Short-form content is the ideal landscape for social media trends to come to fruition and prosper among the tech-addicted Generation Z. From TikTok to Instagram reels to even YouTube shorts, short-form content is becoming a prevalent part of young people’s lives, even going so far as to form a new language.
Brain rot, the Oxford University Press’ 2024 word of the year, is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration.”
The idea of brain rot has been around for centuries, with the first use of the term being recorded in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden in 1854. He begged the question, “While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?”
Now, 171 years later, elementary classrooms, middle school hallways, high schools and college campuses are being taken over and vocabularies are being invaded by a different kind of brain rot: internet slang.
This rise in popularity can be attributed to the YouTube channel “DaFuq!?Boom!” and its “skibidi toilet” series. Skibidi toilet is just the tip of the brain rot iceberg, which includes terms like “sigma,” “Ohio” and “hawk tuah.” The terminology is growing daily, and social media is only making it easier.
“Trends have been circulating the internet since social media was invented, think of Myspace or Facebook,” said Bryanna Taylor, a junior majoring in communications. “Now, since it has become more normalized and global, people can shout out memes or brain rot in public and at least one person will understand that reference.”
These slang terms are now creating a generational disconnect, with adults not being able to even understand or process the meaning or context of the words that younger people are saying.
“Something I try to do early on in the semester is attempt to be somewhat relatable to my students, and I try to come across as someone who is approachable and not intimidating to talk to,” said Drew Daws, an instructor of record in the College of Communication & Information Sciences. “With that, I’ve found myself using some brain rot slang like ‘skibidi toilet’ and ‘sigma.’ I have absolutely zero clue what either of those really mean, but it always gets some laughs and is clearly cringeworthy.”
Social media has become a connecting factor for college students. From Instagram being the source for finding roommates to Yik Yak being people’s go-to space for gossip, students are more tech-dependent than ever.
“I agree that technology may better facilitate the sharing of our ideas, but those ideas have always been a part of us,” said Shobhit Mishra, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering. “Brain rot is just the newest term for them. It really cannot be a tech issue if people have been enjoying nonsense for so long.”
A 2023 study published in the National Library of Medicine found that college students use their phones for six hours and 53 minutes a day on average. Some professors have said that this tech dependency has caused issues in the classroom.
“I think it definitely can affect grammar and people’s ability to write well, especially papers, essays and news stories,” Daws said. “While brain rot might be a good way to unwind, it’s equally as important to read a book.”
The impacts of brain rot expand beyond just learning, with implications on one’s mental abilities, Taylor said.
“I could see it being a reflection of a mental problem; for example, for people with lower attention spans could use brain rot,” Taylor said. “If someone hyper-fixated on brain rot culture and persists on using it whenever they converse with others, that would definitely be a sign of an underlying problem.”
Brain rot does not look to be stopping anytime soon, but it is important, according to the Newport Institute, that students work to fight back against its pull through strategic media consumption, reducing screen time, and being aware of offline circumstances.
“We already have a huge problem with people using the wrong ‘there, they’re and their’ in sentences,” Taylor said. “Brain rot seems like lighthearted fun, and hopefully it stays that way.”
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