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GAMIFICATION IS BULLSHIT

My position statement at the Wharton Gamification Symposium

http://www.bogost.com/blog/gamification_is_bullshit.shtml

Hmm, lots of great responses to the Thesis "Gamification is Bullshit" - For and against.  

I agree it is going through a "Bullshit Phase" It is so overused - not much of a game etc.

However, as a marketer, I think people miss the true potential in the process.  I think of it as "User-Engagement" strategy rather than "Game-Strategy".  Because, there is an explicit relationship between customers and service providers.  It's a two-way street.

My thesis states the more engagement there is i.e. two-way street, the more value is created for both the customer and service provider.

After studying a number of apps with and without "gamification" I noticed a pattern that suggest less use in those that had passive engagement than those with more active engagement.  

What it means to me IMHO, is the passive ones create less value to the user than the more active ones.  

Given all this, the active user-engagement has a cost; and, any strategy that encourages more use on a freemium platform needs to benefit in some way, symmetrically, or asymmetrically. So, pro-active user-engagement is more suited for a long-term customer acquisition/retention objective.  

So, if a strategy aims at a long-term objective that builds increasing value to the customer, how can that be a bad thing?