Behind the fact- Role of Social Engineering and Psychological attributes in web! In the wake of Blue whale game.
The advent of the Internet followed by social media and online games changed the behaviour of people drastically; Complex mechanism of Social engineering and psychological attributes playing a major role in changing the behaviour and pattern of people in a hidden way especially kids since they are being fed with it right from a very young age and the it’s continual use make themselves shrunk into their own shell, this online ‘Propinquity Effect’ swallows our kids like those who reportedly fell pray to online games related challenges. But that is not what makes the thing dangerous! A programmed strategy in cyber space coupled with psychological attributes that makes things more complex and dangerous.
Several academic studies reveals that certain competitive games, if used properly, can also promote prosocial behaviour and skill development. Furthermore, professional success in competitive gaming seemingly requires persistent practice and sophisticated skill sets. It is likely that these positive effects are more substantial than the effects of games played on a casual level.
When people are in distress or upset they will look for solutions, especially those who are spending more time on web, they search for alternatives or solutions in the same web platform itself, it can be a social media, chat platforms, video channels, gaming etc, a ‘Buffer Effect of Social Support’ starts working here, where people are being glued to the same platform because of the “filter bubble effect” of social engineering. Blue Whale is one of the online game that has been derived based on Neuro Linguistic Programming or Social Engineering tool built upon the emotion of excitement, initially such type of games seems to be giving some sort of comfort to us, the psychology behind working is called “reciprocity” where we feel obliged to give back to people who have given to us some sort of help or support, this is how game administrators are attracting people, In general kids find remedy or comfort in online games or something similar controlled and administered by unknown people. Initially it makes kids to think in a way that they are being helped by the online inviters, in other words, the creator of the game uses human emotions to convince the player and hence forced the victim to follow his instructions.
In the initial stage it has been apparently framed in positive way with intense challenges, in the final stages of the blue whale game offers victory and death simultaneously, In each stages the challenges of the game affects the psychological health of a person in a dangerous way.
Motivations to play such games are many factors but not limited the following social interaction, self-presentation, stress elimination/ fantasy/role playing, passing time/escapism, entertainment, and challenge/competition etc. it is quite obvious that a small proportion of online players are addicted. Such pathological gaming is associated with depression, anxiety, and social phobia and, especially in children impaired school performance can also be a factor.
At present its not possible to stop children from using internet since it has become an integral part of our education system also, but its important to monitor their activities and make them aware the threats and dangers of internet too. Unrestricted use of Mobile phones, PDAs and computers make our children more vulnerable owing to uncontrolled access to inappropriate content, So, it’s necessary to make sure that parents and teachers are also listening to the children and their distress signals as well.
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