Whilst gambling has always been looked at as a bad habit and regulated in ways to restrict or change player access, the advent of online services has had a profound impact on not only the way gambling as a whole is approached, but also how it is viewed by a much wider audience – with a huge number of sites becoming available in both betting and casino like the many available here that aren’t registered to sites initiatives like Gamstop, . With the big change, it raises the question of whether or not the philosophy of gambling has changed over time because of this online space, and where the biggest changes are.
(Image from philosophytalk.org)
Changing access has been the most influential – For attitudes to change in a big way, access to the services and exposure to the industry has been the most important factor – before the only thing that may have saw many of us become exposed would have been with an actual trip to a brick-and-mortar location which may have been a little far afield for many, but with the launch of online services it has allowed a much wider number of players to explore different offerings, and have helped changed attitudes away from the philosophy of being a far reaching bad habit to an enjoyable experience shared by many.
Popularisation in media has been just as impactful too – Whilst perhaps once touching on more of a taboo subject, different forms of gambling have since found a lot more representation in popular media – from appearing in movies and TV shows, to even now having many bigger live streamers and games show different forms of the activity in a wide variety of ways. This representation has been just as impactful as access in changing attitudes towards the activity and making it much more acceptable.
There is of course always the talk to be considered around addiction problems and the likes that stem from gambling too which will always play a role in any talk around gambling philosophy as it shows the uglier side of the experience that is often left out of popular media, but whilst current technology has helped raise awareness and exposure around how exciting the activity can be, the same awareness has started to appear with the negative side of things too which has been just as important.
All in all, the online space certainly has had a huge impact on both a practical and philosophical view of gambling, and those views will only continue to change over time as services continue to change and the attitudes as a whole continue to change with the demographics and main audience attracted to the biggest services.