A lot of people have asked me if I was upset with Microsoft’s ad campagne for their KIN. Friends have told me that Microsoft stole my idea. I really wasn’t all that upset, which does surprises me a bit. I was, however, able to keep things in perspective.
I’m interested in art because it’s more innovative than the commercial world. Art tests and challenges people. The commercial world feeds people what they want. The purpose of my roadtrip documentrary was to feed people what they want in order to gain interest in my actual art project, and it served it’s purpose. I am a little saddened that making a buck from the documentary would be much more difficult, but I took heart in the fact that I did it a year before Microsoft did. On a personal level it also proved to me that I kinda know what I’m talking about. My mind was in thew right place, and it was there for the right reasons. I entertained as well as challenged. I did also get nervous that it would be forgotten and over shadowed by the KIN’s marketing, but Mashable was nice enough to give the little social media artist credit.
“Social media road trips aren’t a new concept. Last summer, Graham Smith and Josh Baron made a grad thesis and short documentary about a Facebook road trip.”
A few months afte I saw that first Hulu ad the KIN is now failing and I look forward to seeing the ads disappear, but that’s not founded in spite. I’m just tired of seeing something I created in order to get people to reflect on their lives embedded in social media, used to sell social media devices (whatever that means).
“Carnegie Mellon brought together a panel of leading industry experts, faculty and alumni to discuss how the increasing interplay of arts and technology is having a dramatic impact on virtually every aspect of our lives, from business to pop culture, education to entrepreneurship.”
“The Conspiracy For Good is a global movement for change driven by a story, a legendary narrative that the audience becomes a part of and every participant has the ability to impact the outcome of this story. The story will be played out on web sites, mobile devices, at live meet up events in London and ultimately in Africa where CFG will provide significant assistance in a local village.” -Conspiracy for Good
I saw this building at the corner of 43rd and 6th, and feel like the window pattern must mean something. I couldn’t see any structual propose so I’m wondering if there might be some sweet coded message in it. I see morse code or music notes.
What do you see?
Game designers should think of their affect on children and see themselves as potential teachers.Recently I visited my sister down in Mississippi. Her 11-year old son spent almost the entire visit in his room playing video games. I hardly saw him. One might laugh and say, “Pretty typical for this generation of kids!” But this kid is way beyond typical in this respect.
As you can imagine, there is a certain degree of tension around this issue. What does one do? You can’t MAKE a child go out and throw a ball. What are you going to do? You can’t MAKE a child embody some image of boyhood.
Moreover, here at the miserable threshold of puberty, the kid has a lot of trouble socializing.
But most painful to think about is that the boy is just beginning … just barely … to understand that he is being regarded a certain way. It’s one thing to be a “weird kid.” It’s another to begin to realize this about yourself.
Think about how young 11 is.
Toward the end of the visit, I went into his room and dialed up Jane’s Ted talk. My sister came in, knelt on the carpet and watched. A bit into the talk, Jane is discussing how lots of gamers are frustrated by the sense that they are better in games than they are in reality. She then says that in gameworld many of us “become the best version of ourselves.”
The boy looked at his mom. They locked gazes. Then he pointed at himself.
Jane Mcgonigal (@avantgame): This post really touched me. I want to hear more of the story. RT @kennynowell: http://tumblr.com/x1xbq4amf
This is a great article on game mechanics used for site UX. It explains the benefits and uses great examples.
“Whenever there are points, rewards or status involved, people are going to pay attention. Sometimes it may seem silly, but providing simple incentives can go a long way towards creating an active environment.”
“Rank also gives us a tool to filter our best members, not just those who are most active, but the highest quality members, providing a new way for us to monetize our community.”
