Pete Ashton’s Blog

JEECamp was a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest, but that’s not a criticism and even the disapointing stuff was illuminating in its own way. If I took away one thing it was this.

If, when it comes to awareness of how online stuff is going to affect their industry, there are two sorts of journalists, those who get it and those who, for whatever reason, are unable to get it, then the distance between these two is so great that the definition of “journalist” is pretty meaningless. I also became aware that stuff I do comes under the banner of “journalism” even though I have no desire or interest in having that label.

But there was positive stuff there too. In particular was the presentation by Nigel Eccles of Hubdub, a new site that, in short, lets people bet on news events and uses those bets to forecast likely outcomes. Or something. The details, to be frank, weren’t of interest to me personally but the concept was a good one, especially when I had an important revelation.

This is a game. Therefore its success is much more likely.

Back in 2004 I saw this revelation when it came to Flickr being a game and while the implications didn’t sink in it’s stuck in my brain ever since. It’s not just that Flickr exhibited characteristics of a but that play is the best way to engage people with your thing. I wonder if this is why blogs about subjects are more popular that comprehensive websites. A blog, such as my own Created in Birmingham, doesn’t tell you everything that’s going on. What it gives you is a taste and routes to go off an explore. It turns the local creative scene into a game where you’re rewarded by the potential of new experiences and where the environment for play is refreshed every time something new is posted. What adventure with CiB send me on today?

Now compare Hubdub with a standard news site. On the whole (though things are changing) a news site is a dead end. You read the news and take it in but not much else. Sure, you can join the commenting community but that’s not for everyone. Something a little more ambient is in order where your actions can affect the nature of the site in some small way. From what I can see Hubdub does that.

For years now I’ve made a distinction between sites that are games and sites that aren’t but I’m suddenly realising the defiition of a “game” is very fluid and I’m regretting not attending more of the Alternate reality game events at SXSWi. I think the notions behind them could be handy in approaching blogs. Any good resources on this would be appreciated.