Internet entrepreneur Peter Kim in his blog tells how the game mechanics in social media.
Everyone likes the game: someone simple as a solitaire, someone as complex as World of Warcraft. If you think that games are not serious, then think again. They help us to achieve excellence in many things, simple, like hunting for the beast, and complex, such as training surgeons or helping victims of natural disasters. But, as in everything, moderation is important here, because some people died when they were too enthusiastic about games.
People fall into the trap of egoism , if they are too addicted to game elements on social networks and focus specifically on aspects of the game, and not on the content and meaning of their actions.
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This is how the game mechanics work.
My friend Max Kalehoff published a list of five key elements of a successful game design. I cite these points here.
1. Collecting things. People have a primary instinct to collect and show others collected. In offline it can be badges, candy wrappers or brands. My old roommate was collecting unusual Coca-Cola bottles. Online we have Twitter widgets, Facebook demo pages, Flickr photo albums.
2. Set points. This determines the size of the achievements and translates them into social status. Offline, the winner of Formula 1 is determined that way and gain points for discounts in the store or a free ticket. Online is the number of friends or subscribers to your content. The world's largest PR agencies advise their clients to pay attention to those people who have “influence” or “authority” on the basis of the aforementioned numerical characteristics. We further increase the power of these points by studying the lists of the most popular bloggers, the most widely read Twitter users, and even the most mentioned people online .
3. Feedback from the system. Offline is a visit to the store with a cumulative discount card or speeding up your car when you press the gas pedal. Online is not comments or backlinks (they are translated into numerical characteristics), but a response from the system itself. She herself tells you how many percent your LinkedIn profile is filled in, what is the level of your karma in Habrahabr [app. translator: in the original - Karma Plurk] . The system itself calculates this using its own algorithm.
4. Exchange of values. Successful social relationships. Offline, we visit each other and invite each other’s children for their birthdays or help things or money to strangers, saying “give it to someone else” [pay it forward; approx. translator: the phenomenon of gratuitous transfer of things or debt is little known in our culture; it means refusing to return to the benefit of another person, as a result of which a system of exchange of values, alternative to the modern monetary system, is actually created in society] . Online is also a relationship process: exchanging messages on each other's pages, exchanging greetings, virtual gifts. Likes “I like that too” on what your friend liked, @ -tweet.
5. Customization and personalization. Ability to show creativity. In offline, a person selects wallpaper for an apartment, a housing for a mobile phone, stickers for a laptop. Online is the details in the profile, photos or background image, which says something about the interests of the person.
The trap of egoism is always there when it comes to the point system. When a user stupidly accumulates quantitative indicators (the number of friends, readers, etc.), his accumulations become garbage-like. Feedbek exceeds reasonable boundaries. The exchange of values ​​does not bring pleasure.
From the point of view of business, that is, from the position of the owner of the system, all this is good. They pave the way to monetization - banner advertising, sponsorship, branding campaigns, etc.
From the point of view of the user himself, this is good only up to a certain limit, after which the benefit only decreases. True, the numbers are relative. For example, I feel comfortable right now when I have about 500 friends on Facebook. But Jeremy feels fine with almost 2500.
Concentration is the main factor that allows you to dodge the trap of egoism. Play for a specific purpose. Social games never end, because of them consists of our lives. In the end, winning or losing turns into a state of consciousness, and does not remain an episode of some kind in time.
Everyone likes the game: someone simple as a solitaire, someone as complex as World of Warcraft. If you think that games are not serious, then think again. They help us to achieve excellence in many things, simple, like hunting for the beast, and complex, such as training surgeons or helping victims of natural disasters. But, as in everything, moderation is important here, because some people died when they were too enthusiastic about games.
People fall into the trap of egoism , if they are too addicted to game elements on social networks and focus specifically on aspects of the game, and not on the content and meaning of their actions.
')
This is how the game mechanics work.
My friend Max Kalehoff published a list of five key elements of a successful game design. I cite these points here.
1. Collecting things. People have a primary instinct to collect and show others collected. In offline it can be badges, candy wrappers or brands. My old roommate was collecting unusual Coca-Cola bottles. Online we have Twitter widgets, Facebook demo pages, Flickr photo albums.
2. Set points. This determines the size of the achievements and translates them into social status. Offline, the winner of Formula 1 is determined that way and gain points for discounts in the store or a free ticket. Online is the number of friends or subscribers to your content. The world's largest PR agencies advise their clients to pay attention to those people who have “influence” or “authority” on the basis of the aforementioned numerical characteristics. We further increase the power of these points by studying the lists of the most popular bloggers, the most widely read Twitter users, and even the most mentioned people online .
3. Feedback from the system. Offline is a visit to the store with a cumulative discount card or speeding up your car when you press the gas pedal. Online is not comments or backlinks (they are translated into numerical characteristics), but a response from the system itself. She herself tells you how many percent your LinkedIn profile is filled in, what is the level of your karma in Habrahabr [app. translator: in the original - Karma Plurk] . The system itself calculates this using its own algorithm.
4. Exchange of values. Successful social relationships. Offline, we visit each other and invite each other’s children for their birthdays or help things or money to strangers, saying “give it to someone else” [pay it forward; approx. translator: the phenomenon of gratuitous transfer of things or debt is little known in our culture; it means refusing to return to the benefit of another person, as a result of which a system of exchange of values, alternative to the modern monetary system, is actually created in society] . Online is also a relationship process: exchanging messages on each other's pages, exchanging greetings, virtual gifts. Likes “I like that too” on what your friend liked, @ -tweet.
5. Customization and personalization. Ability to show creativity. In offline, a person selects wallpaper for an apartment, a housing for a mobile phone, stickers for a laptop. Online is the details in the profile, photos or background image, which says something about the interests of the person.
The trap of egoism is always there when it comes to the point system. When a user stupidly accumulates quantitative indicators (the number of friends, readers, etc.), his accumulations become garbage-like. Feedbek exceeds reasonable boundaries. The exchange of values ​​does not bring pleasure.
From the point of view of business, that is, from the position of the owner of the system, all this is good. They pave the way to monetization - banner advertising, sponsorship, branding campaigns, etc.
From the point of view of the user himself, this is good only up to a certain limit, after which the benefit only decreases. True, the numbers are relative. For example, I feel comfortable right now when I have about 500 friends on Facebook. But Jeremy feels fine with almost 2500.
Concentration is the main factor that allows you to dodge the trap of egoism. Play for a specific purpose. Social games never end, because of them consists of our lives. In the end, winning or losing turns into a state of consciousness, and does not remain an episode of some kind in time.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/31677/
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