Gamification Otherwise : Alternative directions to enhance the sense of friendliness in online communities

Abstract: Gamification is a widely explored topic in various contexts. In particular, gamification is used in the form of likes and reactions on various social media. However, it was identified that this reward system in the form of likes led to addictive behavior. On the other side, it was not determined that gamification is significantly explored in the context of the sense of friendliness in online communities. Therefore, this thesis investigates other ways of using gamification to enhance the sense of community and engagement in online communities. This study was conducted with the social media startup COSE. The main goal of the startup is to build inclusive space with attention to users’ time and mental health. Therefore, it’s especially important to investigate not addictive ways of using gamification. The thesis consisted of three parts: primary research, prototyping, and evaluation research. Primary research was conducted in the form of a workshop with a focus group. Qualitative workshop data was analyzed with thematic analysis and an impact/effort matrix. In this thesis, five gamification elements were developed: a COSE interests map to connect users based on their interests, a badge system for rewarding and identifying users, a profile page with elements of gamification, a wizard to reduce anxiety associated with active participation (e.g. publishing content), and a community voting system to give users the ability to influence the community. The evaluation of prototypes was conducted in the form of a controlled withing subject experiment with semi-structured interviews. Finally, it was determined that the COSE interests map, profile page and voting system affected the sense of community. The profile page brought users closer together by reducing anonymity on the platform. Badges, especially secret badges, positively influenced participants’ motivation to explore the platform. Wizard, on the contrary, had no effect on reducing users’ anxiety but it successfully created a friendly environment on the platform. In general, this thesis expanded the traditional quantitative gamification in online communities by proposing qualitative solutions for enhancing the sense of support and friendliness in online communities.