It’s a fun and cheery thought to think that Amazon added the Activity Hub as just a fun way for Flex drivers to keep track of how they’re doing. On the surface that’s how it looks but we’re a little skeptical. We know that Amazon isn’t well know for doing things “just for fun” especially when it comes to Flex. They typically never make changes that are “fun” or in the favor of drivers. So why the change of heart with the introduction of the Activity Hub?
If you look at it with a skeptical state of mind you can see that a lot of resources went into it’s creation. With all of the well made artistic icons. Getting stuff like that made isn’t cheap.
Even by Amazon’s standards, artist are expensive. Is it more likely that the Activity Hub is an innocent fun thing that they added for drivers or.. Might there be an agenda behind all of this. What’s their true intention?
Gamification
The Activity Hub is without any doubt, gamification, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. However, if used with the intention to make your app or service addictive, then it’s perhaps unethical. You may have seen the movie on Netflix “The Social Dilemma”, where it talks about how services like Gmail and social media like Facebook are addictive and unhealthy. That’s bad because the developers and CEO’s intentionally designed it to be that way. They want their services to be addictive so that users keep coming back. They intentionally utilize psychological manipulation techniques on human beings so that their apps and services are addictive. That’s definitely an issue and I think most would agree. I don’t think Amazon Flex is innocent in this either.
Variable Reward
Tapping for blocks on the Flex app is about the same as playing a slot machine. You receive a variable reward (a caught block) at random and this sort of behavior has proven to be highly addictive. As drivers we do this every single day for hours at a time, surely that is not a healthy practice. Much like playing a slot machine or gambling is bad but at least with Amazon Flex we make money instead of losing it, but Amazon is making a whole lot more. All of that time and unhealthy behavior day in and day out. Millions of taps and variable rewards later. What’s it all really worth? What’s the purpose of gamifying the Flex app even further with the Activity Hub? Making it more addictive, more engaging, more rewards! We just can’t help but to keep coming back.
What’s it all for?
I think the Activity Hub is a cheap and easy way for Amazon to give drivers an incentive. Instead of offering rewards like a chance to win an Echo Dot or extra money like they’ve done in the past, the Hub serves as an incentive for drivers. Drivers want to have good metrics, they want to see that they’re doing “Fantastic”, it’s a warm and fuzzy feeling.
It’s also a good way for Amazon to improve the quality of Amazon Flex deliveries. If drivers are striving to be “Fantastic” in the Hub then ultimately the overall quality of Amazon Flex increases. Instead of telling us how poorly we’re doing they’re letting us know how well we’re doing. They’ve gamified the app so that we take the initiative ourselves to improve the quality of our work, because we all want to be Fantastic! Whether we know it or like it, we’re being influenced to work harder and better for Amazon Flex. It’s a win-win but mostly for Amazon since drivers aren’t getting compensated any extra for this.
If I had to guess I would say the Activity Hub has been very successful for Amazon. I’m sure there are drivers who check it obsessively and who stress out when their status begins to fall. This is the true intention of the Hub, it’s not about fun, it’s about control. To Amazon the drivers are nothing more than a data set. One cog in the machine that is Amazon Flex. Without drivers the whole thing falls apart. They have to keep us in line, they need us to behave how they want us to behave as a collective. The Activity Hub serves that purpose. We are all at it’s mercy because when our metrics begin to fall, the only way to get it back up is to work even harder and better for Amazon Flex.
Drivers are very valuable to Amazon Flex. More so then most give themselves credit for. They wan’t us to be floundering for blocks. They want us to work harder and work better but without any extra compensation. To be so desperate that we’ll take whatever we can get at the base rate, that’s good for Amazon. Keep that in mind the next time they offer incentive that isn’t in the form of cash money. We’re not in this to unlock achievements in the Activity Hub. Left to their own devices, drivers would organize to ensure that block rates surge, and Amazon can’t have that. So what are we going to do about it?
Appreciate it! Be safe and Flex on. Until next time.