{"id":2953,"date":"2021-04-14T06:47:56","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T06:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uberlin.co.uk\/social-media-week-berlin-highlights-uberlinuberlin\/"},"modified":"2021-04-14T06:47:56","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T06:47:56","slug":"social-media-week-berlin-highlights-uberlinuberlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uberlin.co.uk\/social-media-week-berlin-highlights-uberlinuberlin\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media Week Berlin Highlights : uberlinuberlin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Social Media Week Berlin Highlights<\/h3>\n

by James Glazebrook<\/span><\/h4>\n
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We may have been in Milan for much of Social Media Week, but I still made it down to a couple of thought-provoking sessions before we left. As with Hello Etsy<\/a> the weekend before, the best thing about SMW was the chance to put faces to the URLs of our online buddies, including Travels of Adam<\/a>, Nicole is the New Black<\/a>, Yvonne from Just Travelous<\/a> and Katja glamcanyon<\/a>. When I wasn’t talking crap over a Club Mate, here’s what I learned:<\/p>\n

Gamification is set to be The Next Big Thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

The keynote speech from Gabe Zichermann of gamification.co<\/a> focused on the “process of using game concepts and mechanics to engage users”, particularly\u00a0location-based <\/em>gaming concepts. As a foursquare refugee, it was refreshing to hear an expert describe pure location-based gaming as “a total shitshell”. Also, as a social media consultant<\/a> with automotive clients, it was interesting to hear about the games built into the dashboards of hybrid and battery electric cars like the Nissan Leaf, that give feedback to the driver about the vehicle’s performance.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the below video is missing the fascinating round table discussion that took place immediately after, with Berlin-based social games developer wooga and the inspiring Willempje Vrins from figure running<\/a>, the crazy Dutch folks who started drawing pictures on maps using existing running applications, then ended up building their own app. As with everything that co-opts a (historically) niche subculture and turns it to commercial gain, gamification has been criticised by videogames experts. Personally I disagree with Ian Bogost’s core argument<\/a> that gamification is “marketing bullshit” because it is “used to conceal, to impress or to coerce”, as that is what marketing is supposed<\/em> to do. That’s like 1976 punks bemoaning the fact that hair product commercials feature kids with fauxhawks. Accept it, move on. <\/p>\n

Aaaanyway, watch Gabe’s speech for yourself and see what you think: