Badges, Airianna? We Don’t Have Any Badges! We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges!
June 2nd, 2010
You may or may not have noticed, but Huffington Post now has a system for users who comment on stories. HuffPost Badges, according to their FAQ, “is our newest way to recognize and empower HuffPost readers and users. So far, we’re focusing on three key areas of user activity on the site: connecting with others, engaging with our content, and moderating our comments. We’re highlighting these three areas and recognizing the top users in them.”
Nah, it’s a cheesy way of turning commenting on news stories into a version of Mafia Wars. “Only 243 more comments and I’m a Level 3 Superuser!” is pretty much the same deal as “Only 1,697 more experience points and I’m a Level 239 Consigliere.”
Badges are in beta. HuffPo should consider it a failure and lose them — they cheapen the site.