I am unsure if this was meant to be or if I was struggling with even the login of the game. Thus, I was stuck on the main page the whole time.
I attempted to type in 8 different password combinations as a message popped up saying that I did not meet the password criteria. This, in a sense, scheduled my attention that the password combination was the problem and it was what kept me from entering the game (Harris, 2017). It “persuaded me” (Harris, 2017) to spend my time re-creating passwords. It was hard to determine where I was supposed to click to proceed to the next page, as the next button was greyed out unlike what I was used to in other applications, coinciding with Tristan Harris’ (2017) ideas in his TedTalk that my brain has been trained to have its attention directed in some way or controlled, and now that my attention wasn’t directed or controlled, I felt a bit lost.
This is horrible, but I usually do not read the “Terms and Conditions” and always just hit accept. I think my eyes and brain is so used to subitizing the Terms and Conditions when newly signing up for things, that immediately I caught the “I DO NOT ACCEPT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.” Seeing this, I did not click it. Of course, a pop up occurred that reminded me or persuaded me that at this moment my time needed to be spent on figuring out how to accept the terms and conditions (Harris, 2017). Thus, I clicked and unclicked the box hoping that something will happen.
By this point, I am getting frustrated. This emotion is causing some effect: I needed to figure out how to get through this stage of the page. This is similar to Harris’ (2017) idea how our outrage evokes some type of reaction. In my situation and my persuasive personality, I was influenced to figure out this game a little more. I continued clicking and unclicking the different words I found hidden or those that were placed there to catch my attention, but still, to no success did I get into the game. The set up of the game was also unfamiliar, as I was more used to words and buttons to stand out, focusing my attention of what the timeline is or how I am supposed to experience the site. Again, drawing similarities to Harris’ ideas of my brain being controlled. Maybe, due to the lack of controlling of my brain in this game, I was unsuccessful to even get through the first page.
References:
Harris, T. (2017, July 28). How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds everyday [YouTube]. TedTalk Conference. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C74amJRp730