Internet Addiction Doug Rowe
Road Map Is it possible to be addicted to the ● internet? How do people get addicted to ● the internet? Case study: Mobile Game ●
Can you be addicted to the internet?
Can You Be Addicted To The Internet? Too much internet use can be ● detrimental. Are the side effects indicative of ● addiction?
Signs of Alcohol Addiction ● Being unable to limit the amount of alcohol you drink ● Wanting to cut down on how much you drink or making unsuccessful attempts to do so ● Spending a lot of time drinking, getting alcohol or recovering from alcohol use ● Feeling a strong craving or urge to drink alcohol ● Failing to fulfill major obligations at work, school or home due to repeated alcohol use ● Continuing to drink alcohol even though you know it's causing physical, social or interpersonal problems ● Giving up or reducing social and work activities and hobbies ● Using alcohol in situations where it's not safe, such as when driving or swimming ● Developing a tolerance to alcohol so you need more to feel its effect or you have a reduced effect from the same amount ● Experiencing withdrawal symptoms — such as nausea, sweating and shaking — when you don't drink, or drinking to avoid these symptoms Mayo Clinic
“Being unable to limit the amount of alcohol you drink”
“Wanting to cut down on how much you drink or making unsuccessful attempts to do so”
“Experiencing withdrawal symptoms” “Spending a lot of time drinking, getting alcohol or recovering from alcohol use” 4:02
Classification Internet Gaming Disorder is classified in The Diagnostic and Statistical ● Manual of Mental Disorders, which is produced by the American Psychiatric Association. (Müller et al. 2015)
How is the internet designed to be addictive?
Dopamine Used to reward you for good behavior ● Eating ○ Exercising ○ Completing tasks ○ Exploited by developers in what’s known as “compulsion loops” ●
Compulsion Loops 1. Person is given a task 2. Person is told how to accomplish the task 3. Person completes the task and receives a dopamine hit 4. Person is given a new task
Exploiting Compulsion Loops Users will run out of “stamina” or “lives” ● forcing them to stop playing Presented with the option of buying more ●
Near Miss If people feel like they were close to ● accomplishing a task, they feel they have a better chance next time, so they will try again.
No Finish If a game doesn’t end, an addicted player has ● no reason to stop playing
Loot boxes Your brain is more excited by ● uncertain rewards than certain ones People prefer a random chance ● between a high reward and low reward to a certain chance at a medium reward The excitement can be addictive ●
Infinite Scroll “If you don't give your brain time to catch up with your impulses, you just keep scrolling.” -Aza Raskin, developer of infinite scroll Provides constant mental stimulation without breaks ●
Likes Likes are also used to trick you into releasing dopamine ● Likes offer a sense of validation ●
Color Blue light tricks your body into thinking it is daytime, making you feel more awake when scrolling at night. (Harvard Health Letter)
Why Do People Get Addicted? Lack of personal connections ● Stress ● Filling a void ● Students are particularly vulnerable ●
Problems With Internet Addiction Internet is readily accessible ● Children can be targeted ●
Case Study: Mobile Game
Case Study: Mobile Game ABC.inc develops a mobile game that is free to ● download The game is intentionally designed to be addictive ● People who get addicted to the game spend ● money to keep playing Is this unethical? ●
Act Utilitarian Analysis Suppose 7.3% of people who play the game regularly are addicted to it ● (Chen, Leung). Spending an average of $43.01 on the game (The guardian). People who don’t get addicted receive $95.40 worth of utility by playing ● the game(Yan)(Total Money). Addicted users: 7.3% x $43.01 = $3.14 ● Other users: 92.7% x $95.40 = $88.44 ● Because the utility received by users who are not addicted outweighs the ● money spent by those who are addicted, ABC.inc did nothing wrong
Kantian Analysis ABC.inc would like to get people addicted to their game in order to make ● money off of them Universal Rule: It is ok to make products that are addictive for others. ● The developers don’t want others to make things that are addictive for ● them. Under the 1st Formulation ABC.inc is acting unethically ● ABC.inc is exploiting the addictions of others as a means to make money. ● Under the 2nd Formulation ABC.inc is acting unethically ●
Social Contract Theory If ABC.inc allows people to use their app at no cost, is it reasonable for ● them to try to find another way to make money off the app? It is reasonable for ABC.inc to try to make money off of the app they ● developed. It is not reasonable for people to expect others to make free software for ● them and not benefit. ABC.inc has done nothing wrong ●
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