Anyone who’s spent enough time on social media can tell you that there can be a dark side to gamification. Personally, I have a long history on Stack Exchange and can tell you first hand that Gamification can
- be discouraging and unwelcoming,
- have the potential for abuse, and
- shift motivation from the intrinsic to the extrinsic.
So, hey - Let’s try it!
From my perspective, gamification can help drive engagement. Let’s just be sure we’re polite and don’t make fun of one another. What could go wrong? ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Leaderboards
There are two main groups using Discourse at Mark’s Math and each has their own leaderboard. You can check ‘em out:
Note that you do need to be logged in as a member of one of those groups to view the corresponding leaderboard.
How are “cheers” computed?
The leaderboards rankings are based on so-called “cheers”, which are computed by the following point system:
- Like received: 5 pts per
- Like given: 2 pts per
- Thumbs up received: 3 pts per
- Thumbs up given: 2 pts
- Solution awarded: 10 pts
- Time read: 5 pts per hour
- Day visited: 2 pts per day
- Post read: 10 pts per 100 posts
- Topic created: 5 pts per topic
- Post created: 2 pts per post (i.e. response to a topic)