Seek and Reflect: A Mobile Scavenger Hunt to Develop Community Engagement

Tiffany Knearem, Jeongwon Jo, Xiying Wang, John M.M. Carroll

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Fostering a sense of connection to a place and building relations between residents are goals of community engagement. Engagement doesn't have to be serious, rather it can be playful and casual. Periodic local festivals bring communities together and provide context for introducing information and communication technology (ICT) for community engagement. We report on a mobile scavenger hunt app released during a local festival, to understand how it facilitated community engagement. We interviewed 15 app users about their community experiences and how the app supported them to engage with various aspects of the festival and host community. We found that the app augmented community engagement through increased place attachment, an awareness of neighbors, seeking out new experiences, and providing opportunities for reflecting on historic events. We suggest that mobile ICTs for community engagement be entertaining and flexible, and leverage both online and offline activities to get people engaged in their community.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationC and T 2021 - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Communities and Technologies
Subtitle of host publicationWicked Problems in the Age of Tech
EditorsFlorian Cech, Shelly Farnham
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages212-223
Number of pages12
ISBN (Electronic)9781450390569
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 20 2021
Event10th International Conference on Communities and Technologies: Wicked Problems in the Age of Tech, C and T 2021 - Virtual, Online, United States
Duration: Jun 21 2021Jun 25 2021

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference10th International Conference on Communities and Technologies: Wicked Problems in the Age of Tech, C and T 2021
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityVirtual, Online
Period6/21/216/25/21

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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