Irresistible : the rise of addictive technology and the business of keeping us hooked / Adam Alter.
By: Alter, Adam L [[author]].
Publisher: New York : Penguin Press, 2017Description: 354 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9781594206641 (hardback).Subject(s): Digital media -- Social aspects | Digital media -- Psychological aspects | Psychology, Applied | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies | PSYCHOLOGY / Psychopathology / Addiction | COMPUTERS / Web / Social NetworkingGenre/Form: Print books.Summary: "An urgent and expert investigation into behavioral addiction, the dark flipside of today's unavoidable digital technologies, and how we can turn the tide to regain control. Behavioral addiction may prove to be one of the most important fields of social, medical, and psychological research in our lifetime. The idea that behaviors can be being addictive is new, but the threat is near universal. Experts are just beginning to acknowledge that we are all potential addicts. Adam Alter, a professor of psychology and marketing at NYU, is at the cutting edge of research into what makes these products so compulsive, and he documents the hefty price we're likely to pay if we continue blindly down our current path. People have been addicted to substances for thousands of years, but for the past two decades, we've also been hooked on technologies, such as Instagram, Netflix, and Facebook--inventions that we've adopted because we assume they'll make our lives better. These inventions have profound upsides, but their extraordinary appeal isn't an accident. Technology companies and marketers have teams of engineers and researchers devoted to keeping us engaged. They know how to push our buttons, and how to coax us into using their products for hours, days, and weeks on end. Tracing the very notion of addiction through history right up until the present day, Alter shows that we're only just beginning to understand the epidemic of behavioral addiction gripping society. He takes us inside the human brain at the very moment we score points on a smartphone game, or see that someone has liked a photo we've posted on Instagram. But more than that, Alter heads the problem off at the pass, letting us know what we can do to step away from the screen. He lays out the options we have address this problem before it truly consumes us. After all, who among us has struggled to ignore the ding of a new email, the next episode in a TV series, or the desire to play a game just one more time? Adam Alter's previous book, Drunk Tank Pink:And Other Unexpected Forces that Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behaveis available in paperback from Penguin"--Current location | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
On Shelf | HM851 .A437 2017 (Browse shelf) | Available | AU00000000011554 |
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HM846 .S362 2015 Data and Goliath : the hidden battles to collect your data and control your world / | HM851 .A24 2018 Internet celebrity : understanding fame online / | HM851 .A333 2019 How to be human in the digital economy / | HM851 .A437 2017 Irresistible : the rise of addictive technology and the business of keeping us hooked / | HM851 .A5556 2020 Algorithmic culture : how big data and artificial intelligence are transforming everyday life / | HM851 .A7275 2018 Appified : culture in the age of apps / | HM851 .A744 2019 The next billion users : digital life beyond the West / |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 323-344) and index.
"An urgent and expert investigation into behavioral addiction, the dark flipside of today's unavoidable digital technologies, and how we can turn the tide to regain control. Behavioral addiction may prove to be one of the most important fields of social, medical, and psychological research in our lifetime. The idea that behaviors can be being addictive is new, but the threat is near universal. Experts are just beginning to acknowledge that we are all potential addicts. Adam Alter, a professor of psychology and marketing at NYU, is at the cutting edge of research into what makes these products so compulsive, and he documents the hefty price we're likely to pay if we continue blindly down our current path. People have been addicted to substances for thousands of years, but for the past two decades, we've also been hooked on technologies, such as Instagram, Netflix, and Facebook--inventions that we've adopted because we assume they'll make our lives better. These inventions have profound upsides, but their extraordinary appeal isn't an accident. Technology companies and marketers have teams of engineers and researchers devoted to keeping us engaged. They know how to push our buttons, and how to coax us into using their products for hours, days, and weeks on end. Tracing the very notion of addiction through history right up until the present day, Alter shows that we're only just beginning to understand the epidemic of behavioral addiction gripping society. He takes us inside the human brain at the very moment we score points on a smartphone game, or see that someone has liked a photo we've posted on Instagram. But more than that, Alter heads the problem off at the pass, letting us know what we can do to step away from the screen. He lays out the options we have address this problem before it truly consumes us. After all, who among us has struggled to ignore the ding of a new email, the next episode in a TV series, or the desire to play a game just one more time? Adam Alter's previous book, Drunk Tank Pink:And Other Unexpected Forces that Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behaveis available in paperback from Penguin"--