Badges: Who thought they were a good idea, and where do you go to earn some of them?

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?

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I don’t know, but I didn’t pay for anything here on Viki. I got the basic level after I read some threads and got this level for free.

That’s for people with lots of interaction on Discussions. They have replied in lots of threads, gave lots of like, received them as well and created lots of topics. I am not sure about what’s the difference between them, though.

That’s for the staff working here. I noticed Jeslynl and Mariliam have one, and basically everyone who is part of the Staff or were a part of Staff.

You just have to be really active here on Discussions. You can be promoted maybe after 2 years of joining Discussions or maybe just next month. You just have to be really active.

I definitely must have been your classmate looking for answers along with you :joy:

Apparently, there are people who also care about getting “First flag” badge. I read somewhere, someone reported a totally innocent reply because they might have wanted to earn this badge. Who knows? It might not have been the case.

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I like the questions you come up with! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
I received ‘Regular status’ in November 2020. According to Viki, I joined in January 2020, but my first post was in June 2020. So I got the badge about five months after becoming active on Discussions.
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I hardly pay much attention to the ‘powers’ I have. I know I’ve been pretty active here on Discussions, I logged in almost every day. I can’t moderate anything. I don’t think I can recategorize or rename anything, and I have no idea what the ‘private lounge area’ is. I asked about it, but none of the users who replied knew what that was.

Personally, I don’t care much about my badges, but it’s a nice little surprise to get stuff like that. A little appreciation doesn’t hurt anyway. As long as it’s doing no one harm, I don’t mind :sweat_smile:

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Oh, badges are a thing in many, many web fora, nothing new really. You see them under your avatar. Things like “new kid on the block”, “occasional poster”, “assiduous member” or “guru”. The ones on Demonoid were very creative.

At the very beginning, the “landmark” badges like “you made your first post” or “you got your first 'like” give a sense of achievement and encouragement to participate. There are people who keep albums with baby’s first this and that. I never did this for my own children.
The subsequent badges sort of tell you and others how active you’ve been, whether you have written helpful posts that got upvoted a lot, relevant posts that got linked a lot, gave links that got clicked by lots of people. Things like that.
Now of course, since the system is automatic, it cannot make value judgments. You may have become a regular by writing lots of nonsense posts. But hey, nothing is perfect.
I don’t particularly care about badges but I also don’t mind them.
What I like more are the stats. How many answers, posts and threads, how many days and hours I’ve spent here (scary!)
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What is a bit stupid is, IMHO, the “binge-watching” badges we get on the main site. We all binge-watch at some point, but why should we be directed to watch only certain shows and not others?

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Ditto! :joy::+1:t5: correctly analyzed :heavy_heart_exclamation: it!

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Ditto! Ditto! On point! :joy:

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You smashed it! :rofl: And, that last bit, if true, someone went off the deep end with :trophy::1st_place_medal:garnering
badges (눈‸눈)

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It is the result of gamification. It’s to encourage people to contribute. You can also use badges to see if someone is a senior member and know if their response is reliable.

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KK . . . This is the value of Viki community discussions for me, getting an education about the “Viki-verse,” how it works, why it works, and why I should care or not.

The badges are a function of the particular social media platform that somebody in charge at some point decided would actually help others in the Viki community learn about each other AND (it is to be hoped) develop a sense of “family” in the absence of actual physical contact . . . shared genetic background . . . common culture . . . common language . . . correct food preferences (gimbap for breakfast, lunch, and supper). Piece of cake!

Obvs not a “Western” individualistic web development point of view.

I was quite the cranky, fussy, “you’re not the mother of me!” small child, raised in a Scotch-Irish family. (Anyone see Blackhawk Down? Those are my peeps.) Do not TELL me what to do. I will not sit up straight. Mom, SHE’S looking over my shoulder while I read, tell her to STOP!!!

(I am the number one daughter in my family with two younger sisters. Dongsaeng 1 is a still-working pharmacist. Donsaeng 2 is a still-working computer programmer with a daughter.)

So I have been seeing badges as a . . . control mechanism rather than a cooperation mechanism.

A “ranking” mechanism rather than a “filing” mechanism.

A “why the hell do you care” mechanism rather than a “how nice that you care” mechanism.

So now, wow. Very impressive. Hmmm. Whoever led the design team for Viki’s discussion board platform . . . does that person have a widowed older brother who’s a Presbyterian?

(No marriage brokers in Rochester, NY despite there being a very large Korean Christian commmunity. I keep throwing it out there . . .)

I have been trying to parlay my graphic design/writing/proofreading/editing skills into a small business since retiring from 26 years as a civil servant–where I was on my municipality’s website oversight committee for several years. (Talk geeky to me!) So I am always amazed that anybody is willing to take on the challenge of community building in ANY social media environment where it’s easy for cranky, fussy people to take center stage and create a social train wreck.

In that light, with badges, I am building a sort of online personal résumé. Okay, that’s a positive for sure. And so far, I don’t look that cranky. That’s a relief.


(Giphy)

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Neither did I, but! :point_up:t5:!
Changes are here! :notes::musical_note:
Look what just changed, check for yourself! :smile: Haa!
Hahaa! :laughing:
https://discussions.viki.com/categories
We now have a lounge! :sparkles::bulb::sparkles::face_with_hand_over_mouth::astonished:!:face_with_hand_over_mouth: Should we check it out? You go first!
https://c.tenor.com/grp3Hfn03V0AAAAC/donald-faison-winsanity-series.gif
Screenshots_2021-05-27-12-23-26~2 Screenshots_2021-05-27-12-25-50~2
:smile::smile::smile::laughing::smile:

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@vivi_1485, okay, let’s go check it out.

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Okay :face_with_hand_over_mouth: I’ll let you, and @vivi_1485, and any other curious cats, 'em! Fans go first! :smile::laughing::joy:

@leerla73, okay, I am confused. There is nothing there. Is this a place where only the Members and Regulars can carry on a conversation?

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I think so, but it’s obviously empty as it’s
spanking :sparkles:new!:sparkles: Volunteers need a lounge to do their projects, not a bad idea :sparkles::bulb::sparkles:

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Looks like it’s only for Regulars. Btw, congrats!

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Congrats to you too! :laughing::smile::clap:t5::clap:t5::clap:t5::clap:t5::clap:t5:
whoo-oo! :tipping_hand_woman:t5:‍♀ :tipping_hand_woman:t5:‍♀

Off to work for me now, later gang! :wave:t5::raising_hand_woman:t5:‍♀

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Daebak!

For me, this might be very good. (But if it’s for Regulars, I need to strap my Microsoft Surface Pro to my back.) I’m sort of joking, of course.

In K-dramas, it’s the old coots who show up at the lounge in their neatly pressed (by their daughter-in-law) pants and slightly threadbare sweaters, hoping to hear some Korean trot music and dance with a nice widow lady. I’m not a widow lady, but I can waltz, and I think I can still fox trot!

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(Pinterest)

I forget on which DramaFever K-drama I heard the song below; I seem to remember that a man was singing it to his mother as she lay in bed asleep after a hard, hard day at work. Boy, talk about uncontrollable weeping. I think it was at that very moment I fell in totally in love with K-dramas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tH7HQ5zsI0

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I get really excited when I get one only like 20 people or 40 people have and who knows why I get them. bahahahahahaha!

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I think we should make up badges and award them to people on Viki randomly. Random acts of kindness that cause people to do a Scooby.

I can hear the “Ork?” noises in my head. My inner three-year-old is jonesing to make some gentle trouble!

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Random Acts of Badging!!! BAhahahahahahahahah!

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