I (we?) are obsessed with why people share, how to build engagement and how to create real life value for brands and individuals alike utilizing online channels. We need to become more obsessed with rewards and with reinforcing on and offline behaviors.

We need to become more creative in the way we encourage and reinforce behavior, especially with all of the channels and tools that are now at our disposal. The possibilities for creating innovative rewards, tailored to types of social sharing, is something that’s really exciting.

Recently in WiredUK, John Battelle created a chart about how “The Check in extends the great database of human interactions”

Online here: (thanks Mobile Behavior)

Isn’t that awesome? We’ve created a whole new category of human interaction basically in the last year? While this is fine and dandy, the speed at which types of interactions are evolving leaves us  lagging.

While it is a daunting task to try and keep up with all of the technology, we can keep up with motivations. I love the “signal” category of John’s chart. Once we understand the signal and implications, we can effectively dream up ideas to reinforce and change behavior.

I took the liberty to make a chart using John’s “signal” category, and I added types of currency that can be utilized to affect behavior. The ideas in the chart are all rewards dreamed up by brands that I’ve come across, I may be leaving something out — the larger point is that we can do better. We don’t need to increase the size of online ads, we need to create online movements.

So help me out here. What innovative rewards should go in these boxes?

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