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Google Launches News Badges

Posted by Soulskill on from the this-must-be-the-decade-of-sharing-literally-everything dept.

theodp writes "Does it make you sad that you're too grown up to earn Scouting Merit Badges? Well, thanks to the PhDs at Google, you can now start earning Google News badges as you read articles about your favorite topics. The more you read, the higher rank you'll attain; Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and finally, Ultimate. They say, 'Your badges are private by default, but if you want, you can share your badges with your friends. Tell them about your news interests, display your expertise, start a conversation or just plain brag about how well-read you are.'"

1 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. How will this ever succeed in America? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    To be a functioning member of American society today, one cannot know anything about the news or recent events, especially those happening in some other part of the world. So how is this supposed to ever gain any following in America? American society is built around ignorance, and this is completely contradictory to that foundation.

    I could see it at least applying in Europe or Asia, where almost everybody follows the news to some extent. But such badges would be pointless. In Europe and Asia, you don't have to have a fucking badge to show that you've got a minimum level of news comprehension skills. It's something that everybody is just assumed to have!