Big Data and Gamification

How can you make sense of Big Data, the reams (or gigabytes) of data that's generated with online activity?  One new approach seeks to make it all a game - of sorts.  Gamification is the term being used for the application of gaming principles to non-game applications - such as Big Data analysis and tracking.
  Badgeville is a new start-up that's marketing gamification apps designed to measure and influence user activity on Web and mobile sites.  For example, Badgeville borrows tools from social games to better understand users and to spur desired user behaviors. For example, gamification techniques could assign points for specific actions, recognize achievements, create user contests to unlock awards, and provide real-time notifications when users perform a designated activity.  CEO Kris Duggan explains:

"A lot of people are talking about big data -- collecting data and profiling users, all these kinds of things. But they don't really know what to do with that data, and they don't know how to make it actionable... We track all users and what they're doing," he explained. "This allows us to understand what behaviors users are performing, and what motivates their behaviors."

  Such things can be very useful for media and information apps, particularly those that seek to use their websites and mobile apps to engage with and build audiences.  Games or game-like apps can be very attractive means of audience engagement.  Getting more info on user attitudes and behaviors will likely be even more important, allowing companies to better target audiences in a crowded and increasingly competitive market.  A number of big media firms (NBC, Washington Post, Fox)are already working with Badgeville - hopefully we'll get some idea of how effective ramification can be for media outlets.

Source  -  Big Data and Gamification - Good Partners?  Information Week