Infinite Reality: The Hidden Blueprint of Our Virtual Lives

by Jim Blascovich

Of course, Internet addiction is not limited to Southeast Asia. Rather, South Korea is arguably the “canary in the coal mine”—an early warning of worldwide addiction problems. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that addictions occur in the United States. On October 15, 2009, USA Today described a female marketing contractor hopelessly addicted to the game FarmVille on Facebook. She can’t sleep at night due to worry over her virtual crops and she uses it to escape from city life. She is not alone. On October 27, 2010, a mother in Florida pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shaking her three-month-old infant, ultimately causing his death, because his crying interrupted her FarmVille play. FarmVille is one of the fastest-growing games ever, with more than 80 million players in 2010.