doomscrolling

The practice of doomscrolling can be compared to an older phenomenon from the 1970s called the mean world syndrome, described as "the belief that the world is a more dangerous place to live in than it actually is as a result of long-term exposure to violence-related content on television".{{Cite magazine|title=Doomscrolling Is Slowly Eroding Your Mental Health|language=en-us|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/story/stop-doomscrolling|access-date=2021-01-07|issn=1059-1028}} Studies show that seeing upsetting news leads people to seek out more information on the topic, creating a self-perpetuating cycle.{{Cite journal| vauthors = Park CS |date=2015-10-02|title=Applying "Negativity Bias" to Twitter: Negative News on Twitter, Emotions, and Political Learning|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19331681.2015.1100225|journal=Journal of Information Technology & Politics|language=en|volume=12|issue=4|pages=342–359|doi=10.1080/19331681.2015.1100225|s2cid=147342965|issn=1933-1681|url-access=subscription}}

In common parlance, the word "doom" connotes darkness and evil, referring to one's fate (cf. damnation). In the internet's infancy, "surfing" was a common verb used in reference to browsing the internet; similarly, the word "scrolling" refers to sliding through online content. After 3 years of being on the Merriam-Webster "watching" list, "doomscrolling" was recognized as an official word in September 2023.{{Cite web |title=We Added 690 New Words to the Dictionary for September 2023 |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/new-words-in-the-dictionary |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}} Dictionary.com chose it as the top monthly trend in August 2020.{{Cite web|date=2020-11-30|title=The Dictionary.com Word Of The Year For 2020 Is ...|url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-year/|access-date=2021-04-08|website=Dictionary.com|language=en-US}} The Macquarie Dictionary named doomscrolling as the 2020 Committee's Choice Word of the Year.{{Cite web|date=2020-12-07|title=The Committee's Choice & People's Choice for Word of the Year 2020|url=https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/view/word/of/the/year/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-31|website=Macquarie Dictionary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114070148/http://macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/view/word/of/the/year/ |archive-date=2014-01-14 }}

According to the Wall Street Journal, the term was first used in 2018.{{Cite web |vauthors=Zimmer B|title=‘Doomscrolling’: A Twitter Habit Is the New, High-Tech Way to Slide Into Despair |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/doomscrolling-the-new-high-tech-way-to-slide-into-despair-11607640701 |access-date=2020-12-10 |website=www.wsj.com |language=en}} The term continued to gain traction in the early 2020s{{Cite web |date=July 2020 |title=Why we're obsessed with reading bad news — and how to break the 'doomscrolling' habit |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/what-is-doomscrolling-184602190.html |access-date=2021-01-07 |website=www.yahoo.com |language=en-US |vauthors=Rella E}} through events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the George Floyd protests, the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the storming of the U.S. Capitol in 2021, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2022,{{Cite web |date=6 March 2022 |title=Obsessed? Frightened? Wakeful? War in Ukraine sparks return of doomscrolling |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/mar/06/obsessed-frightened-wakeful-war-in-ukraine-sparks-return-of-doomscrolling |website=TheGuardian.com}} all of which have been noted to have exacerbated the practice of doomscrolling.{{Cite web |date=2020-11-03 |title=Doomscrolling, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/21547961/doomscrolling-meaning-definition-what-is-meme |access-date=2021-01-06 |website=Vox |vauthors=Jennings R}}{{Cite magazine |title=The Doomscrolling Capital of the Internet |url=https://time.com/5905324/reddit-collapse/ |access-date=2021-01-07 |magazine=Time |vauthors=Perrigo B}} Doomscrolling became widespread among users of Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic,{{Cite news |title=Twitter sees record number of users during pandemic, but advertising sales slow |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/twitter-sees-record-number-of-users-during-pandemic-but-advertising-sales-slow/2020/04/30/747ef0fe-8ad8-11ea-9dfd-990f9dcc71fc_story.html |access-date=2021-04-08 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}} and has also been discussed in relation to the climate crisis.{{cite news |author=Amanda Hess |date=3 February 2022 |title=Apocalypse When? Global Warming's Endless Scroll |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/arts/climate-change-doomsday-culture.html |accessdate=25 September 2022 |work=The New York Times |language=English}} A 2024 survey conducted by Morning Consult, concluded that approximately 31% of American adults doomscroll on a regular basis. This percentage is further exaggerated the younger the adults are, with 'millennials' (those born in the 1980s and early 1990s) at 46%, and 'Gen Z' (adults born in the late 1990s until the early 2010s) at 51%.

{{See also|Infinite scroll}}

Infinite scrolling is a design approach which loads content continuously as the user scrolls down. It eliminates the need for pagination thereby encouraging doomscrolling behaviours. The feature allows a social media user to "infinitely scroll", as the software is continuously loading new content and displaying an endless stream of information. Consequently, this feature can exacerbate doomscrolling as it removes natural stopping points that a user might pause at.{{Cite web |date=2022-11-22 |title=Infinite Scroll Advantages & Disadvantages {{!}} Built In |url=https://builtin.com/ux-design/infinite-scroll |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=builtin.com |language=en}} The concept of infinite scrolling is sometimes attributed to Aza Raskin by the elimination of pagination of web pages, in favor of continuously loading content as the user scrolls down the page.{{cite journal |last1=Murano |first1=Pietro |last2=Sharma |first2=Sushil |title=A usability evaluation of Web user interface scrolling types |journal=First Monday |date=2020-02-18 |volume=25 |issue=3 |doi=10.5210/fm.v25i3.10309 |hdl=10642/8218 |s2cid=216020691 |hdl-access=free |doi-access=free }} Raskin later expressed regret at the invention, describing it as "one of the first products designed to not simply help a user, but to deliberately keep them online for as long as possible".{{cite web |last1=Knowles |first1=Tom |date=2019 |title=I'm so sorry, says inventor of endless online scrolling |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/technology/article/i-m-so-sorry-says-inventor-of-endless-online-scrolling-9lrv59mdk |website=The Times|access-date=10 September 2022}} Usability research suggests infinite scrolling can present an accessibility issue. The lack of stopping cues has been described as a pathway to both problematic smartphone use and problematic social media use.{{cite journal |title=Identifying Indicators of Smartphone Addiction Through User-App Interaction |journal= Computers in Human Behavior|date=October 2019 |volume=99 |pages=56–65 |doi=10.1016/j.chb.2019.04.023|last1=Noë |first1=Beryl |last2=Turner |first2=Liam D. |last3=Linden |first3=David E.J. |last4=Allen |first4=Stuart M. |last5=Winkens |first5=Bjorn |last6=Whitaker |first6=Roger M. |pmid=31582873 |pmc=6686626 }}{{cite book |date=April 2020 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1145/3334480.3382810|last1=Purohit |first1=Aditya Kumar |last2=Barclay |first2=Louis |last3=Holzer |first3=Adrian |title=Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems |chapter=Designing for Digital Detox: Making Social Media Less Addictive with Digital Nudges |isbn=9781450368193 |s2cid=218483516 }}

Social media companies play a significant role in the perpetuation of doomscrolling by leveraging algorithms designed to maximize user engagement. These algorithms prioritize content that is emotionally stimulating, often favoring negative news and sensationalized headlines to keep users scrolling. The business models of most social media platforms rely heavily on user engagement, which means that the longer people stay on their platforms, the more advertisements they see, and the more data is collected on their behavior. This creates a cycle where emotionally charged content—often involving negative or anxiety-inducing information—is repeatedly pushed to users, encouraging them to keep scrolling and consuming more content. Despite the well-documented negative effects of doomscrolling on mental health, social media companies are incentivized to maintain user engagement through these methods, making it challenging for individuals to break free from the habit.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-04 |title=Doomscrolling: The Addiction You Didn't Know You Had - Pro Tool Scout |url=https://protoolscout.com/doomscrolling-the-addiction-you-didnt-know-you-had/ |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=protoolscout.com |language=en-US}}

The act of doomscrolling can be attributed to the natural negativity bias people have when consuming information. Negativity bias is the idea that negative events have a larger impact on one's mental well-being than good ones.{{Cite journal| vauthors = Baumeister RF, Bratslavsky E, Finkenauer C, Vohs KD |date=2001|title=Bad is Stronger than Good |journal=Review of General Psychology|language=en|volume=5|issue=4|pages=323–370|doi=10.1037/1089-2680.5.4.323|s2cid=13154992|issn=1089-2680|url=http://www.wisebrain.org/papers/NegSalienceinMem.pdf }} Jeffrey Hall, a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, notes that due to an individual's regular state of contentment, potential threats provoke one's attention.{{Cite web|author=Megan Marples|title=Doomscrolling can steal hours of your time -- here's how to take it back|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/26/health/doomscrolling-prevention-tips-wellness/index.html|access-date=2021-04-08|website=CNN|date=26 February 2021 }} One psychiatrist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center notes that humans are "all hardwired to see the negative and be drawn to the negative because it can harm [them] physically."{{Cite news|last=Network|first=The Learning|date=2020-11-03|title='Doomscrolling'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/learning/doomscrolling.html|access-date=2021-04-08|issn=0362-4331}} He cites evolution as the reason for why humans seek out such negatives: if one's ancestors, for example, discovered how an ancient creature could injure them, they could avoid that fate.{{Cite web|title=There's a Reason You Can't Stop Looking at Bad News—Here's How to Stop|url=https://www.health.com/mind-body/what-is-doomscrolling|access-date=2021-01-07|website=Health.com|language=EN| vauthors = Miller K }}

As opposed to primitive humans, however, most people in modern times do not realize that they are even seeking negative information. Social media algorithms heed the content users engage in and display posts similar in nature, which can aid in the act of doomscrolling. As per the clinic director of the Perelman School of Medicine's Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety: "People have a question, they want an answer, and assume getting it will make them feel better ... You keep scrolling and scrolling. Many think that will be helpful, but they end up feeling worse afterward."

Doomscrolling can also be explained by the fear of missing out, a common fear that causes people to take part in activities that may not be explicitly beneficial to them, but which they fear "missing out on".{{Cite journal |last1=Przybylski |first1=Andrew K. |last2=Murayama |first2=Kou |last3=DeHaan |first3=Cody R. |last4=Gladwell |first4=Valerie |date=July 2013 |title=Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0747563213000800 |journal=Computers in Human Behavior |language=en |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=1841–1848 |doi=10.1016/j.chb.2013.02.014|url-access=subscription }} This fear is also applied within the world of news, and social media. A research study conducted by Statista in 2013 found that more than half of Americans experienced FOMO on social media; further studies found FOMO affected 67% of Italian users in 2017, and 59% of Polish teenagers in 2021.{{Cite web |date=2023-12-04 |title=Social Media and FOMO |url=https://socialmediavictims.org/mental-health/fomo/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=Social Media Victims Law Center |language=en-US}}

Thus, Bethany Teachman, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, states that FOMO is likely to be correlated with doomscrolling due to the person's fear of missing out on crucial negative information.{{Cite web |last=Brenner |first=Carla Delgado, Brad |date=2022-05-06 |title=Why you can't stop doomscrolling and 5 tips to halt the vicious cycle |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/health/mental-health/doomscrolling |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}

Obsessively consuming negative news online can additionally be partially attributed to a person's psychological need for control. As stated earlier, the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with the popularity of doomscrolling. A likely reasoning behind this is that during uncertain times, people are likely to engage in doomscrolling as a way to help them gather information and a sense of mastery over the situation. This is done by people to reinforce their belief that staying informed, and in control will provide them with protection from grim situations.{{Cite journal |last1=Satici |first1=Seydi Ahmet |last2=Gocet Tekin |first2=Emine |last3=Deniz |first3=M. Engin |last4=Satici |first4=Begum |date=2023-04-01 |title=Doomscrolling Scale: its Association with Personality Traits, Psychological Distress, Social Media Use, and Wellbeing |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-022-10110-7 |journal=Applied Research in Quality of Life |language=en |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=833–847 |doi=10.1007/s11482-022-10110-7 |issn=1871-2576 |pmc=9580444 |pmid=36275044}} However, while attempting to seize control, more often than not as a result of doomscrolling, individuals develop more anxiety towards the situation rather than lessen it.{{Cite web |last=Conversation |first=The |date=2022-09-09 |title=Doomscrolling Isn't Just Bad For Your Brain, Study Finds. Here's How to Stop |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/doomscrolling-isnt-just-bad-for-your-brain-study-finds-heres-how-to-stop |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=ScienceAlert |language=en-US}}

Doomscrolling, the compulsion to engross oneself in negative news, may be the result of an evolutionary mechanism where humans are "wired to screen for and anticipate danger".{{cite journal | vauthors = Blades R | title = Protecting the brain against bad news | journal = CMAJ | volume = 193 | issue = 12 | pages = E428–E429 | date = March 2021 | pmid = 33753370 | doi = 10.1503/cmaj.1095928 |pmc=8096381 | doi-access = free }} By frequently monitoring events surrounding negative headlines, staying informed may grant the feeling of being better prepared; however, prolonged scrolling may also lead to worsened mood and mental health as personal fears are heightened.

The inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) plays an important role in information processing and integrating new information into beliefs about reality.{{cite journal | vauthors = Sharot T, Kanai R, Marston D, Korn CW, Rees G, Dolan RJ | title = Selectively altering belief formation in the human brain | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 109 | issue = 42 | pages = 17058–62 | date = October 2012 | pmid = 23011798 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1205828109 | pmc = 3479523 | bibcode = 2012PNAS..10917058S | doi-access = free }} In the IFG, the brain "selectively filters bad news" when presented with new information as it updates beliefs. When a person engages in doomscrolling, the brain may feel under threat and shut off its "bad news filter" in response.

In a study where researchers manipulated the left IFG using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), patients were more likely to incorporate negative information when updating beliefs. This suggests that the left IFG may be responsible for inhibiting bad news from altering personal beliefs; when participants were presented with favorable information and received TMS, the brain still updated beliefs in response to the positive news. The study also suggests that the brain selectively filters information and updates beliefs in a way that reduces stress and anxiety by processing good news with higher regard (see optimistic bias). Increased doomscrolling exposes the brain to greater quantities of unfavorable news and may restrict the brain's ability to embrace good news and discount bad news; this can result in negative emotions that make one feel anxious, depressed, and isolated.

Health professionals have advised that doomscrolling can negatively impact existing mental health issues.{{Cite journal|vauthors=Sestir MA|date=2020-05-29|title=This is the Way the World "Friends": Social Network Site Usage and Cultivation Effects|url=https://thejsms.org/tsmri/index.php/TSMRI/article/view/517|journal=The Journal of Social Media in Society|language=en|volume=9|issue=1|pages=1–21|access-date=April 8, 2021|archive-date=August 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814193352/https://thejsms.org/tsmri/index.php/TSMRI/article/view/517|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|date=2014-12-05|title=Website reports only good news for a day, loses two thirds of its readers|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/website-reports-only-good-news-day-loses-two-thirds-its-readers-9905916.html|access-date=2021-04-08|website=The Independent|language=en}} While the overall impact that doomscrolling has on people may vary,{{Cite web|title=The Mean-World Syndrome|url=https://thoughtmaybe.com/the-mean-world-syndrome/|access-date=2021-04-08|website=Thought Maybe|language=en-US}} it can often make one feel anxious, stressed, fearful, depressed, and isolated.

Professors of psychology at the University of Sussex conducted a study in which participants watched television news consisting of "positive-, neutral-, and negative valenced material".{{cite journal | vauthors = Johnston WM, Davey GC | title = The psychological impact of negative TV news bulletins: the catastrophizing of personal worries | journal = British Journal of Psychology | volume = 88 ( Pt 1) | issue = 1 | pages = 85–91 | date = February 1997 | pmid = 9061893 | doi = 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1997.tb02622.x }}{{Cite news|date=2015-09-14|title=Consuming Negative News Can Make You Less Effective at Work|work=Harvard Business Review|url=https://hbr.org/2015/09/consuming-negative-news-can-make-you-less-effective-at-work|access-date=2021-04-08|issn=0017-8012}} The study revealed that participants who watched the negative news programs showed an increase in anxiety, sadness, and catastrophic tendencies regarding personal worries.

A study conducted by psychology researchers in conjunction with the Huffington Post found that participants who watched three minutes of negative news in the morning were 27% more likely to have reported experiencing a bad day six to eight hours later. Comparatively, the group who watched solutions-focused news stories reported a good day 88% of the time.

Some people have begun coping with the abundance of negative news stories by avoiding news altogether. A study from 2017 to 2022 showed that news avoidance is increasing, and that 38% of people admitted to sometimes or often actively avoiding the news in 2022, up from 29% in 2017.{{Cite web |title=Overview and key findings of the 2022 Digital News Report |url=https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/dnr-executive-summary |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism |language=en}} Some journalists have admitted to avoiding the news; journalist Amanda Ripley wrote that "people producing the news themselves are struggling, and while they aren't likely to admit it, it is warping the coverage."{{cite news |last1=Ripley |first1=Amanda |title=Opinion {{!}} I stopped reading the news. Is the problem me — or the product? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/08/how-to-fix-news-media/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=8 July 2022 |language=en}} She also identified ways she believes could help fix the problem, such as intentionally adding more hope, agency, and dignity into stories so readers don't feel the helplessness which leads them to tune out entirely.

In 2024, a study by the University of Oxford's Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism indicated that an increasing number of people are avoiding the news.{{cite web|url=https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2024-06/DNR%202024%20Final%20lo-res-compressed.pdf|title=Digital News Report 2024|website=Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism|page=27}} In 2023, 39% of people worldwide reported actively avoiding the news, up from 29% in 2017. The study suggests that conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East may be contributing factors to this trend. In the UK, interest in news has nearly halved since 2015.{{Cite web |title=More people turning away from news, Reuters Institute report says |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj7799jv74vo |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}

== See also ==

{{Portal|Internet}}{{Div col|content=

• Attention inequality
• Culture of fear
• Enshittification
• Hatewatching
• Mean world syndrome
• Tabloid television}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Wiktionary-inline}}
• [https://medium.com/@mshannabrooks/doomscrolling-is-not-activism-12c34ed0fad7 Article on Medium.com]
• [https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/12/doomscrolling-wrecking-mental-health-how-stop-13117010/ Article on Metro News]
• [https://www.thestar.com/podcasts/thismatters/2020/08/05/doomscrolling-why-our-screen-addictions-turn-to-bad-news-binges.html Article on The Star]

{{Media and human factors}}

Category:2010s neologisms

Category:2020s neologisms

Category:Digital media use and mental health

Category:Information society

Category:Internet manipulation and propaganda

Category:Internet terminology

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