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"Awards" Rant
Packerjohn
Posts: 4,855 Member
in Debate Club
They are organizing a step challenge at work, Some of my group was going to do it so I took a look. It involves measuring steps with a tracker or phone app. Since I don't have a tracker, I looked at the recommended phone app.
When I looked at the app, this "challenge/award opportunity" came up. WTF, some app developer feels the need to "award" adult behavior (2nd or 3rd shift workers not included in this rant)?
When I looked at the app, this "challenge/award opportunity" came up. WTF, some app developer feels the need to "award" adult behavior (2nd or 3rd shift workers not included in this rant)?
7
Replies
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It's just another expression of the chronic infantilization prevalent in our society.23
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kommodevaran wrote: »It's just another expression of the chronic infantilization prevalent in our society.
Agree, so pathetic.8 -
My first fitness tracker tried to give me awards for waking up on time. I turned that feature off pronto! I am not a product of the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality, and a program rewarding me for doing what I've done on my own since I was 13 isn't motivating.
ETA also, 9am? Is that really some kind of achievement? I've been up for 3 hours chasing kids off my lawn by then :laugh:36 -
My first fitness tracker tried to give me awards for waking up on time. I turned that feature off pronto! I am not a product of the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality, and a program rewarding me for doing what I've done on my own since I was 13 isn't motivating.
ETA also, 9am? Is that really some kind of achievement? I've been up for 3 hours chasing kids off my lawn by then :laugh:
Right?! #AdultingIsHard5 -
JustSomeEm wrote: »My first fitness tracker tried to give me awards for waking up on time. I turned that feature off pronto! I am not a product of the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality, and a program rewarding me for doing what I've done on my own since I was 13 isn't motivating.
ETA also, 9am? Is that really some kind of achievement? I've been up for 3 hours chasing kids off my lawn by then :laugh:
Right?! #AdultingIsHard
I live next to a school. The struggle is real!8 -
JustSomeEm wrote: »My first fitness tracker tried to give me awards for waking up on time. I turned that feature off pronto! I am not a product of the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality, and a program rewarding me for doing what I've done on my own since I was 13 isn't motivating.
ETA also, 9am? Is that really some kind of achievement? I've been up for 3 hours chasing kids off my lawn by then :laugh:
Right?! #AdultingIsHard
I live next to a school. The struggle is real!
Turn your sprinklers on at 6:00.
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snowflake954 wrote: »JustSomeEm wrote: »My first fitness tracker tried to give me awards for waking up on time. I turned that feature off pronto! I am not a product of the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality, and a program rewarding me for doing what I've done on my own since I was 13 isn't motivating.
ETA also, 9am? Is that really some kind of achievement? I've been up for 3 hours chasing kids off my lawn by then :laugh:
Right?! #AdultingIsHard
I live next to a school. The struggle is real!
Turn your sprinklers on at 6:00.
I just wait until the little darlings are midway across and turn the garden hose on them
10 -
I think digital "awards" are dumb. I don't care if a little trophy pops up on my phone because I finished today's C25k run.
That said, this app seems to me to be no different than a fitbit reminding someone to get up and walk every so often. A reminder/encouragement to get up and get going is fine, IMO.10 -
snowflake954 wrote: »JustSomeEm wrote: »My first fitness tracker tried to give me awards for waking up on time. I turned that feature off pronto! I am not a product of the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality, and a program rewarding me for doing what I've done on my own since I was 13 isn't motivating.
ETA also, 9am? Is that really some kind of achievement? I've been up for 3 hours chasing kids off my lawn by then :laugh:
Right?! #AdultingIsHard
I live next to a school. The struggle is real!
Turn your sprinklers on at 6:00.
I just wait until the little darlings are midway across and turn the garden hose on them
Be sure to allow sufficient pressure to build up in the hose before letting loose.5 -
Carlos_421 wrote: »I think digital "awards" are dumb. I don't care if a little trophy pops up on my phone because I finished today's C25k run.
That said, this app seems to me to be no different than a fitbit reminding someone to get up and walk every so often. A reminder/encouragement to get up and get going is fine, IMO.
But 9 AM? What normal functioning adult isn't up by 9 AM 5 days a week (shift workers excluded).10 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »I think digital "awards" are dumb. I don't care if a little trophy pops up on my phone because I finished today's C25k run.
That said, this app seems to me to be no different than a fitbit reminding someone to get up and walk every so often. A reminder/encouragement to get up and get going is fine, IMO.
But 9 AM? What normal functioning adult isn't up by 9 AM 5 days a week (shift workers excluded).
That part is weird because most adults would need to be at work already.*shrugs*4 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »I think digital "awards" are dumb. I don't care if a little trophy pops up on my phone because I finished today's C25k run.
That said, this app seems to me to be no different than a fitbit reminding someone to get up and walk every so often. A reminder/encouragement to get up and get going is fine, IMO.
But 9 AM? What normal functioning adult isn't up by 9 AM 5 days a week (shift workers excluded).
*Hand up* I like staying up late and I am a East Coast person who works from home for a company based on the West Coast. My job is heavily based on interactions with other people, so I don't see the point of being at my laptop at 9 AM when the people I have to talk to aren't awake yet.17 -
My first fitness tracker tried to give me awards for waking up on time. I turned that feature off pronto! I am not a product of the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality, and a program rewarding me for doing what I've done on my own since I was 13 isn't motivating.
ETA also, 9am? Is that really some kind of achievement? I've been up for 3 hours chasing kids off my lawn by then :laugh:
Right?!? I've been up for over 5 hours, got a workout in and have been at work for 2+ hours by then!5 -
My first fitness tracker tried to give me awards for waking up on time. I turned that feature off pronto! I am not a product of the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality, and a program rewarding me for doing what I've done on my own since I was 13 isn't motivating.
ETA also, 9am? Is that really some kind of achievement? I've been up for 3 hours chasing kids off my lawn by then :laugh:
I need a video of this in my life. I'll even present you with an award.4 -
LOL. Get up before 9am and you get a special award? Aren't most people already at work by that time?4
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Some people find these kinds of things motivating, I suppose. This "gamification" is a pretty standard thing in digital life nowadays. MFP gives you a digital high-five when you log in for a certain number of days straight. Heck, I'm almost kind of proud of some of my untappd "badges", including the "Extraordinary" badge for 1000 unique check-ins:
Regarding 9 AM: When I was in grad school I'd routinely stay up working until 2-3 AM and then sleep in well past 9. Of course, you can argue that a PhD student isn't a "normal functioning adult". 9 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »I think digital "awards" are dumb. I don't care if a little trophy pops up on my phone because I finished today's C25k run.
That said, this app seems to me to be no different than a fitbit reminding someone to get up and walk every so often. A reminder/encouragement to get up and get going is fine, IMO.
But 9 AM? What normal functioning adult isn't up by 9 AM 5 days a week (shift workers excluded).
I'm a freelance editor working from home. I also write fanfic as a hobby and tend to do my best writing in the evening. I do a scene a night and if I finish at 4AM, so be it. I get up when I get up.21 -
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estherdragonbat wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »I think digital "awards" are dumb. I don't care if a little trophy pops up on my phone because I finished today's C25k run.
That said, this app seems to me to be no different than a fitbit reminding someone to get up and walk every so often. A reminder/encouragement to get up and get going is fine, IMO.
But 9 AM? What normal functioning adult isn't up by 9 AM 5 days a week (shift workers excluded).
I'm a freelance editor working from home. I also write fanfic as a hobby and tend to do my best writing in the evening. I do a scene a night and if I finish at 4AM, so be it. I get up when I get up.
Sounds like "shift work" to me! 11 -
My first fitness tracker tried to give me awards for waking up on time. I turned that feature off pronto! I am not a product of the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality, and a program rewarding me for doing what I've done on my own since I was 13 isn't motivating.
ETA also, 9am? Is that really some kind of achievement? I've been up for 3 hours chasing kids off my lawn by then :laugh:
I need a video of this in my life. I'll even present you with an award.
The world is not ready for that yet. I'd have to change out of my muumuu and curlers.
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Carlos_421 wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »JustSomeEm wrote: »My first fitness tracker tried to give me awards for waking up on time. I turned that feature off pronto! I am not a product of the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality, and a program rewarding me for doing what I've done on my own since I was 13 isn't motivating.
ETA also, 9am? Is that really some kind of achievement? I've been up for 3 hours chasing kids off my lawn by then :laugh:
Right?! #AdultingIsHard
I live next to a school. The struggle is real!
Turn your sprinklers on at 6:00.
I just wait until the little darlings are midway across and turn the garden hose on them
Be sure to allow sufficient pressure to build up in the hose before letting loose.
Oh yes. It's especially gratifying when the lighter ones go flying.6 -
Packerjohn wrote: »They are organizing a step challenge at work, Some of my group was going to do it so I took a look. It involves measuring steps with a tracker or phone app. Since I don't have a tracker, I looked at the recommended phone app.
When I looked at the app, this "challenge/award opportunity" came up. WTF, some app developer feels the need to "award" adult behavior (2nd or 3rd shift workers not included in this rant)?
For what it's worth, developers just write what the spec tells us to. There was a product manager, a designer, and a graphic artist involved in this decision.6 -
I don't find it annoying at all. Positive reinforcement is a good tool for getting healthy. Getting up at 9 am is not the point of this, the point of this is to do something seemingly easy (most people can manage 9 am, that is why it's so late) to get the reward, condition the positive response to the reward.
Then with time, the user will probably select harder, healthier challenges. Their brains will be more primed for the positive reinforcement (and dopamine spike) when they get that reward, because they had "easy", practice challenges before. It's to condition the user, not to reward getting up at 9 am.
They could easily do "check into the app 5 days in a row" or something else though, but then users might find it too unchallenging and not feel like they did something for it.
Lots of people who don't need to be up at 9 am don't have to be up at 9 am. If I didn't have kids, I'd probably want a job (although they are hard to find) that I didn't have to be in until 10-12 and work later. I have a delayed sleep cycle and naturally want to sleep from 3am-10am, but life doesn't work that way (just look at the replies to this thread!), so I have to use sleep aids and very careful sleep hygiene to be able to go to sleep at a "normal" time. Sometimes it isn't enough though and I still can't sleep. It isn't insomnia, because when I do go to sleep I sleep fine. It's a delayed sleep cycle.14 -
sunfastrose wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »I think digital "awards" are dumb. I don't care if a little trophy pops up on my phone because I finished today's C25k run.
That said, this app seems to me to be no different than a fitbit reminding someone to get up and walk every so often. A reminder/encouragement to get up and get going is fine, IMO.
But 9 AM? What normal functioning adult isn't up by 9 AM 5 days a week (shift workers excluded).
*Hand up* I like staying up late and I am a East Coast person who works from home for a company based on the West Coast. My job is heavily based on interactions with other people, so I don't see the point of being at my laptop at 9 AM when the people I have to talk to aren't awake yet.
Would consider your situation type of shift work.4 -
I agree with the fact that positive reinforcement is good and the little digital awards are a good thing, but when they are so frequent for every little thing, that just reduces their meaningfulness. At least in my mind. Like MFP gives me a little "pat on the back" every 5 days for logging in. Thanks MFP I feel so much better about myself for having logged in another 5 days in a row. Woopedoo.2
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Some people find these kinds of things motivating, I suppose. This "gamification" is a pretty standard thing in digital life nowadays. MFP gives you a digital high-five when you log in for a certain number of days straight. Heck, I'm almost kind of proud of some of my untappd "badges", including the "Extraordinary" badge for 1000 unique check-ins:
Regarding 9 AM: When I was in grad school I'd routinely stay up working until 2-3 AM and then sleep in well past 9. Of course, you can argue that a PhD student isn't a "normal functioning adult".
1169 as of today
Love Untappd!2 -
The MFP logins thing is especially silly because you don't have to use the site or app to get credit. If I go for a hike or bike ride, my watch will sync, and MFP treats that as if I logged in.3
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NorthCascades wrote: »The MFP logins thing is especially silly because you don't have to use the site or app to get credit. If I go for a hike or bike ride, my watch will sync, and MFP treats that as if I logged in.
This is why it's always funny to me when I see someone freaking out because they can't close their diary for low calories (whole other issue) and think they will lose their streak. I haven't closed my diary in months.5 -
NorthCascades wrote: »The MFP logins thing is especially silly because you don't have to use the site or app to get credit. If I go for a hike or bike ride, my watch will sync, and MFP treats that as if I logged in.
This is why it's always funny to me when I see someone freaking out because they can't close their diary for low calories (whole other issue) and think they will lose their streak. I haven't closed my diary in months.
I haven't even filled mine in for a couple of months, but that doesn't impact your MFP streak.2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »The MFP logins thing is especially silly because you don't have to use the site or app to get credit. If I go for a hike or bike ride, my watch will sync, and MFP treats that as if I logged in.
This is why it's always funny to me when I see someone freaking out because they can't close their diary for low calories (whole other issue) and think they will lose their streak. I haven't closed my diary in months.
I haven't even filled mine in for a couple of months, but that doesn't impact your MFP streak.
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