There are a lot of conversations around the topic of addictive technologies, such as gaming, social media, and the internet in general, and how designers create digital products that are purposefully habit-forming. It is not a secret that in the past twenty or more years, we've inherited generations that think and engage with the world differently than their predecessors. Is it necessarily worse? Depends.
Engaging games with storylines and multiple lifecycles of an avatar, for example, create a parallel reality where societies have their own rules, stakes, and friendships. Eventually, this reality may not only become important to a user, but sometimes even more substantial than the realities of a physical world where we have to navigate. Our brain's neural response does not really discriminate between a virtual and physical reality, and therefore lives the experience that is offered to it. After such an intense and engaging digital exposure that demands users' cognitive and emotional reserves, there is no time or energy left for real life, and although a user may not miss out the perceived important experience in the digital world, they end up missing out their physical life with its real circumstances and its own complex systems.
When the time spent online is accumulated into a critical number of hours per day, per month, and per year, we can observe individuals who are somewhat disoriented in physical spaces and struggle to build a meaningful rapport with others.
It has been determined that such behavioral patterns indicate a formed habit that has unnoticeably turned into addiction. And this type of addiction stands in line with other formally recognized behavioral addictions such as food, shopping, or thrill-seeking activities.
Every behavioral addiction has a remedy or common methods to moderate and control it. For some, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy may be a solution, for others it could be something else (ex., Motivational Enhancement Therapy or Exposure Therapy).
The critical question, however, remains current: Do we need a system in place that will monitor the use of technology to ensure that it does not become compulsive? And if so, who will be responsible for it, companies that offer the platforms themselves, formal intermediaries, or will it be strictly the users' responsibility?
