DailyFeats.com – Doing Good Isn’t Its Only Reward
DailyFeats.com (Feats) is a relatively new social network that rewards users for doing good deeds in the real world. The platform creates a free community built around these deeds, while at the same time openly admitting to relying on corporate support to keep the site running. Although my initial experience with Feats was great, my interest in the site waned due to a few site glitches and a personal moral crisis.
By Nicole Franklin, Manager Business Development
Key Information The online social community DailyFeats.com (Feats) had its coming-out party in March 2011 at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. The site is one of a growing number of social media hubs that both celebrate and reward real-world good deeds. Getting started on Feats is easy: Simply log on using your Facebook credentials, create a profile and then launch your crusade to better yourself. Whether your acts are as simple as reading to your children before bed or as epic as climbing a mountain, Feats will reward you with points based on the scope of the accomplishment; earn enough points in a given category and badges will appear on your profile. Warning – these badges will disappear unless you accomplish “maintenance feats.” You are also able to cash in your points for real-world rewards, such as e-gift cards for national chains and coupons for local stores.
Feats creates a sense of community through its Twitter-like format, which allows you to post your accomplished feats for other “Featers” to see and comment on. You can also set up your profile to publish your accomplishments to your Twitter and Facebook accounts, and to check in using mobile apps and Foursquare. Additionally, community members can participate in “Challenges,” opt-in contests where participants complete a certain number of related feats within a time limit.
I had the pleasure of hosting Veer Gidwaney, CEO and Co-Founder; and Morley Ivers, COO, at the RTCRM offices this spring. During a Q&A session, Gidwaney and Ivers revealed that a long-term mission of the site is to make an impact on the most pressing social issues in the United States. Obesity and personal debt are just two examples of issues that Feats addresses by reinforcing positive behavior with rewards. The site provides badges for eating vegetables and exercising, or lets users earn badges for auto-paying bills and saving. However, Feats balances its altruism with practical wisdom (aka sponsorships) and keeps the lights on by offering corporate-sponsored badges and exclusive portals to companies that want to be associated with self-improvement, like Monster.com, 1-800-Flowers, and Home Depot.
Implications and Action items
- Keep Your Resources Up-to-Date. It’s no fun getting a discount coupon for a local restaurant that went out of business a month ago.
- Aesthetics. The badges and feat icons are, in my humble opinion, gorgeous. C’mon, who doesn’t want the roly-poly ninja badge for learning a new skill?
- Sea of Sameness. Although Feats makes updating your status easier (via Facebook, Twitter, and mobile apps) and has a more compelling purpose than just social interaction, it is, essentially, another social networking site I needed to find time to update.
On a personal note: While participating on Feats was thrilling at first, I admit I eventually lost interest. It could be my Midwestern background; a culture steeped in humility that leads me to think that there is something immoral about publicly announcing accomplishments and receiving praise for them. A good deed should be its own reward and endeavoring to better one’s self is understood, like breathing. But then that’s just me. Now, get off my lawn!