Controversial fantasy league sites are considered legal despite being gambling sites

Source: http://bit.ly/1N5GW9x

The fantasy sites FanDuel and DraftKings have found a loophole in the online gambling industry, allowing them to legally allow users to gamble through their daily fantasy sports. Online sports gambling is not legal if you are betting on an entire team, as determined by a 2006 bill, but since these sites do not bet on an entire team, it makes the process completely legal.

FanDuel and DraftKings are a week by week fantasy league, allowing players to choose new players every week and make bets based on their new teams. 

Other non-gambling fantasy sites have a specific formula that differs from gambling sites. Most fantasy leagues are a game by game system, having users in the same league go head to head with another user in their fantasy league. It resembles real sports very similarly, with a full season of games, a wins-losses record, and even playoffs if you win enough games throughout the season.

FanDuel and DraftKings work differently however, as their users choose players for their teams week by week. There is no season long commitment to the players you "draft" as you can pick an entirely new set of players the very next week. Users then put in a certain amount of money for entry to join a "league" of players for that week. As the players in real life make plays, the users gain points for their fantasy team. The top few users with the most fantasy points get paid, while everyone else ends up with nothing.

Daily fantasy sites have shown enormous growth in popularity as they have made deals with major companies while spending large sums of money on advertising

Growth in users at FanDuel 

Over the past few years, these sites have grown exponentially, providing a lot of attention to the daily fantasy sports scene. FanDuel for example was founded in 2009. In 2011, the site only had about 17,000 active users. Over the next three years however, the popularity of the site boomed. By 2014, the site had already gained a million users.

There are also many companies invested in these sites which helped raise its popularity. Almost every single team in the NFL has some sort of sponsorship deal with either FanDuel or DraftKings. The NBA and MLB also invest in the sites along with powerhouse companies Google, NBC and Comcast.

It is hard to avoid the presence of these sites as they are advertised everywhere. The companies have spent over $200 million dollars combined this year simply through airing advertisements. DraftKings even made a contract with ESPN to make it the only daily fantasy sports company to advertise on the channel next year. The amount of revenue made by these sites is huge, making the competition between the sites just as big.

An employee leaked a list detailing which players were most picked, then proceeded to win $350,000 playing on FanDual, stirring up a lot of controversy

As the popularity of the sites grew, so did the controversy surrounding them. One specific incident was the tipping point, as one of the employees at these companies won $350,000 after leaking a list of player usage statistics. 

Many users were not happy with the situation and felt that FanDuel and DraftKings were cheating them of their money. Clearly a site that promotes fair gambling is not very fair if certain users have access to information that provides them with a large advantage over regular users. This brought a lot of questions to the validity of the sites and whether or not users were being scammed of their money.

All this eventually led the FBI to investigate the scandal. The results of the incident led FanDuel and DraftKings to take precaution and prohibit their employees from betting in their own daily fantasy leagues. This led to even more controversy as people began to question why FanDuel and DraftKings would do this if they truly had nothing to hide. By banning their own employees, FanDuel and DraftKings were further supporting the idea that insiders have an unfair advantage over regular users. 

New York and Nevada label the sites as gambling and ban daily fantasy sports, causing other states to consider doing the same

Recently, states such as New York and Nevada have banned the use of these sites by labeling them as gambling sites. Other states have considered doing the same in order to limit the use of the sites in their respective states. They believe some sort of legislation or restrictions should be set in order to keep these sites from abusing it's users. FanDuel and DraftKings have already restricted New Yorkers from gambling on the sites, yet still remain hopeful to give New Yorkers the chance to return to daily fantasy.

Since this ban occurred, both DraftKings and Fanduel have filed separate lawsuits against the New York attorney general. Their main argument for allowing New Yorkers to play is that their sites revolve around skill based play, not chance or luck. They claim that playing daily fantasy requires a certain amount of expertise and ability in order to be successful enough to win. Regardless of what FanDuel and DraftKings claims, the New York attorney general has remained skeptical and stands firm on his decision.

This ban is detrimental to FanDuel and DraftKings since New York has more daily fantasy sports players than any other state. The outcome of this hearing is not yet known as Justice Manuel Mendez is still set to make his decision in the upcoming weeks. 

Gambling alters specific brain circuits similarly to drugs making the process of addiction very similar to that of a drug addict

Source: http://bit.ly/1lHoJrE

Despite FanDuel and DraftKing's discontent with the banning of their sites in New York, it may be a positive change for the people of New York. The odds are never in the favor of the player when it comes to gambling, so it would save many New Yorkers' money, as well as help prevent an addiction to gambling.

Gambling is very addictive and can become a problem if not done carefully. Addiction itself occurs when certain chemicals are released in the brain, causing a person to feel good. As explained by Noah Wolf, a Graduate TA with a BS in Psychology, the brain cuts off receptors for the positive chemicals (dopamine) that are released in order to compensate for the excess of that chemical. This in turn makes the brain more vulnerable and forces it to crave whatever activity or drug that releases dopamine in order to satisfy its needs.

Due to the way in which this process occurs, gambling compares very closely to drugs when it comes to addiction. The gambling itself causes a sort of "high" which gamblers start to enjoy. This dopamine high becomes a way for the person to feel good despite any repercussions the person may face such as losings large sums of money. Over time this becomes the only way the person knows to feel uplifted causing them to become belligerent in their addiction, whether it be drugs or gambling. Essentially, gambling becomes the person's drug.

Consumers should avoid playing DraftKings and FanDuel if they want to maintain their money and avoid the chance of addiction

So are these sites really worth playing on? Though their advertisements preach that they are, the facts are largely stacked against them. Many states do not even want to allow these gambling sites to be used in their respective states. A lot of people are also distrustful of these sites, as they may hold an advantage for certain users resulting in an unfair game.

As iterated by Noah Wolf, these sites could also be directly or even indirectly bad for your health due to the negative effects of addiction. The lack of dopamine and resulting altered state of mind can be detrimental to a person's well-being. Their decision making can be completely skewed as their ability to think rationally diminishes.  By making an attempt to avoid gambling, a person could entirely evade the problematic addiction that often accompanies gambling.

To add to the list of problems, the chances of winning on these fantasy sites are very slim. The less you play, the more you will save. Although there is always a chance you could win, in the long run, you save much more money if you simply do not play.

In the end, it comes down to the person. There are instances of people who are successful playing these daily fantasy sports, but those are one in a million. For the average person, winning while gambling is rare. Though it could happen, the amount of money wasted will be more than you get in return. 

As for the FanDuel/DraftKings controversy, we will simply have to wait to find out in the coming weeks what the end result of the issue will be. If the sites remain legal, we can just hope for users to maintain good judgement while using the sites. If the sites do get shutdown, then at the very least, gambling addicts will be spared from overspending from inside their very own homes.

Facebook users perceive the effects of social networking sites to be stronger on others than on themselves.

Source: http://bit.ly/1k9oSUE

In the realm of mass communication, there is a strong belief that a person is less likely than others to be influenced by any of the negative effects of mass communication. This phenomenon, called the Third Person Effect, extends beyond the realm of mass communication and was proven through studies to be relevant even in the digital world of social media.

Facebook users see themselves as significantly less likely to be influenced by a post than others

One study found, through a series of surveys, that respondents viewed themselves significantly less likely to be effected than others within the context of Facebook use. This opinion proved consistent across all users, with the exception of close friends. Researchers found that respondents did not believe their close friends had any higher chance of being influenced than the respondents themselves. This may largely be due to the fact that "one's closest friends are a part of the respondent's personal relationship's; thus, if a respondent does not perceive his/her own relationship's as negatively influenced by Facebook, then they have less reason to perceive their friends' relationships as negatively affected" (Paradise and Sullivan).

The study, conducted by Angela Paradise, Ph.D. and Meghan Sullivan, B.S. consisted of 357 undergraduate respondents from the Northeastern part of the U.S. Measurements were taken to gain an understanding of how much time the respondents spent on Facebook to further improve the validity of the respondent's answers. Respondents who did not even have a Facebook profile were omitted from the final results.

The relevancy of a post can influence the perceived effect it has on users

Another similar study was conducted by Valarie Schweisberger, Jennifer Billinson, and T. Makana Chock that proves as well as expands on much of what was discovered in the Paradise/Sullivan study. In this second study, separate variables are added to determine the strength of the Third Person Effect within specific situations on Facebook.

One of the main variables tested is whether or not the relevance of an article effects the chances of influence through the Third Person Effect. Through the research, respondents were found to rate Low Relevant news stories on Facebook to have a greater influence on others rather than themselves.

High Relevance stories on the other hand showed less consistency in ratings for whether or not the stories influenced others more than themselves. Since a story has more relevancy to the user, it makes sense that they may feel more influenced by it, but due to the fact that people perceive others to be more influenced than themselves, the inconsistency of the ratings make sense as well.

The amount of time spent on Facebook increases the influence it has on users

There are many more studies that look into the effects of Facebook on its users. One of these studies, conducted by Mina Tsay-Vogel, measured the correlation between the Third Person Effect, and the amount of time users believed others spent on Facebook. Through a series of survey questions to 403 undergraduate students, researchers found a positive correlation between the amount of time spent on Facebook and the chances of being influenced by what they see. The same correlation can be seen regarding how much time respondents thought others spent on Facebook as well as how much of an influence it would have on those people.

Through these three studies, it is evident that the Third Person Effect is present in the world of social media. All the studies displayed some sort of correlation between the user's perceived effect on themselves versus their perceived effect on others. Each study just investigates a different variable within the context of the Third Person Effect.

The Third Person Effect is very evident in the lives of Facebook users

The first study mainly focused on the Third Person Effect and its correlation to other people. The second study measured the influence of the Third Person Effect based on how relevant the post was to the user. The third study measured the amount of time spent on Facebook and the perceived influence of the Third Person Effect.

Every study has its flaws, from to the way the study was conducted to any unseen bias that may arise, but regardless, each study remained consistent overall to the main question at hand: Do users perceive the effects of social networks to be stronger on others than themselves? Disregarding all variables, bias, and any other differences between the studies, the answer, at its very core, is "yes."

Nothing is ever that simple though. Social media is always changing, along with ideologies, behaviors and other unknown variables. From person to person, post to post, the results of this question will always be slightly different. It is important to remember that at its heart, this is also just a generalization. If people remain educated on the topic, their awareness of the Third Person Effect will help them be more mindful of the actual influence social media truly has in their lives.

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Didier Drogba leads Montreal to victory over Chicago by scoring a hat trick in his first MLS start of the season.

Soccer is a huge part of my culture. Growing up, I used to watch and idolize players such as Didier Drogba, so seeing him play here in our very own MLS is awesome and reminds me why I love the sport so much. It will be exciting to see what else Drogba will do throughout this season.

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