Circle jerks are telescoping windows. If someone online accesses a particular type of site and try to get out of it, another box offering a similar type of service will usually “pop up.” Many people find that they cannot get out of the never-ending loop of sites except by shutting down their computer. Obviously, those sites that use “circle jerks” hope that a person will be tempted to access a service they are offering while their site is on the screen. This is also related to the continual “pop ups” that appear while surfing the Internet, offering users free bets in online casinos and tempting those who may not have thought about online gambling before. Pop-ups such as these can also be a big temptation for a recovering problem gambler.
Published in Chapter:
Internet Gambling
Mark Griffiths (Nottingham Trent University, UK) and Adrian Parke (Nottingham Trent University, UK)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 7
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59140-993-9.ch033
Abstract
Technology has always played a role in the development of gambling practices and continues to provide new market opportunities. One of the fastest growing areas is that of Internet gambling (also known as online gambling). Examples include online lotteries, online casinos, online bookmakers, online betting exchanges, online poker sites, etc. The impact of such technologies should not be accepted uncritically, particularly as there may be areas of potential concern based on what is known about problem gambling offline. This chapter therefore has three aims. Firstly, it highlights salient factors in the rise of Internet gambling (i.e., accessibility, affordability, anonymity, convenience, escape immersion/dissociation, disinhibition, event frequency, asociability, and simulation). Secondly, it examines whether Internet gambling is ‘doubly addictive’ given research that suggests that the internet can be addictive itself. Finally, it overviews some of the main social concerns about the rise of Internet gambling before examining a few future trends in relation to remote gambling more generally.