You have earned 10 badges

[akmu]

Once I press bell icon I can see a message  :  You have earned 10 badges so far!

what is this please.

[LinSims]

The new forum platform awards "badges" when you meet a set of criteria. It's all part of Adobe's plan to "gamify" the support communities in the hopes that it will encourage more people to participate and reduce Adobe's costs to support their products.

[Nancy OShea]

Anybody with a pulse gets 10 badges for using this forum.  The more active you are, the more badges you accrue.  But they are meaningless.

[akmu]

Why this facilities there when it is meaningless? 

[John Waller · Accepted solution]

Adobe has contracted a third party company to provide this forum software.

The badges feature is included with the forum software so Adobe is trying to make use of it.

Badges are as meaningful as you want them to be. There are no rewards or cash prizes attached to them. Some people here might find it motivating to collect badges, feel good about it and contribute more to the forums. Some people might view forum contributors who have collected lots of badges as very experienced and knowledgeable and trust their answers more.

Many forum regulars here (me included) do not attach any value to the badges. We contribute because we want to, because we enjoy helping people with the software and we enjoy sharing our knowledge.

[Ann Bens]

<encourage more people to participate>

I think it has the opposite effect.

[Thrill Media]

Exactly... thought I had been spammed/hacked/phished... whatever the proper term is. 

Thanks for clarifying!
C

[Ann Bens]

I have a second account, have not used in years.

All of a sudden I get an email saying I was promoted to Spectator.

I cannot even acces the account due to this annoying inlog system.