On a couple of new and upcoming book sites that I've joined(LeafMarks
and Literally) they've added achievement like systems where you can
earn badges for your profile by doing certain things on the site. I
think this is pretty cool. I love achievements and personal challenges.
However LeafMarks(and I think something similar to this is planned for
Literally as well) has added a competitive aspect to the achievements.
In
addition to personal challenges where you can set how many books you
want to read in a certain amount of time, there are also friend
challenges where you have to compete with your friend to see who can
complete a goal first and there is a badge that you can't earn unless
you participate in this aspect of the site.
They
have also created badges that you can't earn unless you rank in the top
100 for number of reviews written, liked reviews, and followers. This
really rubs me the wrong way. I guess I just really don't like
leader-board type things at all as I'm not a competitive person, but
since I love achievements, and there are achievements that I can't get
without being competitive, this creates a real conflict. With the friend
competition badge I could get that one just by winning one(and then the
number on the badge would change with each additional win). Trying for
the top 100 badges would require a ton of competitive work though.
Perhaps
I'd feel differently if I thought I actually had a chance at gaining
the top 100 badges. Other members have distinct advantages over me
though. I've only been tracking/reviewing my reading for the past year,
so members who started doing that long before me have a big head start
that I will likely never be able to catch up with, not to mention that
lots of people read much faster than I do. Then the top 100 badges for
most likes and followers bothers me even more because it pretty much
just amounts to a popularity contest. I guess for those badges you have
to have a ton of reviews as well as being well known/liked and I've
never been a highly social person.
I
really wish that all of the achievements were things that everyone
could get if enough time and effort was put in so no one would have to
feel left out. I guess I'm just going to have to accept the fact that I
won't be able to gain all of the achievements. I don't know, maybe it
would be possible for me to get in the top 100 ranks if I worked hard
and long enough, but trying to be competitive about reading would just
take the enjoyment out of it for me and I really feel like reading isn't
something that should be done competitively. Obviously a lot of people
feel differently though, or this sort of thing wouldn't be added to
these sites to begin with.
This
really reminds me of an online biofeedback/meditation website I used to
use a lot. There were personal achievements for completing certain
goals/activities and I loved that, but then they started putting in
leader-boards for competitive group meditation and also for "meditation
for charity" type events. It might be debatable whether reading should
or shouldn't be competitive, but I would vehemently state that
meditation should not and I was extremely disappointed in the direction
that site took.
I guess I just
don't understand why everything has to be a competition with people.
Reading should be about the journey you take every time you open a book,
not about who can read/review the most or who can gain the most likes
and followers.
I've been a book worm for pretty much my whole life. I've read many types of books over the course of my life, but currently the sorts of books I enjoy the most are fantasy and science-fiction. I particularly like it if these genre's are mixed with comedy like the style of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. I definitely can enjoy more serious fantasy and science-fiction though. I also enjoy vampire books, but not quite as much as I did when I was younger.
This blog is mainly for my book reviews, but I also post quotes and other random book related things. If you'd like to know more about the books I've read and am planning to read, I'm a member at several different book sites, and links to my profiles are listed under My Pages.
This blog is mainly for my book reviews, but I also post quotes and other random book related things. If you'd like to know more about the books I've read and am planning to read, I'm a member at several different book sites, and links to my profiles are listed under My Pages.
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