Mixed Messages from NortonLifeLock Online Gaming Survey about Well-Being

Findings from NortonLifeLock's third edition of its India dig♍ital wellness repoไrt have been widely reported in the Indian press over the last 24 hours.

In particular, the figure t💞hat 87% of respondents surveyed believe that online gaming takes a toll on their physica𝔍l and mental well-being has led headlines across the media.

Other data from the report states that:

• 76% of respondents feel that addiction to action games lead to changed behaviour and can increase depression and anxiety levels
• 70% of respondents feel that children connecting with strangers while playing games online can lead to cyberbullying, harassment, and violence
• 73% of the parents in the survey say that their children prefer shooting and adventure games
• 21% say that their children show a preference for casino and card games
• 45% of respondents say they find it difficult to control their children's smartphone usage
• 81% of the respondents who put a check mechanism on children's usage of smartphones feel they have not been effective in controlling the gaming time, as the children of 42% of these respondents play games online for more than two hours every day

Glaws has tried to in vain t🌠o find the original report in full, but only has access to the press release issued by NortonLifeLock.

As a result, it's hard💝 to know how the survey wa♉s presented to respondents. Did they simple reply whether they 'agree' or 'disagree' to a series of pre-written statements, as appears the case?

Much of the coverage on this report has portrayed online gaming negative𒉰ly but, taken objectively, many statements have an in-built bias.

As an example, children in contact with strangers in any s🥃ituation puts them at a higher risk of bullying, harassment and 🃏violence - this is certainly not unique to online gaming and is sadly common elsewhere online.

That 76% of people believe addiction to games can lead to behavioural changes and pe🔜rsonal issues a♏lso seems obvious - an addiction to almost anything is negative.

And with a sample size of just 1,500 - about 0.0001% of the Indian population - it would be unwise to draw broad conclusions from this study. The breakdown of the 1,500 🌊people - for example, their age, 🧔sex, education, and experience and access to online gaming - was not published.

But there were also some additional interesting discoveries ♉from NortonLifeLock:

• Online gaming is often presented as a male-dominated industry, but 88% of female respondants found online games to be the best pastime, compared to 86% of males
• 61% of females were willing to skip meals, sleep, or other activities to play online - far higher than the 45% of males who said the same
• 81% of respondents felt multiplayer games improved teamwork skills
• 70% said gaming could help people become smarter by improving brain coordination and reactions.

With the coronavirus lockdown lea𓆉ding to a surge in online gaming and new users, a wider survey with more transparent analysis would be welcome at a time when over 500 million Indians have smartphones, and the online gaming induꦫstry in India is expected to be worth US$3.75 billion by 2024.