A4 Refereed article in a conference publication
A Longitudinal Analysis of Gamification in Untappd: Ethical Reflections on a Social Drinking Application; 
Authors: Molleri, Jefferson; Hyrynsalmi, Sami; Hakkala, Antti; Kimppa, Kai K.; Smed, Jouni
Editors: N/A
Conference name: International Workshop on Dark Software Engineering
Publication year: 2026
Book title : DSE '26 : Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Dark Software Engineering
First page : 14
Last page: 21
ISBN: 979-8-4007-2398-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3786166.3788434
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1145/3786166.3788434
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/526903621
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
This paper presents a longitudinal ethical analysis of Untappd, a social drinking application that gamifies beer consumption through badges, streaks, and social sharing. Building on an exploratory study conducted in 2020, we revisit the platform in 2025 to examine how its gamification features and ethical framings have evolved. Drawing on traditional ethical theory and practical frameworks for Software Engineering, we analyze five categories of badges and their implications for user autonomy and well-being. Our findings show that, despite small adjustments and superficial disclaimers, many of the original ethical issues remain. We argue for continuous ethical reflection built embedded into software lifecycles to prevent the normalization of risky behaviors through design.
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |