Competing or aiming to be average?:  Normification as a means of engaging digital volunteers

Chris Preist; Elaine Massung; David Coyle

doi:10.1145/2531602.2531615

Competing or aiming to be average? Normification as a means of engaging digital volunteers

Chris Preist, Elaine Massung, David Coyle

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Contribution (Conference Proceeding)

75 Citations (Scopus)

836 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Engagement, motivation and active contribution by digital volunteers are key requirements for crowdsourcing and citizen science projects. Many systems use competitive elements, for example point scoring and leaderboards, to achieve these ends. However, while competition may motivate some people, it can have a neutral or demotivating effect on others. In this paper we explore theories of
personal and social norms and investigate normification as an alternative approach to engagement, to be used alongside or instead of competitive strategies. We provide a systematic review of existing crowdsourcing and citizen
science literature and categorise the ways that theories of norms have been incorporated to date. We then present qualitative interview data from a pro-environmental crowdsourcing study, Close the Door, which reveals normalising attitudes in certain participants. We assess how this links with competitive behaviour and participant performance. Based on our findings and analysis of norm theories, we consider the implications for designers wishing to use normification as an engagement strategy in
crowdsourcing and citizen science systems.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proc. 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing
Place of Publication	New York
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Pages	1222-1233
Number of pages	12
ISBN (Print)	9781450325400
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/2531602.2531615
Publication status	Published - 15 Feb 2014

Research Groups and Themes

Bristol Interaction Group

Keywords

citizen science
crowdsourcing
gamification
competition
social norms
personal norms
normification

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10.1145/2531602.2531615

Preist et al Camera Ready v2Final published version, 452 KB

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Digital Green Doors
Preist, C. W. (Principal Investigator)
1/02/13 → 1/02/15
Project: Research

Professor Chris W Preist
- Chris.Preistbristol.acuk
- School of Computer Science - Professor of Sustainability & Computer Systems
- Bristol Poverty Institute
- Cabot Institute for the Environment
- Systems Centre
Person: Academic , Member

Cite this

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title = "Competing or aiming to be average?: Normification as a means of engaging digital volunteers",

abstract = "Engagement, motivation and active contribution by digital volunteers are key requirements for crowdsourcing and citizen science projects. Many systems use competitive elements, for example point scoring and leaderboards, to achieve these ends. However, while competition may motivate some people, it can have a neutral or demotivating effect on others. In this paper we explore theories ofpersonal and social norms and investigate normification as an alternative approach to engagement, to be used alongside or instead of competitive strategies. We provide a systematic review of existing crowdsourcing and citizenscience literature and categorise the ways that theories of norms have been incorporated to date. We then present qualitative interview data from a pro-environmental crowdsourcing study, Close the Door, which reveals normalising attitudes in certain participants. We assess how this links with competitive behaviour and participant performance. Based on our findings and analysis of norm theories, we consider the implications for designers wishing to use normification as an engagement strategy incrowdsourcing and citizen science systems.",

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Competing or aiming to be average? Normification as a means of engaging digital volunteers. / Preist, Chris; Massung, Elaine; Coyle, David.
Proc. 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing. New York: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2014. p. 1222-1233 .

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Contribution (Conference Proceeding)

TY - GEN

T1 - Competing or aiming to be average?

T2 - Normification as a means of engaging digital volunteers

AU - Preist, Chris

AU - Massung, Elaine

AU - Coyle, David

PY - 2014/2/15

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AB - Engagement, motivation and active contribution by digital volunteers are key requirements for crowdsourcing and citizen science projects. Many systems use competitive elements, for example point scoring and leaderboards, to achieve these ends. However, while competition may motivate some people, it can have a neutral or demotivating effect on others. In this paper we explore theories ofpersonal and social norms and investigate normification as an alternative approach to engagement, to be used alongside or instead of competitive strategies. We provide a systematic review of existing crowdsourcing and citizenscience literature and categorise the ways that theories of norms have been incorporated to date. We then present qualitative interview data from a pro-environmental crowdsourcing study, Close the Door, which reveals normalising attitudes in certain participants. We assess how this links with competitive behaviour and participant performance. Based on our findings and analysis of norm theories, we consider the implications for designers wishing to use normification as an engagement strategy incrowdsourcing and citizen science systems.

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KW - crowdsourcing

KW - gamification

KW - competition

KW - social norms

KW - personal norms

KW - normification

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DO - 10.1145/2531602.2531615

M3 - Conference Contribution (Conference Proceeding)

SN - 9781450325400

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BT - Proc. 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing

PB - Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

CY - New York

ER -

Competing or aiming to be average? Normification as a means of engaging digital volunteers

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