By: Karl Salkowski

Oxford has recently announced “brainrot” as the word of 2024. But what is brainrot? Well, the dictionary defines brainrot as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material considered to be trivial or unchallenging”.

The term brainrot is not a recent term. The word has been used for over 20 years. Originally, brainrot was used to describe the use of email. According to Theguardian.com, email’s “constant cognitive overload had a more negative effect than taking cannabis, with IQs of participants dropping an average of 10 points.” If email can have such drastic effects, it’s hard to imagine how damaging short form online content and electronic devices such as smartphones can be.

Over the past couple of years more and more information has come to light about the effects of consuming large quantities of short form content. Institutions such as the University of Oxford and Harvard Medical School have found that consuming this content in large quantities can shorten our attention spans, weaken memory, and mess with our cognitive processes.

According to Dr. Gloria Mark, a professor at the University of California, attention spans have drastically shortened over the past 20 years. In 2004 the average attention span was 150 seconds, by 2012 the average was 75, and by 2018 it was down to 47 seconds. This massive decline is partly due to the rise of social media.

According to Theguardian.com, the average Gen Z teenager in the UK has an average screen time of somewhere between 5 ½ and 6 ½ hours every day, with the average adult spending 4 hours online every day.

Doomscrolling is a somewhat newer phenomenon. Doomscrolling is defined as, “the excessive consumption of short-form videos or social media content for an excessive period of time without stopping.” The term began to gain popularity in 2020 partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doomscrolling is a form of internet addiction. An estimated 31% of Americans doomscroll on a regular basis. This increases greatly among young people with an estimated 51% of Gen Z addicted. Social media plays a significant role, allowing users to infinitely scroll through short form videos uninterrupted.

Multiple medical institutions have found that doomscrolling can worsen depression and anxiety. Overall, doomscrolling and brainrot have contributed to worsening mental health among teens and adults. It might be time to put down your phone.

If you want to learn more about the effects of social media, please go to:

• https://www.uhhospitals.org/blog/articles/2024/07/doomscrolling-breaking-the-habit#:~:text=Increasing%20stress%20hormone%20levels%3A%20Too,and%20mental%20and%20physical%20fatigue
• https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/mental-health/doom-scrolling-and-mental-health/
• https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/09/brain-rot-word-of-the-year-reality-internet-cognitive-function