Evaluating Intent in (Mormon) Badges

An interesting topic that came up, while I was at the Mormon Badges’ presentation at the Mormon Media Studies Symposium on Friday, is how do we ensure that badges are being created and used for the right reasons. An astute audience member asked about how we can keep badges within a church setting from becoming a competition, or just earning badges in order to show off and be the most “spiritual.” While this is an issue we’d considered in passing, bringing it up at the conference has prompted me to think more about the issue, and how we can avoid this problem.

Ultimately, I think the answer is that this issue can’t be completely prevented, but we can encourage using badges for the right reasons. As I’ve come to understand and use badges more and more,  I really see that the essential feature is how they are so easy to share, not only the badge itself but also the concepts and learning that is being done. A badge isn’t just proof of credibility. Instead it can be a facilitator for meaningful conversation and sharing, and I really feel it will be a powerful tool for encouraging online learning and eventually online missionary work.

That being said, I think the emphasis with badges needs to be on why we are creating them and what purpose will they serve. Obviously there are possible uses for badges that would just cause problems, like giving public badges for doing your Home Teaching or Visiting Teaching each month. I could really see that escalating into a who is more righteous contest with public “proof” displayed online. But instead of this, I think we need to be creating badges that help people learn more, whether it’s about secular or religious topics, and to talk about what they’re learning whether it’s with friends, collogues or family.

In the end, they may still be abuse of the system, but I really feel like badges have the capability to do so much good, especially within the context of Mormonism and the LDS Church. Badges are able to motivate, educate and facilitate online sharing and proselyting, and by emphasizing these aspects I think much of these problems will be avoided.