Recently, I was mindlessly flipping though apps on my smart phone and I ran across an article by Bill Davidow in The Atlantic, titled “Exploiting the Neuroscience of Internet Addition.”[i] The article discusses the way most of us have become inseparable from technology and constantly crave the next dopamine filled notification letting us know there is a new email, status update or tweet with our name on it. While I was already consciously aware that I was addicted to technology as so many of us are now, this article made me think about the intricacies of how that addiction worked.
The idea is that just like an addiction such as gambling, the motives that keep bringing us back to our smart phones, tablets and computers is an “obsessive pleasure-seeking behavior.” It is the reason that the first website I open when I sit down at my computer is Facebook, and I am sure I am not the only one who is a slave to social media. There are times when I open the web browser and unconsciously type in Facebook in the url bar instead of the website I intended. This obsessive behavior is why I refresh social media new feeds, emails, and keep checking apps. It is the prospect that if we (us technology addicts) keep refreshing the screen and checking our apps that we will be rewarded with some form of good news which result in the release of dopamine in our technology craving brains.
Photo credit: XKCD[ii]
This addiction component of technology is now being harnessed by the business world. The idea is if they can create something addicting and keep people interested they can be successful. Davidow discussed the gaming industry and the idea of a “compulsion loop”, where players work to meet goals, are rewarded, and then work for the next goal. The players are continuously having new content dangled in front of them to urge them to stay in the “compulsion loop” to be rewarded with the new content. This same concept is being used on the web, social media in particular, and companies in this industry must play the game to stay successful.
Whether people choose to address these issues with technology , or not, they will continue to be a part of our lives. This is the price that comes with the benefit of the information age and being connected with everyone and an infinite amount of information. This obsession with technology often distracts us from the people and tasks right in front of us and we are sacrificing our physical world for our virtual one. Just as Davidow mentions in his article, I try to make an effort to separate myself from technology and be more engaged in what is right in from of me. In moments when I would normally reach for my smart phone as a distraction, I try to instead take a closer look at my surroundings and sometimes I notice something new. Now, excuse me while I check my smart phone.
The Lib 