If on Strava we are
all playing a game, (see my earlier posts) why do some players seem to be better at the game
than others? – and by better I don’t mean ‘better’ at riding their bikes! I
will answer this question, but it is going to take more than one blog posts to
do it. In this post (which is a bit longer than my previous posts) I have
included the words of some of my research participants to help answer the question – although their names have been
changed to conceal their identity. It would be interesting to hear blog readers’ views, you can decide yourself - Kudos gift? or bribe?
Last time I talked
about capital and how a cyclist’s position in this social world is governed by
their capital holdings. Kudos is a form of both social and symbolic capital in
the social location of Strava. One
of Strava's features that everyone uses (some more than
others!) is the facility to give and receive Kudos from their
‘followers’. Kudos is intended to be used in a similar way to the ‘Like’
facility on Facebook, as a quick ‘thumbs up’ to be given to peers to
congratulate them and give them recognition for a noteworthy achievement.
Even short rides sometimes deserve Kudos - this one did
According to Bourdieu (my favourite sociologist – remember?) Virtually any resource material or immaterial, of high or low value, can be transformed in to a gift. So if we think of Kudos as gifts that Strava users give and receive, what purpose do these gifts serve? Gift exchange as part of a community (like Strava) is characterised by three principles: in that everybody is obliged to give, receive and reciprocate and these social obligations mean that recipients feel obligated to return the Kudos given to them.
Reciprocity: The I give you, you give me
principle
The analogy of gift
exchange is relevant to Strava because it is through the effects of gifts,
gratitude, indebtedness and loyalty that people will attempt to profit from
forming alliances and relationships. Where is the profit in Kudos? you might ask, the profit is from the accumulation of social and symbolic capital.
Cyclists who are ‘successful’ on Strava – you know
the ones I mean, they get 123 Kudos for riding around the block - have developed on-line relationships with their Strava followers based on the reciprocal sharing of gifts (Kudos), and these online relationships are a source from which they accumulate capital (symbolic
and social). This is why I was banging on about capital in my last post!
Gift exchange creates and maintains social and symbolic capital, as a gift
requires the receiver to return the gift.
So there is a strategic dimension to gift giving and cyclists try to establish cooperative exchange relationships on Strava, in other words, people will choose the recipients of their gifts (Kudos) based on the likely-hood of receiving gifts in return. If you think about it, its a bit like how some people are with Christmas pressies. Strava users develop realistic expectations based on previous Kudos exchanges and mutual trust that their cooperative behaviour will be rewarded.
This strategic, reciprocal behaviour enables relationships to be formed
in the Strava setting. Although to some users such a Kevin below the process of
reciprocity can have a negative effect:
followers who give
kudos for every ride I do, no matter how short really annoy me. It undervalues
their kudos!
Kevin - a self-described fitness
cyclist who races - interview comment
I don't give kudos
back automatically. I am fairly stingy when I give it, most of the lads I follow, I know well and I
know if a ride is worth Kudos.
John a self-described racing cyclist - interview comment
Based on my research the way to think about the first gift of Kudos is that
it's an investment to create a relationship that can be drawn upon later. In the
game that is being played on Strava, Kudos, along with the
relationship with the follower and also the number of followers are forms of social
and symbolic capital – which have value to the ‘players’.
If you win 'The Race For The Cafe' that's always going to earn you Kudos
It is important to remember that this ‘game
play’ strategy doesn’t always work. As Keith points out below, inappropriate gift giving, that is too much
out of balance can harm relationships.
…weirdos follow you and give Kudos in the hope that you'll
reciprocate. They're losers doing it for their own benefit, not yours. I just block
them.
Keith a self-described racing cyclist comment from a post ride café conversation August 2015
Reciprocity is however, an
important principle of gift exchange, as reciprocity strengthens the
expectations of the giver that the receiver will reciprocate at some time in
the future. Having said that it would seem that not everyone understands the
rules of the ‘Strava game’
I am not sure if you are supposed to reciprocate the kudos.
Brian
a self-described racing cyclist - interview response
My research findings suggest that
the exchange of Kudos may be motivated by self-interest and one interpretation
of this is that Kudos given to others with the intention of stimulating a
return is actually a bribe. You may disagree? – Stephen below has his view.
Kudos should not be given for
all rides. I give kudos for hard rides I have been on and when people do
long/hilly rides
Stephen a self-described
fitness cyclist - interview comment
Some rides definitely don't deserve Kudos
I will do another post on Kudos later and also include my research
participants’ views on the ‘authenticity’ of achievements on Strava – that topic could be a little bit contentious.
Next
week’s blog will be about violence in the social world of racing cyclists – we are
all victims of it – we just don’t realise it.
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