💾 Archived View for rawtext.club › ~ahub › kind_words.gmi captured on 2023-04-26 at 13:29:15. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2021-12-03)
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topics : game, social systems, social networks, slow computing
So this kind of an in-progress reflection about a 'game' I've bought recently.
It's an example of how technology can manipulate us for the better. Instead of
polarizing opinions and overall deceiving us, like most social networks do.
The game is called 'kind words'.
https://popcannibal.itch.io/kindwords
The term 'game' is loosely used here. It's not a game where you can win or
loose. There is not even a 'gameplay' to speak of. It's more of a communcation
platform. Think of it as 'non-social-network'.
There is a nice 3D diorama representing 'your room', or 'your home' that you
can hardly customize. All the 3d is in a 'low-poly' art style, with lo-fi
music. Slow animations and warm colors. All the settings is set to put you in a
cozy mood.
And eventually, none of it might matter because you don't interact with any of
that.
As I said no gameplay. All your actions happen in menus. There are not many
anyway. Here is a list, the explanation is just behind.
So you can send a 'public letter' that is very limited (~400 characters on 4
lines I think). They are anonymous, and everyone will be able to see it at some
undetermined point in the future. Depending on unknown factors it can be
minutes or days.
The answers have a somewhat bigger character limit; about 20 lines. They are
private. Only the original poster will see them. Then the OP can send a sticker
to the person who answered.
Stickers are the only 'gamified' part of the application. It's bunch of
collectibles that you can use to customize your room. There are about 20 and
it's trivial to get them all. They are also used as a mean of communication,
usually as a proxy for saying 'thank you'.
Think of it as an emoticon you can only use once you've seen it.
The key point here is that you *CANNOT* have a real conversation. There is no
back and forth. You post something, you get an answer. The end. Nobody knows
who you are, there is no reputation, no profiles, no evolving culture.
Everything is ephemeral and disposable.
Yet it works.
I've seen people telling really hurting and sad stories, confide secrets or
just share a good laugh. The sheer honesty is really stunnning. There are
people talking about their relationship issues, their fears their health
issues.
Some of them are more terse: "I had a bad day, send me a good joke". Or the
opposite "Write to me. I won't be able to answer, but you'll be read".
Of course there could be all lies, but what's the point ? There is nothing to
gain by lying anyway, nothing a troll could enjoy.
At first I was too shy to do anything. Then I answered to people asking for
funny feedbacks. The "Give me your worst breakfast recipe" kind.
Then I posted a few answers to persons who had situations I knew. I was a bit
reluctant. When someone is *that* honest and open hearted, you don't want to
hurt them.
I did finally write a message. It was very personnal and I felt silly for doing
it. And, surprisingly, relieved also. But over a few days I received really
moving answers, and it made me feel better.
Now this looks as an advertisement but it's not. I think it's what internet and
especially social networks should feel like. It's what they would've been if
they were designed for the purpose they advertise. But all of them are
optimized for money-making and attention-grabbing so that's what we get.
The real question is
Anonymity and ambience play a role here. But I'm also convinced that the
limitations on the mean of communication are also a plus. Genova Chen is famous
for making Journey, a deeply connecting game with a single emote as the only
channel of communication.
There are also world-class game designer working on the topic of 'designing for
friendship':
https://lostgarden.home.blog/2017/01/27/game-design-patterns-for-building-friendships/
But 'kind words' is different, it's not about friendship since you cannot
create a nurture a lasting relationship.
I see some similarities with rawtext.club, and its shlog (or small audience
blog) system. Anyway it's turtles all the way down. So how do you design
something like that ? How long before a public post is visible ? By who ? Until
when ? How do you handle an imbalance between posters and answerers ? Do you
moderate ? How ? Can it be decentralized ? Do you need to have an
authentification scheme ?
It makes me want to design something similar. Even if don't end-up actually
coding it. It might be something local-first such as RTC, it might be a nice
toy to publish on gemini, it my be my next game jam project.
For the sake of it, let's design such a system together. If you have insights,
ideas; by all means, reach out. Mail me, shlog-back, whatever. I think social
networks designed for meaningful interactions can exist. I wanna know how.