doomscrolling
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DEFINITION (noun)
the act of obsessively browsing through social media, becoming emotionally numb or saddened due to the large consumption of short-form comparative content
the act of obsessively browsing through current event articles online, especially on social media, that feature bad news
EXAMPLES
(1) “Please stop doomscrolling. It’s just making you feel worse, seeing all those pretty people with their specially curated lives claiming their grand wealth and bragging about their amazing opportunities… It just creates an environment for unhealthy comparison. I’m really worried about you…”
(2) “During the pandemic, many people found themselves lying in their homes on their phones, doomscrolling. There was so much negative content in the news to sift through–not that there is ever much positive content reported on in the first place–that it just seemed impossible at times to unglue our eyes from our screens. What if there was something else that needed to be known? For many, it was an endless cycle of reading depressing information.”
(2) “Experts in Psychology assert that there are a diversity of reasons for doomscrolling, each of which depends on the individual, their circumstances, past experiences, current health condition, and more. One reason may be that there is a sense of safety where one doomscrolls (in one’s locked home, cozied up in bed with a warm cup of coffee and their phone), so by exploring the scary situations of the outside world, one feels not only secure in their location, but safe in their acquisition of knowledge of said events. The common thought, often unconscious, is that “if I know about what’s going on, then I can steer clear from it and remain safe.”
ASSOCIATED WORDS
to doomscroll (verb)
doomscroller (countable noun)
Do you ever find yourself doomscrolling? When do you usually do it? Why do you think you end up doing it? If you feel comfortable, let me know in the comments below.