The release of Poké
mon Go had Pokémon fiends like myself singing its praises, even during its servers' stages of being "humbled by your incredible response." Like any new media product, there have been errors of more than just the tech persuasion. While Pokémon Go has created a mobile cultural phenomenon of general widespread camaraderie and adventure, there have been those who have gotten a little carried away in their quest to catch 'em all...Distracted Pokémon Go-ing
As technology has improved, so has the human attention span contracted, with some studies even concluding that goldfish now pay attention better than humans. The decline in our attention spans, person-to-person interactions, and even number of words uttered on a day-to-day basis have been accredited to the rise of a reliance on smartphones. With this in mind, I hear loud and clear the criticisms of Poké
mon Go as another distraction, but there are few smartphone bells and whistles with this level of potential danger.There have been multiple reports since the day of PoGo's release of distracted drivers, bikers and pedestrians causing or narrowly avoiding accidents on the road. Even with the game's in-app speed tracker and other anti-driving measures, many PoGo players leave their app open and intermittently encounter a Poké
mon at high speeds. In the case of PoGo-ers outside of the car, some pedestrians and bicyclists, while often given the right of way, are going to extreme lengths, including sprinting into busy streets, to capture their creatures.Pokémon Goes Criminal
I was shocked to learn shortly after Poké
mon Go's release that the game had become a tool and GPS tracker for thieves across several states. Robberies like this one in Missouri took place using the game's shared reward of lured Pokéstops. When any player enters a certain proximity to a Pokéstop and attaches a lure module, it attracts Pokémon to that particular stop; this lure is effective for all players, not just the player who lured the stop. The suspects in many of the reported robberies used this geo-location feature to locate individuals at lured stops in order to rob them.Unfortunately, misuse of Poké
mon Go has led to more than just minor injuries and robberies. In mid-July, the first death in connection with Pokémon Go was recorded. Jerson Lopez de Leon, 18, was shot and killed after breaking into a home with his friend in an attempt to catch a Pokémon. It is tragic when any individual's life is cut short, but a death as a result of a video game is an especially unnecessary loss.The Bottom Line
Poké
mon Go has been heralded as a culture-changing game, and I have no quarrel with that statement. Contrary to this article, I have a very high opinion of the mobile sensation, but like any other product, there will be and have been misuses. The ultimate fate of that product then relies on how consumers see the source of the problem. In many cases with many products, and in all of the above cases, the problems did not arise from the product itself but from the misuse of the product. Even in the case of the Pokémon Go death, though tragic, the victim had broken into a home. The consequence of that individual's action was not unlike others' who performed the same action without using the product.What the dark side of Poké
mon Go comes down to is how the game is used and whether or not the individual using it has properly weighed the consequences of his or her actions against the need to be the virtual very best.
