Saturday, February 11, 2023

Let Us Talk About Gamers & Addictions

 At work, my team leader is a gamer. He is 38. There are several others on our team who are gamers. All of them are younger than the team leader. None of them date, have little or no interest in movies, mention nothing about musical interests, or date. Their behaviors remind me of drug addicts I have known. 

I find support for my thoughts in The Scottish Review's A very real addiction

There's another Tam. It's an example of computer-speak. TAM is an acronym for 'technology acceptance model', a process monitoring social influences and experiences to specifically predict users' ready acceptance of online gaming. I read 'control', behind-the-scenes and a powerful force designed to keep an unsuspecting young person hooked on their games controller. For as long as possible.

The BBC reported shortly before the end of 2022 that Epic Games, maker of popular video game Fortnite, has agreed to pay £427m ($520m) to resolve claims from US regulators that it 'violated child privacy laws and tricked users into making purchases'. The States' Federal Trade Commission said the firm duped players with 'deceptive interfaces' that could trigger purchases while the game loaded and it was also accused of using 'privacy-invasive' default settings.

What chance does a young person have when what amounts to sophisticated highly-technical tricks, led by clickbait, are used against him or her? In 2021, the gender ratio of gaming worked out at 58.5%/41.5% respectively, according to Statista, although society still views it as a predominantly male pursuit. Not so.

Widespread availability of mobile devices and internet access is considered to have significantly contributed to what's become known as 'gaming disorder'. There appears no let up. A study by a gaming site called AskGamblers analysed the number of Google searches for technology products on sale in 2022. The outcome is that, such is the grip of gaming, the PlayStation 5 (PS5) was the most searched tech followed, beating the usually unassailable iPhone 13, then Nintendo Switch, with XBox Series X fourth and Apple Watch fifth.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) labelled gaming as a 'real mental disorder' just five years ago, placing it in the ICD-11 (International Classification of Diseases) reports Castle Craig addiction rehabilitation centre. WHO describes gaming disorder as 'a pattern of gaming behaviour characterised by impaired control' where gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continues to escalate negatively.

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