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Singapore’s National Library Board offers micropayments to build reading habits

288 points · 149 comments · geox

  1. kingstnap · · focus · HN ↗
    The headline makes it seem more monetary than it actually is.

    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.read.gov.sg&#x2F;join-the-readsg-challenge" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.read.gov.sg&#x2F;join-the-readsg-challenge

    It seems like turning points into money is just a happens to exist sort of mechanic. Enough to write a headline that they are technically &quot;paying you&quot;. The real mechanics are much more typical gamification. Like earning xp, streaks, leaderboards, limited edition goodies at events, prize draws, collective goals.

    The strict money payout is S$0.02 per 15 minutes at most once a day. Obviously if you were doing this it would be more for the rest of the dopamine then hoping to buy a candy bar after like 50 days.

    1. juiceland · · focus · HN ↗
      Systems like this are not new. When I was in elementary school in the US Midwest, we had a program called accelerated reader, (AR), where you could take tests about books and get points. The longer the book, the more the points. You could redeem the points for candy.

      Anyway I was banned from AR in the 5th grade because I learned you could sort the book list by points awarded, so I wrote down the list of most valuable books and checked them out from the library. I convinced a 2 friends to help, one would take the test and write down the questions and then someone else would read the book to get the answers and share them. We ended up racking up like way more points than anyone else and the teachers called out and made us explain.

      1. AlotOfReading · · focus · HN ↗
        My middle school had a reading program where the monthly winner would get a book of their choice from the scholastic catalog. This was a very enticing prize to a poor, voracious reader like me.

        After winning my way through the Hobbit&#x2F;LOTR series, they changed the rules specifically for me to require oral exams on each of the books I was reading, and later book reports. I was eventually banned completely so there could be an actual competition.

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