Last week the Nieman Journalism Lab reported that MTV Networks will use gamification as part of the 2012 election coverage. MTV’s VP of public affairs, Jason Rzepka talked about the program, “Millennials are increasingly viewing life through a game lens, even just [using] #winning or #fail…Game vernacular has become a part of youth vernacular. By putting that competitive layer on top of it — a lot of people are inherently competitive, so if the path to winning is being informed, there could be a really great civic benefit.”

The beta version will be out this summer and the formal launch will happen on September 1st, 2012. The official name of the program is Fantasy Election ’12 and will encourage players and their friends to sign up, build a team, compete against each other in a virtual league. The game is centered around mobile — players using smartphones can check stats from their phones and much more. The other interesting thing is the game focuses on data. MTV will be using sources like PolitiFact, Real Clear Politics and more to measure performance and data. Social media and the frequency of Twitter and Facebok activity will also be used to gauge engagement.

What a smart use of gamification – we’re excited to see this program when it launches!