Carnegie Mellon professor Jessie Schell recently predicted that we’d soon be earning virtual points for “achieving” things in our daily life.  To paraphrase one example, he suggests we’ll get messages from our toothbrush like: “Congratulations, you brushed your teeth for three minutes this morning, you get 50 points.”

Schell argues that these kinds of “points” will increase our status as an individual or part of a group, and potentially be redeemable at our favorite stores or some such thing. We’ve started to see versions of this in apps like Foursquare or other Facebook applications, and it strikes me as an interesting type of incentive for certain behaviors.

And it must be mainstream now that we have a major city’s municipal government getting in on the act.

The 311 service provided by the city of Washington, DC is linking with Facebook and the iPhone to allow people to report municipal problems — a fallen tree, say, or a pothole on your block — and earn status points on for doing so.  To quote the introduction: 

“And finally you will be recognized by DC residents and could appear in the Hall of Fame, where the most active and attentive residents are displayed for all to know.”

It’s a new twist to an old life lesson: Help thy neighbor so you can be in the hall of fame.  I wonder if it will get to enough critical mass to change behavior.