Gaming, Social Media, Incentivization and Feeling a Sense of Accomplishment

I often come across discussions that refer to "Game Theory" and how it applies to life.

In many ways, Game Theory is part of the "engine" that makes a community like Steemit work — creating a system of incentives and disincentives as a sort of "code" for interaction through which we all "play" the game of social media.

The such code works, the game rises to its highest and best state; when the code of flawed, the game becomes inconsistent and often unfair. 

Interestingly enough, Game Theory has its roots in economic modeling, not in game play.

Games and a Recent Memory

A while back (like maybe a decade ago), I was fairly active on a large gaming site that had lots and lots "arcade" type games you could play both for fun and for money.

This included multi-player leagues and weekly "multiplier" games that might have 1000's of participants. In the "for pay" games, you might have an entry fee of $1.00, and you could enter and participate as many times as you wanted. 

The entry fees would then become the prize money pool; in some games, in some weeks, the prize pool could grow to as much as $10,000, $20,000 or even $50,000 for a single multi-player game!

What made it cool, though was that — in its original format — the prize pool would be divvied out among the top 25% of the participant field. Which meant that anyone who had "a really good day" (even if they were not an "elite" player) most likely would win a cash prize. It might only be $2.50 against your $1.00 entry fee, but still... you WON SOMETHING!

Then — for reasons only known to the game site management (but probably relating to being able to announce bigger first prizes) — the prize structure was changed. The same games were held; but now the payout was limited to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. 

So before, you had maybe 2,500 players "in the money" in a 10,000 player field, now you had three players in the money in the same size field. 

Incentives and DIS-incentives

At that point I cashed out my accumulated winnings (no big deal, a few hundred dollars) and left the money games for good.

From my perspective there was no longer an incentive to participate in the money games; I was not elite enough to be top three in such a field. I might be top-50 or even top-25 now and then, but that was about as good as I was. So why bother?

I didn't abandon the site; however, I only played the "free" games from that point on.

Somewhat to my surprise, my occasional checks on the money leagues showed little change in the number of entrants on the cumulative games. Somehow, the lure of a BIGGER first prize kept ever more people spending money on entry fees and laboring towards a prize they could never hope to get.

My point of telling this story is to illustrate a couple of points about both Human Nature, and the nature of this community we call Steemit.

Where Reality meets Wishful Thinking

Point one is that Game Theory is ultimately very complex and human beings tend to be unpredictable... and often out of touch with reality.

Point two is that people have different approaches.

My personal approach to any kind of "game play" revolves around "playing the averages." I don't care about the size of any given "prize" or "incentive;" the only thing I really care about is the educated analysis of my realistic likelihood of ending up with a net gain.

Many people — perhaps MOST people — see only the hype surrounding the size of the prize and pay almost no mind to whether or not they actually might win. In their mind, it's not only imminently likely that they will win... they feel sincere disappointment when they don't. It's what I call "The Lottery Effect;" people throwing common sense out the window in favor of adopting "wishful thinking."

Maybe that sounds silly, but it's this particular human trait (or "cognitive blind spot," if you will) that fuels a US $450 billion gambling industry. 

Steemit and "The Lottery Effect"

So let's get back to our lovely community for a moment and view it in the context of ultimately representing the gamification of social content. 

Not a day goes by that doesn't involve someone — or some "group" — getting up in arms because something on Steemit (usually relating to rewards) is somehow unfair and unjust. 

Now, whereas SOME things on Steemit definitely fit under that heading of unfairness, the vast majority of complaints can be filed under the general heading of Unrealistic Expectations.

Every day, thousands of people create what's basically somewhat sketchy posts and fully expect that they will end up in the Trending feed with $500.00 in rewards. And they feel authentically disappointed and disillusioned when that doesn't happen. 

Of course, this isn't limited to Steemit; hundreds of thousands of people authentically believe they belong on "The Voice" or "American Idol" when they actually can't sing their way out of a bag. 

Of course, we could have a long philosophical discussion of whether this is simply the noble human trait of "Hope," or a bad case of "wishful thinking," but — for brevity's sake — that's for another post!

Participation... and Accomplishment

To bring this ramble to a sort of orderly close, I find myself looking at Game Theory in the context of whether participants are left with a sense of accomplishment.

To that end, people are very different.

When I was on that gaming site, I felt a sense of accomplishment, every time I won even a modest prize... and that kept me coming back. When it became evident that I would get absolutely nothing for my efforts — regardless of the promise of a "$25,000 First Prize!!!" — I became a non-participant.

On Steemit, I feel a sense of accomplishment when one of my posts inspires active discussion and "audience participation," and that eventually may lead to my getting a few Steem Dollars as a reward. I feel a sense of accomplishment when my SP balance ticks up a couple more notches. 

And that keeps me coming back. 

I don't hitch my wagon (so to speak) to any idea that my posts "should be" or "belong" in the Trending feed. If that happens, it would be a lovely surprise, no more (truth in disclosure: I have had two posts "organically" reach Trending in 16 months) and I have no investment in that reality.

But — as I said — People are very different!

How About YOU? Do you experience Steemit — and other aspects of life — as a game? In looking at your life, what are the best incentives, for you? As a Steemit contributor, what are the incentives that keep you coming back? No judgment if you just say "the money," but in what SENSE? Is it the POSSIBILITY that you could have a $500 post, or the CHALLENGE of making $3 on every post? Or something different? What "fuels" you; what "powers" you? Conversely, what causes you to give up and quit something? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

created by @zord189

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180514 15:08 PDT