The Plague of Doom-scrolling

Gautham Sangameshwar 12 P

A MAJOR issue that really affects a lot of people (including me at times) is the phenomenon of doom-scrolling. To put it simply, doom-scrolling is the process of ENDLESSLY scrolling through TikTok, Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, etc. Doom-scrolling is something that consumes 3.5 hours of a person’s time EACH day. And over the course of a whole year, that’s almost 1280 hours! One could EASILY learn a whole new language or do an entire online course with that much time!

Another consequence of doom-scrolling is a SEVERE reduction in attention span. When the human brain is conditioned to expect a new dose of content every 15 to 20 seconds, the brain’s ability to focus on long-form content (like a 45-minute period in class) is severely impaired! Yet another consequence is poor sleep. Bright and flashy content + the blue light from the screen = delayed melatonin (the hormone controlling the sleep cycle) production.

Then there’s the consequence of information overload. Seeing at least 50 to 100 short videos each day greatly impairs the brain’s ability to retain the IMPORTANT stuff. I haven’t even scratched the surface here, as there are MANY more far-reaching consequences of doom-scrolling. And to correct my statement from earlier, doom-scrolling isn’t a JUST phenomenon. It’s an epidemic.