ABSTRACT

In the past few years, Covet Fashion and Redecor have emerged as popular options in the invest/express genre of casual games, where players create outfits and decorate rooms, respectively, to be judged by other users. This paper considers how such gamification—by turning taste considerations into a literal game—can impact judgments in everyday life. Drawing on symbolic interactionism, this paper positions taste judgments as being constructed through communication and social position. As such, by altering who players are in communication with, these games have the potential to rework learned taste and aesthetic judgments, thereby modifying sociocultural considerations like cultural capital. Taking a phenomenological approach, this paper finds these games frequently support the negative aspects of contemporary consumer culture, but have the potential to be more empowering.

摘要

在过去的几年里，Covet Fashion and Redecor已经成为休闲游戏投资/快递类型的流行选择，玩家分别制作服装和装饰房间，以供其他用户评判。本文考虑了这种游戏化——通过将品味考虑转化为文字游戏——如何影响日常生活中的判断。本文借鉴符号互动论，将品味判断定位为通过沟通和社会地位构建的。因此，通过改变与玩家交流的对象，这些游戏有可能重修习得的品味和审美判断，从而改变文化资本等社会文化因素。采用现象学方法，本文发现这些游戏经常支持当代消费文化的消极方面，但有可能变得更加赋权。