Token Economy
A system where you earn visible but meaningless tokens for "good behavior", where good behavior is defined by what the creator of the system wants you to do.
Examples of Token Economies
DeFi Protocols
Many defi protocols are examples of token economies.
- Behavior: liquidity pooling, staking
- Tokens: platform tokens, or more of the tokens you are staking.
Employee of the month and other forms of 'carnival cash'
In a McLeod Hierarchy, this is what the clueless crave.
- Behavior: working extra hours, doing work outside the scope of your job description
- Tokens: internal rewards, titles, or other rewards that aren't transferrable outside of the company.
Loot n' Shoot Games
- Behavior: Shootin'
- Reward: Loot
Social Media Platforms
Social media sites need users to create and share content, so they can get more engagement, and hence ad clicks.
- Behavior: create "engagement" via content (spend more time on the site so you click more ads)
- Tokens: likes, shares, retweets
Professional Sports
- Behavior: playing the game well
- Tokens: wins, titles, championships
Public Schooling
- Behavior: attendance, conformity, following direction
- Tokens: grades, attendance awards, honors