@kaa Any ideas? Definitely want to add more.

@manton so some of the badges could be things that people have some influence on. Like start a conversation (that is over 10 replies or something) write 1000 words overall or maybe make the existing challenges harder like blog daily for 2,3,4 months.

@manton @kaa @chet I’ve been thinking recently about the fact we don’t hear people talking about the pins much anymore, I suppose because people who know about them have achieved them all.

I do like the idea of having more “tiers” of the existing posts and days pins, but I’d like to see some unique things available occasionally, too. Of course, I can’t think of any right now, other than than the “post from more than one timezone” we talked about with @PhoneBoy a few months ago. Not much help, am I? :-P

@chet I’m not sure how sophisticated it is, but I know Manton has mentioned that it gets your timezone to know how to display post/reply dates relative to your timezone.

@smokey @manton @chet so the intention of the pins is to get people writing and posting more right, in the hope that this becomes a habit. The new pins should extend the habit for a longer period of time or try and help you interact more maybe?

@kaa That’s my understanding, yes. It’s easy to start adding pins for longer number of days/posts streaks, but at some point those aren’t a draw for anyone but the most “obsessive” (especially number of days) and even become a discouragement (“Man, I missed posting on Sunday this week; I’ll never get that pin, so why bother” {a real thing, paraphrased, I read earlier this year}), which is why I’ve been trying to think of things other than those and that can have broader appeal.

@smokey I see that. Ok then how about posted on x amount of days. Forget about being consecutive. Every day you post the counter goes up by 1. Try posting 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 times. That's roughly a year or two depending on how often you interact.

@kaa Yeah; I think that’s also what the second sentence of @chet’s suggestion post was. Right now there are “First Post” and “10 Posts” pins, so it makes sense to build upon that foundation some.

@kaa @manton @chet I had some thoughts in the shower this evening:

• Using an emojitag (emphasizes Discover and the emojitag feature, and they’re already scanned for already, at least in part)
• Comments-related (first comment and/or N comments; emphasizes interaction)
• Posting every weekday in a month (back when people were still trying for the 30-day pin and posting about it, there were a number of posts from people whose streaks ended because they forgot to post on the weekend, usually because they’re offline/off social-type stuff on the weekend, and this feels like a good way to still recognize a time-based streak while also respecting different attitudes towards usage. Proabably really difficult to implement, though, but putting it out there anyway, for riffing on, if nothing else).
• Being recommended by someone on Micro Monday (not sure how I feel about this, but it’s an idea that popped up)
• Being on @monday (again, not sure how I feel about it; it’s going to be even harder to obtain since there will only be 52/year at best)
• Brought a friend (not sure how this could be scanned for/detected, though)
• Following 10 (20?) people (I see a bunch of people, often new, who follow only a couple of people; it’s certainly a valid choice, but I feel that you don’t get as much value from M.b if you aren’t following at least a dozen or so people, and maybe a pin would encourage some folks, esp. new ones, to start following a few more and make M.b feel more valuable/useful to them. Not sure the best exact threshold, but 10-25 feels right; not too many, but enough to move the needle.)

And it’s been so long since I’ve earned a pin, but (separate from “what pins can we add”) I’m wondering if it’s also possible to improve the notification when you earn a pin (main timeline blue infobar, and something in the apps). I seem to recall that currently the pin notification is only the “You have earned N pins” phrase on the Account screen, so it’s really easy to forget about/miss. OK, I’ve rambled too long; sorry!

@smokey Good feedback, thanks! We try not to send too much email, but I think email might be a good way to remind people they've earned a pin too.

@manton @smokey I'd definitely appreciate email notifications for when pins are earned.

@smokey Yes, I fell into that "why bother" trap last year trying for the 30-day. Once I started seeing others achieving it, I knew I just needed a better plan.

I have a bias toward unique value achievements over arbitrary numbers. Even ones you can stumble unto come as a nice surprise and sparks a desire to know about other obscure routes to glory.

@smokey I’m one of those who finds pins based on streaks discouraging. They make blogging a drag/chore for me rather than something I enjoy. Of the social media that used gamification I haven’t felt positive about any of them once past the “you successfully started” phase.

@ronguest @Sylari I'm with you. I enjoy seeing passive achievements like "Did you know you've posted from 4 different devices in the last 30 days?" much more than goal-based ones like "See if you can post 30 days in a row!"

@smokey @jack @ronguest @Sylari Simply knowing that there’s a 30-days-in-a-row badge makes me anxious. So...

What if there were some badges that don’t appear until after you accomplish them? Having “hidden” badges would reduce the acquisition anxiety, and could inject some whimsy...

• One of your posts has appeared in the ‘Discover’ tab!
• You’ve replied to (x) different posts (today/this week)!
• You’ve posted every Saturday morning for the last month!
• You used an emoji tag!
• You just used the secret word for today!

// cc @manton

@rnv that’s exactly what I was thinking

@rnv @smokey @jack @Sylari I’m probably being cynical but in the past badges based on streaks and frequent activity felt intended to drive more clicks, ad revenue or increase growth of the platform for the platform’s benefit. Not for my enjoyment or enrichment.

@manton If the intent is to gamify, the 7, 30, x day pins make no sense to me. Like a bunch of people mentioned in this thread, the 30 day pin is daunting and/or anxiety inducing. I shouldn't have to say something if I don't have anything constructive to say, but people do just to get the pin. For me, I don't post much, but I like to get involved in discussions, and replies don't get counted (at lest as far as I can tell), making the whole thing worse. Taking a hit from the step/exercise counting apps might help - instead of showing a daunting task "you have to post 30 days", show streaks and tell the person what they've achieved so far; eg. "You've posted 5 days in a row". It's much more positive and encouraging, than 1) not knowing how many days you've posted, and 2) getting to what you think is 30 only to find out you've missed a day. Hiding the unachieved pins may also be good: By default show only the pins the user has achieved, and on the bottom of the list have "show available pins". That way I can look what's there, but it doesn't scream at me.

@manton and sorry for the unformatted blob of text, but the reply boxes on the website are way too small... and, somehow the ability to resize them in browser is disabled.

@oyam Good feedback, thanks. I think we could do something for replies/discussions, but they should be separate since they don't show up on your own blog unless it's a normal post that @-mentions someone else.

@manton Oh interesting, I've never thought about it from blog perspective. Even though stuff posted to M.b goes to everyone's blog, I always thought of M.b as a community in itself, unrelated to blogs. The blogs and links to posts in everyone's feed just come by for a ride as far as I'm concerned :)

@manton does normal post with @ mentions get add to the threaded conversation? Or does that start a new thread?

@vishae It starts a new thread.

@manton I’d like to throw a vote in the “I actually like the 7 day photo / 30 days in a row” badges. They motivate me, and especially in February is why I posted so many pictures of my letters!

@jw Thanks! I like them too. Although as we add more pins I think we can pay attention to having a good balance so they aren't all difficult.

@manton @jw I don't hate them, I just ignore them :)

@manton Another advantage of the "x days in a row" way - once you get the 30 day pin, you never lose it, so it's easy to fall off the bandwagon. The "days in row" way lets you know you fell off the wagon, but also motivates you to get back on and stay on.

@ronguest True, but that entirely depends on platform's intentions. Lot of other platforms do it where there are no clicks or ads (fitness or step counters, for eg) because the human brain responds well to that type of motivation (hence why it got adpoted by ads, clicks, etc).

@manton that makes sense, too!

I think about how Unread and Clear used to handle this; I loved discovering weird new themes, and figuring out what all the Easter eggs were. It would be fun if the pins are like that too, sometimes. A Stardew Valley sense of wonder. 😉