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This article was a very interesting article because it not only shows how technology advances are helping social change, but also how big movements are looking for younger and younger individuals to donate and show their engagement in social issues.
On March 4th, a new game on Facebook, which will be called “Half the Sky Movement: The Game” will focus on women’s issues such as genital mutation and child prostitution. The game will follow a main character as she voyages and overcomes obstacles and will increasingly become more dramatic and face very serious issues. The game follows many other games that have been successful in the past in not only raising awareness for different causes around the world, but also increasing donations. Through these games, people play for free, but can pay money to advance further or unlock goals, and the money paid goes to an organization that helps out the cause the game was created for. Two popular games that have been successful in instances like this are 2005’s “Food Force” which was created by The UN’S Food Program to raise awareness for famine worldwide and 2006’s “Darfur is Dying” which was launched by MTV which raised awareness of Sudanese refugee camps.
I think these games are not only a great way to raise awareness to people, but particularly raise awareness at a younger age. Many younger people, such as teenagers in their early teen years, play these Facebook games and these games, although not necessarily educational, help raise awareness to these children about causes that are going on in the world around them and therefore, it may help them become more involved in volunteering and such as they grow older. The big incentive with these games is that you can donate for free and people are not forced to donate money, which can cause more people to play the game and eventually have more people donate money to these causes because they won’t feel obliged to. Years ago, these types of games didn’t exist, so raising awareness proved more difficult for people. However, now that these games exist on social networks that most people use every day, these issues can be presented to everyone so that everybody can help out in their own way. This change in technology really has benefited organizations that help out big causes in the world, and they have also made it fun to donate and help out an important cause.
I had no idea these games existed! I may have to reassess my view on Facebook games :)
ReplyDeleteSimply a great approach to said topics! In a way to avoid giving off feelings of pressure to others, the idea of Facebook gaming can be both fun and helpful! The targerted audience at such a young age can enjoy themselves while learning of the realities of the world along with ways to make a change!
ReplyDeleteI think this is an interesting and a different approach to games. Most people that get on Facebook vent about "everyday" problems in their lives, these games could possibly help them realize that there are bigger problems in the world. The different organizations that are trying to raise awareness for their cause are really taking advantage of the Web 2.0 tools that are available in this Information Age.
ReplyDeleteI always knew social websites such as Facebook were good social awareness boosters, but never realized that they went as far as to make games to allow a different output of information. I think this is great! It is a really good idea since it is so hard to get peoples’ attention in the first place. These games allow a form of entertainment along with education that can really stick to the player’s minds. I know that when I get into a game I really try take in from it as much as I can; now if what is taken in is positive, like in the games you mentioned, than they become that much better.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting way to get games and actually put them to good use. I’m so glad you posted this. I know there are so many people who play games online all day just to pass time and with more games like this it would be a fantastic way to raise awareness and without it feeling so negative. Great post
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