In the digital age, it has become increasingly difficult to live without spending at least a portion of the day on some form of social media. Whether it be TikTok, Instagram or X, people now more than ever have become prone to endless “doomscrolling.”
The term doomscrolling was coined in 2018 by X user Ashik Siddique. Initially, the term’s implications were political, being defined by Merriam-Webster as “to spend excessive time online scrolling through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, angry, etc.” The term’s mainstream popularity led to it gaining a broader definition as simply the act of prolonged scrolling through social media.
Elliot Panek, an associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media whose research specializes in the uses and effects of social media, said that though the term is no longer strictly applicable to scrolling through political content, its negative connotations remain.
“I think there’s a lack of redeeming qualities to it, but also that it’s just habitual, so that you’re not being purposeful or mindful in the individual bits of content you select,” he added.
Panek said that the design of certain apps that promote similar content to users based on their engagement aids in creating these cycles.
“With that kind of design, whatever direction you start to lean in as a user is just going to get more extreme over time,” Panek said. “Every platform isn’t designed that way, but certainly things like TikTok, Instagram, those platforms do lend themselves to the potential for that kind of content.”
Panek said that doomscrolling has different effects depending on the person engaging in it.
“There’s a bunch of people who are just having totally different experiences,” Panek said. “So keep that in mind as you make pronouncements about whether social media is good or bad, it’s just very, very, very different for people.”
Ava Baker, a freshman majoring in chemical engineering, defined doomscrolling as “sitting on your phone for hours on social media.”
She said that she finds benefit from doomscrolling on TikTok, using it mainly as a way to relax.
“It just takes the stress off of the day,” Baker said.
Marshall McGahey, a sophomore majoring in English, said she does most of her doomscrolling on Instagram, specifically watching short-form Instagram Reels. She cited several reasons that she doomscrolls, including for entertainment and procrastination.
“Honestly, I just love the content. I think that it’s really fun to see all the reels and see what everyone is posting,” McGahey said. “I also do it to procrastinate, because sometimes I get really overwhelmed with school, and I know that when I’m on the internet, I don’t really have to think about that, and I can just kind of go into a different headspace.”
While McGahey said that doomscrolling can stunt her productivity and negatively impact her mental health, she continues to do it regardless due to its short-term positive benefits.
“I’m sure my brain will be fried in the next like five years, but right now, it does help me kind of take a little break,” McGahey said.
While Panek believes that the negative impacts of doomscrolling can vary from person to person, he said that its habitual nature can make people continue the behavior regardless of the consequences it has on them.
“They reach for something that is convenient that they’re used to doing that quickly gets their mind off of themselves and onto something else, and that’s usually your phone, and it’s usually some stream of novel content,” Panek said.
For individuals looking to limit the amount of time they spend doomscrolling, Panek suggests starting with a “media audit” to limit time spent on social media applications by monitoring screen time and following this with a practice of writing “the last 10 or 20 or 30 things” encountered on different feeds across platforms.
“The first step is awareness,” Panek said. “Just kind of write it down, have some means of recording it, but step back from that and say, ‘Well, is this the appropriate dosage of this information?’ If it isn’t, think about how you can design your information environment to change that.”
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