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July 29, 2005
What is captology?
The term "captology" is based on the acronym: Computers As Persuasive Technology. Captology is the study of computers as persuasive technology.
So what's persuasive technology?
Persuasive technology describes any interactive computing system designed to change people's attitudes or behaviors. From the speed limit signs that display your speed as you drive past to computer games that help asthmatic children better treat their illness, any time any piece of technology from a mobile phone to a supercomputer influences the decision-making processes of a human it can be considered persuasive technology.
Persuasion is often confused with deception or coercion and while technology and media are often used to these ends, for the purposes of captology persuasion is defined as "an attempt to change attitudes or behaviors or both". True persuasion requires intentionality as it "distinguishes between a planned effect and a side effect of technology". For example, since the invention of video games, children have become more sedentary as they play games sitting in front of a screen, rather than playing actively outdoors. This was not an intended effect, but a side effect of video games. Persuasive technologies are those which are intentionally designed to elicit a planned effect that emerges from the use of the technology.
To learn more about science behind persuasive technology, check out BJ Fogg's book, Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. http://tinyurl.com/b5qw6
Posted by Matt Markovich at July 29, 2005 09:52 AM