So, the first time I got a cheery notice that I had earned a Viki badge, my brain did a Scooby Doo. “Ork?”
I just, in fact, got a “Thank You” badge a couple of days ago. So, my question at the moment is . . . who thought badges should be a “thing” for people participating in discussions, who came up with them, who programmed the Viki system to award them, and what purpose are they supposed to serve?
I did screen caps of all the badges because I find it so fascinating that they exist. I am intrigued by badges such as “Good Share–shared a post with 300 unique visitors.” Apparently only six people have earned that badge. That’s nice. I’m sure the owners of Viki are happy that 1800 different people responded to a post because it means potential and actual cash-paying subscribers are out there somewhere.
And then there is “Crazy In Love–Used 50 likes in a day 20 times.” Is that like the virtual recognition of someone who is some sort of Viki social butterfly and good-hearted soul?
“Guess what? I’ve been to a party every day for the past 20 days, and at each one I hugged fifty people! And somebody heard about it and sent me an award certificate.”
That’s pretty cool. According to the information under the Badges link in the drop down menu under my avatar, one person has achieved that badge.
In the category of “Trust Level,” I apparently have earned a “Basic” badge. But doesn’t everybody automatically get that if they pay for a subscription which allows them access to community discussions? Could I get a “Member,” “Regular,” or “Leader” badge by paying more for my subscription?
How do I earn a higher level of trust, and who decides to trust me? I notice that there are 30,000 Viki folks with the “Basic” trust level badge, 59 with the “Member” badge, 39 with the “Regular” badge, and 28 with the “Leader” badge.
There has been a great deal of discussion lately about how various community discussions are being moderated and by whom and for what reasons. Are the folks with the more restricted trust level badges the folks who are in charge of policing discussions?
I am that child in grade school who always annoyed people with random questions about things I observed. At the moment, as I consider the topic of badges, I find myself asking a lot of annoying questions about a system of awards for doing random things that, at the end of the day don’t earn me more money, give me more friends, or make me a better person.
If getting an “Empathetic” badge (“Has 500 liked posts and gave 1000 likes”) meant that Viki would donate $1000 US to my favorite charity, that would be something pretty cool. Otherwise, what does anybody else care about how many liked posts I have?
correctly analyzed 
it!
And, that last bit, if true, someone went off the deep end with 
garnering
!
Haa!
!
I’ll let you, and 
new!
♀ 
♀
