The Doom of Doomscrolling

Scroll, like, scroll, check comments, like, scroll, like, scroll, scroll… For many of us, this is our most prolific pastime despite probably being our least favorite. The term “doomscrolling” has re-entered the internet space, and now with a slightly different meaning. 

Originally gaining popularity in early 2020 during the pandemic, “doomscrolling” describes people obsessively scrolling through one piece of disheartening and dystopian news after another on social media. Despite the depressive feelings that scrolling produced, users were “doomed” by their inability to stop. When this concept originally materialized, I could not connect with it. I told myself I had never been the type of person to willingly subject myself to an unending mass of negative information. My time on social media was reserved only for content that either entertained or educated me. 

Recently, I’ve noticed a change. When I see young people using this term now, it is not in regard to the consumption of depressing content, but rather the consumption of all content, no matter the subject. The problem lies in the addictive structure of many current social media apps. Being presented with a never-ending stream of short-form content makes users spend more time engaging with media that they do not actually care about or are able to connect with. This leads to the feeling of having wasted time for momentary pleasure and broader implications like a decreased collective attention span and a decline in media literacy.

TikTok’s global success as a dual social media and entertainment platform has proved to the world that shorter videos are effective—perhaps even too effective—in captivating people’s attention. As other apps have felt their hold on the digital world slipping, they, too, have decided to implement short-form content. Now, we have Instagram/Facebook Reels and YouTube Shorts—each completely changing the landscape of content consumption on their respective platforms.

Apps like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube have one main goal: to get you to spend as much of your time on their apps as possible. By collecting information about you and your interests, they can cater to the content you see. This, paired with the inherently addictive quality of short videos, guarantees them your screen time. 

According to Dr. Joan Glutting, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of New Hampshire, “social media works just like gambling.” When users see a video they like, their brains release dopamine, which is associated with the reward center and gives them feelings of pleasure or satisfaction. Since the videos are so short, they often provide users with almost instant gratification. Not every video we scroll through will be one we like, but we know that eventually, we’ll get to one that will give us that dopamine rush and feeling of reward. Hence, we keep doomscrolling. 

Being stuck in that cycle of doomscrolling may give rise to depressive feelings, especially those rooted in the sense of having wasted time. However, these feelings aren’t the only concern when there are broader ramifications at hand. One of the most critical long-term effects, for example, is a deterioration of our attention spans. We get so used to being entertained and informed in mere seconds that we grow detached from or even irritated by any form of content longer than that. According to WIRED, almost half of the users surveyed by TikTok stated that watching videos longer than a minute was stressful, and a third of users watched all videos online at double speed. However, when we are unable to speed through situations in real life, this means more young people are distracted and unfocused, feeling higher levels of stress in their day-to-day lives, and being unable to learn and retain information properly.

Among the myriad of repercussions, another is the decline in media literacy: the ability to critically analyze the information we’re exposed to and determine its accuracy or credibility. According to The New York Times, many users admit that they use apps like TikTok instead of search engines like Google. This overreliance on short-form content, which often only offers bits and pieces of the real story, puts people in a situation where they are not willing to do the work to independently come to their own nuanced conclusions about topics. Instead, they will internalize what they are presented with, even if it is blatantly untrue, simply because it is easier. Longer, more comprehensive content, on the other hand, offers more background information, details, and perspectives on a topic, as well as provides more time to digest it all. That way, the reader is able to synthesize evidence on their own and develop a better understanding. 

A study conducted by Stanford found that around 80 percent of the students evaluated blindly relied on the content they were given and failed to question the validity of the source or its standing within the context. For example, one test was based on a photo of flowers uploaded by a user claiming that the flowers were near a power plant and were affected by nuclear birth defects. Students were asked whether the image was convincing in its portrayal of the conditions near said power plant. Most said it was, and only 20 percent questioned the source. Many relied on the captivating nature of the photo as proof of its reliability. As young people are becoming increasingly responsible for the future of our communities, our country, and the world as a whole, it should be extremely alarming that they are willing to be so easily influenced and swayed. As short-form content continues to gain popularity, it can become almost unavoidable. Therefore, we can adapt and use it as a good starting point for further research. It should not, however, be the sole means of acquiring information.

We must not open the door to a future of irresponsibility in the spirit of making our lives “easier.” It is more worthwhile to put in the work and properly research, analyze, and grasp the things we see and believe. Doing so will expand our understanding of the world around us in a way that surface-level interaction with predigested, perfectly packaged information simply cannot rival. 

While I consider myself more of a doomscroller than ever before, I believe it’s important to at least recognize that and attempt to ameliorate the situation. To escape the grasp of social media addiction as a whole, there are useful tools for managing screen time. However, to escape the grasp of doomscrolling requires an inner confrontation on what it means to spend time consuming short-form content, specifically. Understanding the negative effects, both short- and long-term, can help us begin to distance ourselves. For instance, when you find yourself doomscrolling, try to recall the last few videos you watched without scrolling back up. If you can’t, it should be a clear sign that you’re not gaining anything from this pastime and that it is probably time to close out of the app and take a break.