Emily Turnage

CST 373: Ethics in Comm. and Tech.

20 April 2017

Gamification: Help or Hindrance?

In 2002, a programmer by the name of Nick Pelling sought a word to describe a process

that human beings have been performing for generations, yet had never put a name to. There

was no official term, at the time, for the process of taking elements of games, and utilizing them

within non-game contexts in order to enhance engagement, enjoyment, or learning. The word

that Nick Pelling eventually coined for his consulting firm, Conundra, was gamification. Though

an intriguing concept, the term did not truly gain traction until around 2011, according to Google

Trends. This was when interest in the term gradually began to increase over time - software

engineers and advertisers alike began to take a closer look at this phenomenon. Soon,

seminars were being held, entire classes in gamification designed and spearheaded by people

like Sebastian Deterding, who in particular has published several studies, articles and other

papers on the subject. Gamification has been heralded as a powerful experience if utilized in

the right context, according to Deterding and his cohorts, though he insists that gamification as it

is used now does a remarkably poor job of understanding where potential rewards come from,

meaning that designing with gamification in mind is not as simple as add badges,

achievements, and statistics (16). Rather, it is a complex process, but one that human beings

have been striving for without realizing it for a long time - the examples of competitive classroom

learning and, even further back, marketers selling stamps to retailers who used them to reward

loyal customers over one hundred years ago (Smith).

With its long history and potential benefits, its no wonder that social media sites have

seen a rapid increase in gamification over the past five to ten years, heralding significant

change in how users interface with both the sites themselves. Social media sites are built off of
engagement - when users thrive and interact with one another, so too does the social media

networking site thrive. Occasionally, the gamification of these sites is simple; for example, as

explained by Pellikka, Facebook itself employs very little gamification in its base incarnation, the

closest analogues to game elements being Facebooks personal quiz to help one fill out their

profile information, as well as the metric of likes, reactions and comments on users posts

(21). Though simple, these concepts that Facebook utilizes to drive their user interaction are an

example of how gamification works. By encouraging users to interact with one another using

these scoring systems - getting a certain number of likes on a post may be seen as an

achievement, for example - Facebook increases engagement and user interest in the site. Other

social media sites utilize more blatant methods of gamification - continuing from the in-depth

examples given by Pelikka, Reddit.com offers a post ranking system, with users upvoting posts

they like, and downvoting posts they dislike, or feel do not contribute to discussion in that

particular subreddit - a forum of sorts for related media, with subreddits ranging from various

video games, to creative stories, to real life stories of schadenfreude and all things in between.

Reddit also offers trophies, which users can earn by participating in certain on-site events, and

badges, earned in much the same way. These achievements and ranking systems are indicative

of gamification in Reddits design - by giving users goals to achieve through interfacing and

connecting with others, Reddit utilizes gamification to motivate users to participate with the site

and fellow users alike, and many others have followed this model to great effect.

The pervasiveness of the internet has been well-established by this point - almost half of

the worlds population has access to an internet connection, according to ikrkci (1). The

popularity of social media sites has exploded in the past ten or so years, with Facebook alone

seeing nearly 2 billion active users as of March 2017 (Company Info). Thus, it is of utmost

importance to examine how social media sites engineer their product in order to engage

participation - and with engaging and encouraging participation being the singular goal of

gamification, it deserves to be scrutinized as any other portion of these sites. First, there is no
doubt that by employing gamification even at its most basic level in the context of their sites,

social media sites attempt to manipulate a sizable population, as stated before. The

manipulation may not be inherently malicious - companies do sometimes cut corners on the

basis of saving their profit margins, but rarely do companies consider motivating product

engagement as something done for any other reason than profit. But its hard to ignore the idea

that companies like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are subtly influencing millions, even

billions of people through the use of simple gamification tactics. There is also the concern of

social media site addiction; some 55% of students in a 2011 study were engaged in social

media sites, and a different study found that 57% of the college students that they polled used

social media sites daily (Kuss). The pull of visiting these sites on a daily basis is, at least in

some part, due to gamification, as it encourages and rewards participation with others. Lastly, of

most concern to this particular paper is the propensity of social media sites to facilitate mental

illness, and how the cyclical nature of the interactions that gamification encourages can affect

users mental wellbeing. One study found that social anxiety may be able to be used as a

predictor for unhealthy internet usage - citing users ability to control and monitor their social

interactions in a way that they cannot in face-to-face encounters (Caplan, 240). This ability to

control and measure ones social interactions comes - in part, but not completely - from

gamification, which offers users the ability to quantify ones social interactions with numbers, as

a certain amount of friends or a certain number of comments. These three concerns together -

the ethical issue of large-scale manipulation, coupled with the propensity for addiction and

potential risk for enhancing already problematic behaviors - warrant a closer look at the

potentially negative effects of large-scale implementation of gamification within social media

sites, and the routes that can be taken with regard to its implementation.

Social media site addiction is an ever-increasing concern in our society, where

connectivity and presence online are so pervasive and often necessary to job or school

participation that the devices used to maintain that connectivity are carried around in peoples
pockets. Though it is not yet listed in the DSM-V as a true disorder, according to CBS News,

excessive use of social media plagues the lives of many - up to 13% of the US population, as

estimated by the same source (Augenbraun). While the excessive use of sites alone does not

necessitate negative consequences on the part of the user, it is not wise to ignore such a non-

marginal group of people even if not all of them experience negative and life-altering

consequences because of it. Sites drive that desire and motivation to return in part by

incorporating gamification into their business model; only some experience the negative effects,

but those who are affected are affected powerfully. One woman, in a statement to the authors of

Online Social Networking and Addiction, replies Im an addict. I just get lost in Facebook.

when asked about why she does not see herself able to help her daughter with her homework

(Kuss). This concerning lack of control when faced with the reinforcing behaviors of social

media sites falls in line with the findings from another study that measured the effects of

excessive social media usage. Social media obsession was shown to have a high correlation

with technology-work and technology-family conflict in a study performed on a group of

college students, and in up to 50% of said students caused a cognitive preoccupation with both

their cell phones, and social media sites themselves (Zheng).

Conflicts between work, family and social media arent the only troubles that arise when

confronting the matter of social media site addiction. One paper describes a phenomenon its

authors call Facebook Depression, a very real phenomenon whereby children and teens who

spend excessive amounts of time on Facebook begin to exhibit classic symptoms of

depression (OKeefe, 802). Children, affected by the reinforcement given to them in part by

gamification of the social media sites that they frequent, are learning to feed off of that

reinforcement and the reinforcement from their peers on those social media sites. In truth, social

media sites have been found in multiple studies to assist in the development of, or exacerbate

the symptoms and suffering from, various mental illnesses, with the most common ones

affected being depression and anxiety symptoms. One study found a positive correlation
between what it deemed pathological internet use and social anxiety, which they took to

suggest socially anxious individuals may be slightly more vulnerable to pathological internet

use (Prizant-Passal). From this, we can gather that there may be a correlation between

gamification elements and the drawing of already mentally at-risk people into problematic

behaviors with regard to social media site usage. It is clear that gamification, while not the only

tool in social media sites arsenal to keep users interested, is a powerful tool nonetheless.

In the vein of solutions, there are a couple different main routes that social media sites -

and the users, as the general populace - could take with regards to gamification. In order to

analyze these potential solutions properly, we must place them within the context of two differing

ethical frameworks to analyze their risks and possible benefits, as well as the reactions from

and best interests of those affected by the solutions. By examining these potential solutions

from the perspective of multiple ethical frameworks, we hope to gain a more well-rounded view

of the issue as a whole, as well as a better perspective on which solution might be better suited

to the issue at-hand.

First, there is the solution - or, perhaps, non-solution - that social media sites simply

continue on as they are now, with no regulation of gamification and no restriction on the

rewarding of above-and-beyond behavior or daily log-ins. Though it seems counter-intuitive to

simply let social media sites run free and do as they please, gamification has been the target of

scrutiny over how much true interest it drives due to poor implementation by many sites. One

article from the BBC covers how the analyst firm Gartner stated that 80% of gamification

applications will fail to deliver because of poor design (Fleming). There is also the concern

that, due to the small gamification aspects of sites like Facebook and Instagram being so core

to their model - as it would be difficult for these sites to remove things like like counts or repost

counts - it would be nigh impossible to remove gamification from many parts of the internet as it

is seen today.
 Secondly, there is the solution of lobbying for increased scrutiny and control over how

sites would implement gamification. Although the Federal Trade Commission has regulations on

how advertisers on social media sites can interface with their users and on endorsements,

neither the FTC nor the FCC have any limits on how social media sites themselves can

encourage certain problematic behaviors. This solution would call for increased regulation of all

things that would potentially encourage these behaviors. Though it would not do a great deal to

affect behemoths like Facebook or Instagram whose gamification is so central to their business,

this solution would especially serve to curb those sites that encourage and reward users

through the use of things like virtual currencies, and giving increased abilities to mass-interact or

trophies for doing so. By cracking down on these type of skinner box-style sites that keep users

in a feedback loop of positive - and, in some cases, negative - reinforcement, these sites

perpetuate harmful behaviors, as discussed previously in the examinations of social media sites

effects on mental health and wellbeing. Regulation would ensure that the usage of these sites

would not promote unhealthy behaviors.

Next, we will examine these two potential solutions from the viewpoint of two different

ethical standpoints. The first standpoint that has been chosen is the self-interest, or ethical

egoism approach. Ethical egoism is described as the normative theory that the promotion of

ones own good is in accordance with morality (Moseley). Under ethical egoism, it is considered

the most moral to strive for ones own self-interest above all else. While at odds with duty-based

codes of ethics as seen in Kantian style ethics, it holds some merit when looking at one solution

in particular.

By looking at the do nothing approach through the lens of ethical egoism, we find that

pursuing ones own self interest works in favor of both the social media sites themselves, as

well as the users themselves. Social media sites, above all else, strive for profit and the

bettering of their own services that they can earn more money from advertising and marketing

through their platform; the more people they reach, in turn, the more profit they make, and the
more they better their own interests. The idea that pursuing ones own self-interest is the most

moral decision one can make works favorably for the social media sites themselves. In addition,

it speaks to a certain mindset about social media addiction - that those who are addicted, to

anything as much as social media sites, cannot be helped by others without first helping

themselves. By striving to better themselves and pursue their own self interest - indeed, if that

interest lies in keeping ones family and work relationships hale and whole - then users would be

able to recognize when their behaviors are problematic and take steps to stop themselves from

perpetuating those behaviors. Assuming that users would be able to do such a thing, it follows

that under ethical egoism, deregulation of gamification would be an ethical choice to make.

However, when viewing the regulate gamification approach through ethical egoism, we

find flaws. Companies limiting themselves or being limited by governmental regulations is not

within those companies or the governments best interests; the government likely does not wish

to spend money on the reinforcement of those regulations, and companies have little interest in

promoting less engagement because of restrictions applied to them by something such as the

FCC. The only party which benefits from this viewpoint in the regulation approach are the users

themselves, who will find it less difficult to maintain proper relationships and good mental health

when gamification cannot be used to hook them into such excessive time spent on social media

sites. Thus, under the code of ethical egoism, regulating gamification would not be an ethical

choice.

The second ethical standpoint we will look at is Utilitarianism, or the common good

approach. Utilitarianism is defined by looking at the effects of an action, and deeming something

morally right or wrong depending on the bad and good that results from taking that particular

course of action (Nathanson). Rather than look at the action itself as good or bad, as ethical

egoism did, we must look at the effects of such a decision made with regard to gamification in

order to judge it by utilitarianism.

 The first solution, to not regulate gamification, runs into trouble when compared against

a utilitarian code of ethics. Although the companies themselves would benefit from turning a

blind eye to the effects of gamification, the number of people benefited by this decision is

comparably small when it is considered against the not-miniscule number of people who spend

excessive amounts of time on social media sites. Refusing to do anything to help these people

out of the rut they find themselves in with regard to social media is, in some ways, perpetuating

the harm done on these people, and thus refusing to regulate gamification is not an ethical

choice by the standards of utilitarianism.

On the other hand, the regulation of gamification poses a different set of problems;

though regulation would in turn serve to help those who might be considered addicted, in truth it

would impact those people negatively as well. Increased scrutiny over social media sites and

regulation on what they can or cannot do to bring in and engage users works against the

interests of those who may not spend excessive amounts of time on social media sites - those

who have a healthy relationship with the tool of gamification would lose tools and features on

the sites that they love, because of some others susceptibility to social media addiction. In

addition, the comparatively few people employed by and who own social media sites would be

heavily impacted; by reducing the amount of motivation for users to continue to engage with a

site, they may lose revenue or have to restructure entirely how their site works, depending on

how heavily it is based on gamification. So, while the refusal to regulate social media

gamification is not a purely ethical choice, neither is the choice to regulate it. One must consider

who might be the most important or most affected party in order to make such a decision

through the utilitarianism moral theory.

The course of action that I would choose is, in effect, the course of non-action. As a

game designer, I may be biased; but I believe that gamification, like all other methods of

engagement, is merely a tool to be used by these companies. Gamification is no more evil than

adding friends or holding contests or giveaways - it is a method of engagement with a site, and
though it may correlate somewhat with addiction, it is not the sole cause of it. Gamification

needs the right combination of motivators to work - a site needs good design within its

gamification in order to really reap the benefits of the concept, rather than merely sticking levels

or tiers or titles on various behaviors. While gamification is a tool that sites use to increase

engagement, its important to look at social media sites as a whole to learn how to best combat

the demons of addiction and unhealthy usage habits. By putting support systems in, similar to

support systems available for other damaging addictions like alcohol or tobacco, we can better

help those who are suffering from social media addiction, rather than persecuting the sites

directly for behaviors by users that the sites are not entirely at fault for. In conclusion, though

gamification is a powerful, and sometimes scary tool, it is just that - a tool, and no more, and in

order to combat social media site addiction, we must properly support those affected by it, and

teach people proper, healthy usage habits.

References

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Augenbraun, Eliene. How real a risk is social media addiction? CBS News. CBS Interactive,
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Another good, rather short article on social anxiety and how internet usage affects it -
specifically, correlations between anxiety and its symptoms and problematic internet usage.
Though it does not relate to SNS directly, it does show a positive correlation between a mental
health issue and negative internet usage.

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2014/07/brief-history-gamification-infographic
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