So, to recap, in less than a week of Pokemon Go’s release, we’ve seen:
People going outside in droves, including those with mental illness who otherwise couldn’t
People being motivated to exercise
Small local businesses flourishing from pokestops/lures
Animal shelters receiving donations/volunteer dog walkers
People socializing, talking to each other, sharing joy over a common interest
People discovering things about their town/city they hadn’t known before
Trainers organizing initiatives to collect trash off the ground while out hunting
Families bonding over finding pokemon
And, most importantly, we’ve seen that no matter what it is or how much positivity it creates, jerks will hate on technology for the sake of hating on technology, so you might as well ignore them and work on hatching that egg.
these are great, but i think we need to acknowledge that a lot of bad things have happened too.
people have been hit by cars because they are walking into traffic staring at their phone screens.
robbers have been pickpocketing people by setting down lures to attract players.
people have been breaking the law and going into dangerous areas to catch pokemon (one pokestop even includes a facility for sex offenders and honestly…..wtf)
people have fallen off cliffs, been stabbed, etc because they weren’t wise while playing.
people have played while at holocaust museums and other solemn memorials.
i don’t think it’s right to just write off every criticism. it’s a great game, but be safe! don’t play alone, don’t break the law, don’t be disrespectful, and don’t be stupid. it’s not worth putting your life or others’ at risk for a game.
