Rendezvous - A social web-based application for knowledge sharing and entertainment

Web applications that offer entertainment rarely support knowledge sharing. Likewise, applications that are intended for knowledge sharing rarely offer entertainment. The intent of this paper is therefore to propose an idea that could coalesce knowledge sharing and entertainment within a Web application. Specifically, the objectives of this paper are twofold. One, as a part of a larger project, it seeks to introduce a conceptual prototype called Rendezvous, which serves as a knowledge sharing cum entertainment platform. Two, it seeks to perform a preliminary evaluation of Rendezvous by identifying factors that may drive behavioral intention to adopt. Additionally, it also seeks to solicit feedback on the general appeal of the prototype. The preliminary evaluation was carried out on a group of 38 participants through focus groups. Based on the results, the following findings can be culled. On the whole, the behavioral intention to adopt Rendezvous seems promising. Compelling factors that seemed to influence behavioral intention to adopt could be categorized into knowledge sharing motivators and gaming characteristics. The knowledge sharing motivators were found to be altruism, commitment to group, and social reputation. Three game characteristics that seemed to compel behavioral intention to adopt were rewards, feedback, and challenge.