foursquare, a location-based social network, gives away so many points and “badges” to users that their personal pages can start to look like Boy Scout sashes.

It may seem over the top at first, but it”s a powerful way to encourage certain behaviors. In the Online Community Research Network’s recent report Key Factors Establishing an Online Community’s Culture Community manager were asked, “What steps have you taken to establish a new community’s culture?”

The most popular response was “Recognizing positive participation.” Whether it’s for completing their profile, posting content, or helping to moderate a fractious exchange.

Foursquare encourages profile photos by restricting certain badges and rewards to people who (among other things) have a profile photo.

But they’re also laying the groundwork for a virtual currency and gift system, by giving users points for taking certain actions.

The actual rules for what earns you points are are in flux, which I think is a great idea. It gives them the freedom to adapt the process as it evolves, plus it  adds some mystery to the process, encouraging exploration.

They admit that (at this point) the point are only good for bragging rights, but that they may be used in the future for creating virtual badges for users and their friends.

And chances are they’re not being coy: They even ask users for ideas on how points could be used in the future!

Good post on building social networks that talks about voyeurism, narcissism, and vanity as drivers of user behavior. Add to this the fact that people love to evaluate, criticize, and pass judgment on others, and you have the High School Model of social networking.

That’s not a criticism, by the way. It’s crucial to understand these motivations and to harness them to make a social network, well, work.

Of course, the language will differ between sites, but even the most mature user is still flattered by followers, fans, friends, and connections.