Book Review – Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked

I have an honest confession.  I started this blog late last year after much apprehension and hesitation to do so.  Why was I so unsure?  I really enjoy writing and loved the idea of having a blog.  But, I knew that to get an audience I would have to spend more time on social media.

Full disclosure, I’m not the biggest fan of social media.  To be clear, I don’t hate it and I actually realize the utility and usefulness of it in many ways.  But it has a dark side.  Check that, numerous dark sides.

Enter the book Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked.

The author, Adam Alter, immediately gets your attention by detailing how so many top execs and leaders in social media and online companies privately do not allow their kids to use the very technologies they made their fortunes on.  Alarm bell.

But it’s not just what social media can do to kids.  It’s how addictive it can be to adults.  The author does his research on addiction and dives deep into the latest research and developments that are still figuring out why we humans get addicted to things.

The book basically covers three broad topics – basics of behavioral addiction, the ways companies/tools create and feed that addiction, and the future of technology addiction.

Addiction

In the first part Alter dives into substance addiction and behavioral addiction as well as the similarities and differences between the two.

He is a PhD in Psychology, and he challenges existing dogma about addiction by claiming that “there’s an addict in all of us”.  He uses our addiction (or is it an obsession?  is there a difference?) with our cell phones to hammer home the point.  Try not picking it up at the next long red light.

Alter’s opinion falls more in line with the groundbreaking research of Gabor Maté that addiction is not genetic.  Maté’s research shows it’s a result of a mixture of life experiences and brain chemistry.

The Tools

The second part dives deep into the tools used behind behavioral addiction.  He lists them as goals, feedback, process, escalation, cliffhangers, and social interaction.  Social media companies have hired Vegas casino game developers to learn the secrets of how to keep people engaged and hooked.  That should tell you something.

From scoring points in a game, to racking up “likes” on Instagram, the conversation and examples of how addiction is engineered into things is pretty enlightening, and sometimes disturbing.

I was particularly fascinated by the “cliffhangers” aspect.  Ever binge-watch shows on Netflix?  He goes through a detailed discussion of the use of cliffhangers and how to stop them from hooking you.

The Future

The last part of the book is pretty scary and depressing, but also interesting simply from an “intellectual prognostication” standpoint.  Where’s all this stuff going?  Augmented reality, virtual reality, total digital immersion… I have to say the thought of this stuff sometimes scares me.  Will people become completely detached from the real world?

He’s pretty upfront that he believes technology and social media are not inherently bad or good.  But like any other tool in life it’s all in how you use it.

One criticism I have of the book is that Alter spends a lot of time discussing non-technology related behavioral addictions and how they form.  This could turn off some readers who came for a pure discussion of addictive social media tools.  His intent was to get a level playing field of addiction in general, but he risks misleading readers based on the subtitle of the book.

Takeaway

So what does this book have to do with your finances, or FIRE?  Whether your goal is to become financially independent or to earn a lot more at your job, you need time and focus to do that.  This book serves a great purpose by exposing the underside of social media and it’s addictive qualities.

The reader should come away more aware of the role this technology has in his or her life, and whether or not they themselves show signs of being addicted to it.  And if they do see some signs of social media addiction in their own behavior, Alter’s research can help understand why it’s happening and how to break it.

ISBN – 978-1594206641
My Rating: 7/10

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