Playful Meaning-Making as Prosocial Fun

John M. Carroll (), Fanlu Gui, Srishti Gupta and Tiffany Knearem
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John M. Carroll: College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Fanlu Gui: Vanguard Corporation, Malvern, PA 19496, USA
Srishti Gupta: College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Tiffany Knearem: College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA

Future Internet, 2022, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: Smart city infrastructures enable the routine interleaving and integration of diverse activities, including new ways to play, to be playful, and to participate. We discuss three examples: (1) citizen-based water quality monitoring, which combines outdoor exercise and social interaction with safeguarding public water supplies, (2) a digital scavenger hunt, which combines the experiences of a community arts festival with shared reflections about significant community places and events, and (3) public thanking, which encourages people to acknowledge neighbors and local groups that serve and strengthen the community. Each of these interaction possibilities in itself alters lived experience modestly. We argue that lightweight and playful meaning making activities can be prosocial fun , that is to say, they can simultaneously be playful and fun, but also substantive contributions to the coherence and richness of a community.

Keywords: community engagement; prosocial fun; smart communities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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