Gamification.

In no way or form would I describe myself as a "gamer"unless that includes playing a round of Scattergories or Apples to Apples. Growing up we weren't allowed to play video games of any kind so it never became a big thing for me. Later on when my parents gave my brothers and I a computer to share for our school work and leisure activities I started to play interactive games of about Arthur or the Magic school bus, educational and fun for my age. As our generation has grown up and seen the virtual world explode, looking back I can see that it was building.

Does anyone remember Neopets? A virtual world for your virtual pets ( that never seemed to die even if you didn't feed them). Friends and I spent hours playing, trying to gain more and more points to be able to afford bigger and better things in this virtual world. As Neopets decreased in popularity, companies created concrete toys that include a virtual wold access when purchasing the toy. Have you ever heard of Webkinz?

Whenever I walk into toy stores today, this idea of gaming for young children has only grown. Most toys include a username and password into a virtual world. With more toy purchases the more you gain in the "free" virtual world.

Every year Mcdonalds uses gamification to endorse its product through a game of monopoly. Other than more concrete and visual examples of this like Roll up the Rim there are so many aspects of gamification in our lives today that we don't even realize. Reading about it online I discovered that something like Linkedin, a social media platform has aspects to keep users coming back. Growing your connections is a competition among peers as well as trying to strengthen your profile strengths and endorsements. By using the aspect of gaming, companies are able to build their followers and keep them coming back. What's wrong with friendly competition right?