Book Addiction? Welcome to the 21st Century, Doctor

Happy New Year everyone!

Culture 11, an online news magazine, has just published a feature article about Internet addictions, including interviews with me and Liz W. from Online Gamers Anonymous. The article is available here and here.

One major critic of Internet addiction theory is Dr. John Grohol, whose referenced article can be found here.

Since the aspects of the Internet where people are spending the greatest amount of time online have to do with social interactions, it would appear that socialization is what makes the Internet so “addicting.” That’s right — plain old hanging out with other people and talking with them. Whether it’s via e-mail, a discussion forum, chat, or a game online (such as a MUD), people are spending this time exchanging information, support, and chit-chat with other people like themselves.

Would we ever characterize any time spent in the real world with friends as “addicting?” Of course not. Teenagers talk on the phone for hours on end, with people they see everyday! Do we say they are addicted to the telephone? Of course not. People lose hours at a time, immersed in a book, ignoring friends and family, and often not even picking up the phone when it rings. Do we say they are addicted to the book? Of course not. If some clinicians and researchers are now going to start defining addiction as social interactions, then every real-world social relationship I have is an addictive one.

Socializing — talking — is a very “addictive” behavior, if one applies the same criteria to it as researchers looking at Internet addiction do. Does the fact that we’re now socializing with the help of some technology (can you say, “telephone”?) change the basic process of socialization? Perhaps, a bit. But not so significantly as to warrant a disorder. Checking e-mail, as Greenfield claims, is not the same as pulling a slot-machine’s handle. One is social seeking behavior, the other is reward seeking behavior. They are two very different things, as any behaviorist will tell you. It’s too bad the researchers can’t make this differentiation, because it shows a significant lack of understanding of basic behavioral theory.

Dr. Grohol writes…
it would appear that socialization is what makes the Internet so “addicting.”

I would argue that when you place a computer monitor and a few thousand miles between people who have never actually met and only know each other as pixelated avatars, ‘socialization’ will never actually occur.

Would we ever characterize any time spent in the real world with friends as “addicting?” Of course not.

Again, we’re not talking about the ‘real world’ at all. We’re talking about the Internet. We’re talking about anonymous sex chat, gambling and online role playing games. These are not ‘real world’ activities. Our children are learning tennis on the Nintendo Wii rather than on a tennis court. That’s just sad.

People lose hours at a time, immersed in a book, ignoring friends and family, and often not even picking up the phone when it rings. Do we say they are addicted to the book? Of course not.

I’m not a big reader of fiction, but I don’t remember ever closing a book for the night and returning to it the next day to find that the characters and the imaginary world have continued to evolve and develop without me. If we’re going to talk ‘apples to apples,’ Dr. Grohol should use legitimate comparisons.

Online role playing games bear little resemblance to books, despite the recent creation of Lord of the Rings Online. The 24/7 compelling, ever evolving worlds demand dedication far beyond anything a casual reader of fiction would ever give to his or her favourite novelist.

Checking e-mail, as Greenfield claims, is not the same as pulling a slot-machine’s handle… It’s too bad the researchers can’t make this differentiation, because it shows a significant lack of understanding of basic behavioral theory.

Very quickly on Blackberry addiction… Federal government agencies in Canada have recently implemented ‘Blackberry Blackouts’ on evenings and weekends to protect family time for their workers, recognizing that people are obsessing over their email. Draw what ever conclusion you wish from this public policy decision.

On the ‘slot-machine’ handle comparison. This brings up notes from a November meeting for me. I met with some gambling treatment specialists about video game addictions. They told me that some of their gamblers have quit the slots and betting on horses, only to take up World of Warcraft 80 hours per week. We discussed the reward schedules built into the games, and they recognized the powerful similarities with how slot machines pay out.

It’s time for us to enter the 21st century and recognize we have a serious problem with the Internet. Only time will tell if our society is willing to take this issue seriously.

Tags: Culture 11, Dr. John Grohol, Online Gamers Anonymous, online gaming addiction, Video Game Addiction