According to the latest statistics, social media games are an increasingly popular pastime for millennials. With the current popularity of games like Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, and Pokémon Go, it’s easy to see why. Social media is a great place to share fun moments free from awkward family gatherings or public events where we might not feel comfortable speaking up in person. However, as with anything else that has high user engagement rates and lots of people playing them at once, it’s crucial to know what you’re getting into, like What is your true age according to your social media habits.
1. Casual Games Are Placed at a Faster Pace
I remember playing complex games in the past — games with high levels of strategy, complicated game mechanics and difficulty — and completely losing myself. If you can’t control yourself and remember what’s a button and what’s a space, then Candy Crush isn’t for you.
They’re casual games in social media that are just as simple as they sound. They’re fast paced, easy to play, generally simple to understand and often don’t require any sort of strategy or skill. But they still can eat up your time like no other; filling your pocket with virtual coins…and sometimes real world cash as well.
2. Social Media Games Encourage you to Spend Money
Have you ever finished a round of Candy Crush and thought, “that was great, I need more levels now”. That’s what happens when companies design games that are designed to keep people addicted. If you get tired of waiting for your lives to replenish, buy some more. If you want more gems or an extra life for the next level, just pay up. No need to wait hours for another life, just hit that button again. On top of the lives you receive from friends in your newsfeed, you can purchase more as well. Paying money gives you extra lives and can give you better odds at winning the game rather than playing it out without paying money.
3. You Can Play Over and Over Again via Auto-Play
Many games have multiple stages with increasingly difficult levels of difficulty. You go through the first stage of the game, pass it and move on to the next. Simple enough, right? Well sometimes you just don’t feel like thinking that hard or that often.
With multiple stages that can take hours to complete, Candy Crush allows you to play its stages Continuously using their Auto-Play function which allows for a level to be played non-stop until it’s finished whether your character dies or not. This might seem like a great option for gaming because you can get past a difficult level quickly. However, you can’t stop these games from playing; Candy Crush will keep playing a level over and over until you win it. You don’t have to sit through hours of a game to finally pass it unless you choose to discontinue auto-play.
4. Your Social Media Data is Collected
When it comes to social media, privacy isn’t what it used to be. Most games track your every move, letting game developers know every move you make. They might not take full advantage of your information but they probably know that you’re a 19 year old male living in Colorado with a particular level of interest in baking cakes (or anything else) and how long you play at the end of the week. Hundreds of companies, along with government entities and other potential cyber criminals, are all trying to collect data from you.
5. It Can Be Addicting
Have you ever played a game so much that you lost track of time because you were too busy playing it? That’s addiction and this is what social media games are designed to do. They’re designed to keep players coming back for more, spending more time on a game that may have been designed for an initial price of $0.99 cents but turns out to be $20 or more if you pay attention to in-game purchases and the like.
6. You May Find It Difficult to Fit Socializing into Your Schedule
Life is all about balance. You have your family to spend time with, friends to catch up with, work to be done and so many other things that make up the tapestry of your life. However, what happens when you’re playing social media games on a regular basis? You could find yourself forgetting about one aspect or another of your life in favor of a game that should have just been an entertaining pastime. The more time you spend on a game, the less time you spend on healthy activities like going out with friends or spending time with your family.
7. Your Social Media Friend List Might Get Tired of You
Some games that are popular among social media apps involve posting on your newsfeed. However, not all of your friends may appreciate the games you’re playing or oversharing every detail about what you’re doing to their newsfeed. You can get comments on your posts just like any other post in social media but it’s important to know that they might not be very positive ones or they could even turn into arguments; arguments that probably weren’t necessary in the first place.
Summary:
I’m not against playing games that are fun and casual. They’re a great way to pass the time or to kill time. However, it’s one thing to play games for fun and it’s something else entirely when you find yourself in debt or falling under the influence of a video game as things can get very competitive on these games.
The most important thing you can do is make sure that you get in your daily exercise, keep your stress at bay, eat healthy, be social with family and friends and mingle with friends from all over the world – daily. The rest will follow, most of these social media games will fall by the wayside due to their addictive nature.
