The Gamification of Mobile Communication in Seoul, South Korea

Abstract

This study explores how mobile media and gaming practices are integrated with urban young people’s lives in Seoul. Drawing on qualitative interviews with young Koreans, the study examines mobile gaming as the process of ‘gamification’, which refers to the increasing and seamless integration of gameplay with daily media use. In the study, the young people extensively used gameful apps for the efficient management of their everyday lives. In so doing, they thought that they were in control of the technology and the rhythm of their everyday lives. However, while the young people attempted to appropriate gameful technology as a manageable medium, there was little evidence of the subversive aspect of play in the gamification of mobile communication.