“What did you say?” A sentence I hear all the time. You’ve been in this situation before: the person you are (supposedly) having a conversation with is distracted, and you patiently wait for them to put down their smartphone. Admittedly, we can be guilty of pulling this on our own friends from time to time. But that doesn’t make it any less annoying.

In theory, we should be used to this by now; students have busy schedules, and multitasking is our way of life. Everywhere on campus, people are on their phones, tablets, or laptops. Thankfully, the situation usually involves you and some friend, so you are okay with the occasional moments when you don’t have their full attention.

In contrast to traditional media such as television, it is more difficult to measure mobile device use because of the constant access and availability; many students, like myself, never leave home without their phone. Often, studies settle for self-report questionnaires or a review of phone records.

The fact that internet addiction is a serious health concern in South Korea illustrates how extensive our generation’s obsession with technology has become. It’s no surprise that Candy Crush Saga, the incredibly addictive game which recently made it’s Wall Street debut, is played by 93 million people every day. The objective is to match three candies of the same colour. But the levels get harder, and unlike skill tests, a lot of it depends on plain luck.

Another aspect of the game is the “time out” you are put in after five losses. This serves to make the game even more rewarding when you are let “back in,” as it takes advantage of an effect called hedonic adaptation. In a study using real-life candy bars, participants were told to either abstain from eating chocolate for a week, or do whatever they please. When they returned and were given a piece of chocolate after this week, the first group rated the chocolate as significantly more pleasurable than the ones who were allowed to eat freely.

It is also worth mentioning the fact that the game is played with pieces of candy. Similar to how food is often used in certain gambling games such as the fruit machine, positive associations like the pleasure we get from eating are strategically built into the game to make it more enjoyable.

While it may be a stretch to relate Candy Crush players to gambling addicts (32% of people admitted to ignoring loved ones to play the game), there is something to be said about how it affects our social relationships (my Test project is also on technology addiction so, naturally, I thought I would write a blog about it).

Whether you view it as a competition, simple time filler, or a way to feel less alone, for the most part Candy Crush is harmless. Until it starts to consume our lives and friends are recommending an intervention, play on.