GAMIFICATION IN THE CONTEXT OF HEALTHY EATING FOR COLLEGE MALES

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Fitocracy Fitocracy is a multi-platform fitness log that makes working out fun. This web site feels and looks like Facebook (Fig. 4.4). The website allows users to filter personal feeds to everyone in the community: friends, groups to which one belongs. It utilizes gamification, community interaction, personal tracking, and motivation and reward elements. Members can post comments on a community wall. The comments range from asking questions about certain workouts or opinions about the latest running shoes. This is all done within the feed sections of the website. The “You� section presents personal profiles to view tracking information, such as daily updates, current exercise level, total points and friend updates. Fitocracy has various sections, one of which tracks personal workouts. It utilizes an archival system of past exercises and workouts. The data is visualized in a variety of forms. An example is a bar graph that exhibits each day’s score. A knowledge page on the left side is available, as well as tracking and motivation components. Within the motivation tool, activity points are earned. The portal includes a fun aspect that enables a player to challenge others in the community. The community board offers dietary information, inspirational testimonials, and general health tips. Leaders and connect pages serve to find others who share the same interests. They also highlight top member achievements. This application is a logging tool for fitness, with elements of social media. As a fitness app, it has merit in that it helps to change individual behavior through the utilization of technology. The mobile aspect makes it easily accessible at any time and any place by anyone.

Figure 4.4 Fitocracy homepage (top) and activity log (bottom).

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