I have to say that I find the badges just a wee bit amusing. It’s true I have been away for awhile–getting diagnosed with 2 other chronic illnesses and trying to learn to live with them; the death of both my parents and my younger sister and two former students, as well as a dear friend for whom I wrote a one-man show—well, Life Happened in a big way—all-consuming and that was where I needed to be. So the whole concept of badges is new to me.
I’m curious. Do they help motivate folks? They are a polite and kindly gesture, of course. Do our members like to compare notes on their badges, for instance? No rush. I’m back and I’m not going anywhere, I hope Though that heart attack a few years ago taught me to always qualify That possibility–LOL! Best regards to all!..Judith in Portland
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Good to hear from you again, Judith. Somehow getting older with health conditions that threatens your mortality seems to clarify your thinking and values!
I don’t personally pay attention to the TuD badges awarded to me or others. The actual discussions and the various perspectives is what motivates me and holds my continuing interest.
To be honest, I never noticed the badges. I went to my profile after I saw your post and saw some badges…how about that. Clearly they are not what brings me to TuD.
I have never paid attention to badges or medals. Now if someone offered a cure that would really interest me! I have lived with this illnesses for 66 yrs and on some days I am really sick of it!
They’re a default feature of the Discourse forum software. Most social platforms have some version of the same thing. Partly it’s a trust level thing, a measure of member’s participation in/commitment to the community. Prolly we could find a setting to switch them off, but they do serve some purposes. Like, it’s less about stroking your ego than about how you present to others. As a mod I do sometimes find it useful to have an easy way of gauging a member’s engagement/commitment with the community. Somebody who arrives out of the blue and starts stirring up a ruckus about something or other might get shorter shrift than someone who’s been around a long time with a history of positive contributions. Just one of those things the Interwebs evolved to fill in the holes left by the lack of in-person presence.
I’m with you, not quite sure about badges. It’s new to me as well! But my initial response would have been (and still is): “Badges, badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ BADGES!” (line from “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” 1948 with John Huston and Humphrey Bogart for those not familiar - or old enough to remember)
Sorry to hear about the newest (or any) illnesses. Glad you are here though! Oh my what a roller coaster you’ve been on…
Be well Judith_in_Portland and keep on livin’ life!
From a stranger (in more than one way, but you probably already have realized that!), Steve B.
The badges are helpful to new members sorting through different opinions in response to a question. Forums can use them to drive participation and positive behaviors. From reading old posts TuDiabetes transitioned from another system to the current one and tried badges then made changes in response to both the community and forum software updates that have disabled all but the most basic badges.
I’m a sucker for gamification elements of social media so I’d like to see badges used and maintained. Big social media has been killing little single subject forums like TuDiabetes and I support anything that’ll keep a site like this going. That said, I do think the old badges need to be hidden or removed to allow new members to level up fairly.
@Judith_in_Portland were you just having fun being nostalgic or wishing for change? Either way thanks for posting, you got me to do some reading to figure out how to add the Type 1 label to my username.
The list of your deep heart losses is staggering. I’m so very sorry! Along with additional diseases burdening your minute to minute life!? I can see how badges and bells and whistles would seem superfluous.
Take care of your heart, your spirit. No one wants to be as strong as life is asking you to be. Ugh. I’m so sorry. Wishing you relief, warmth from your remaining loved ones, rest and healing.
