The social experience has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Carnival games and casinos are also engineered to prey on the same human responses - often transparently engineered to be addictive - yet are social environments too.

Plus the people who develop problems will often be sat on their own - hooked on the machine they're playing and oblivious to anyone around them in spite of the social setting.

> No, most online games don’t count as social. They’re anonymous, faceless, and typically populated with the utter dregs of humanity willing to say the most vile thing to get attention. Genuine human interaction this is not.

That very much depends on the game and community you meet. Some fall into the category you describe while there are others that do not.

There are plenty of inspiring stories like the following that show good communities and genuine friendships can spring from online gaming:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/disability-47064773

Or, pretty typical 13 to 25 year olds, millions of them, people that could be your son or daughter or friend, and who you enjoy the company otherwise everyday...

>willing to say the most vile thing to get attention. Genuine human interaction this is not

Or perhaps totally genuine (which is different than "compassionate"), and context-appropriate?

It's a competition, from the ancient times you're meant to take sides, disparage the opponent, sing a nice insulting song against the other team, and enjoy crushing them!