Wikipedia

Doomscrolling

Doomscrollingordoomsurfingis the act of spending an excessive amount of time reading large quantities ofnews,particularly negative news, on thewebandsocial media.[1][2]Doomscrolling can also be defined as the excessive consumption of short-form videos or social media content for an excessive period of time without stopping. The concept was coined around 2020, particularly in the context of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

A photo of a person's hand while scrolling through news on smartphone
A person scrolling through news on asmartphone

Surveys and studies suggest doomscrolling is predominant among youth.[3][4]It can be considered a form ofinternet addiction disorder.In 2019, a study by theNational Academy of Sciencesfound that doomscrolling can be linked to a decline in mental and physical health.[5]Numerous reasons for doomscrolling have been cited, includingnegativity bias,fear of missing out,and attempts at gaining control over uncertainty.

History

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Origins

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The practice of doomscrolling can be compared to an older phenomenon from the 1970s called themean 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".[6]Studies show that seeing upsetting news leads people to seek out more information on the topic, creating a self-perpetuating cycle.[7]

In common parlance, the word "doom" connotes darkness and evil, referring to one's fate (cf.damnation).[8]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.[8]After 3 years of being on theMerriam-Webster"watching" list, "doomscrolling" was recognized as an official word in September 2023.[9]Dictionarychose it as the top monthly trend in August 2020.[10]TheMacquarie Dictionarynamed doomscrolling as the 2020 Committee's Choice Word of the Year.[11]

Popularity

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According to Merriam-Webster, the term was first used in 2020.[12]The term continued to gain traction in the early 2020s[13][14]through events such as theCOVID-19 pandemic,theGeorge Floyd protests,the2020 U.S. presidential election,thestorming of the U.S. Capitolin 2021, and theRussian invasion of Ukrainesince 2022,[15]all of which have been noted to have exacerbated the practice of doomscrolling.[16][17][18]Doomscrolling became widespread among users ofTwitterduring the COVID-19 pandemic,[19]and has also been discussed in relation to theclimate crisis.[20]A 2024 survey conducted byMorning 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 at 46%, and Gen Z adults at 51%.[3]

The infinite scroll

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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.[21]The concept of infinite scrolling is sometimes attributed toAza Raskinby the elimination ofpaginationof web pages, in favor of continuously loading content as the user scrolls down the page.[22]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".[23]Usability research suggests infinite scrolling can present an accessibility issue.[22]The lack of stopping cues has been described as a pathway to bothproblematic smartphone useandproblematic social media use.[24][25]

Social Media's Role

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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.[26]

Explanations

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Negativity bias

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The act of doomscrolling can be attributed to the naturalnegativity biaspeople have when consuming information.[27]Negativity biasis the idea that negative events have a larger impact on one's mental well-being than good ones.[28]Jeffrey Hall, a professor of communication studies at theUniversity of Kansasin Lawrence, notes that due to an individual's regular state of contentment, potential threats provoke one's attention.[29]One psychiatrist at theOhio State University Wexner Medical Centernotes that humans are "all hardwired to see the negative and be drawn to the negative because it can harm [them] physically."[30]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.[31]

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.[29]As per the clinic director of thePerelman 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."[31]

Fear of missing out

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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".[32]This fear is also applied within the world of news, and social media. A research study conducted byStatistain 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.[33]

Thus, Bethany Teachman, a professor of psychology at theUniversity 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.[34]

Control seeking

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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.[35]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.[36]

Brain anatomy

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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".[37]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 might seem heightened.[37]

Theinferior frontal gyrus(IFG) plays an important role in information processing and integrating new information into beliefs about reality.[37][38]In the IFG, the brain "selectively filters bad news" when presented with new information as it updates beliefs.[37]When a person engages in doomscrolling, the brain may feel under threat and shut off its "bad news filter" in response.[37]

In a study where researchers manipulated the left IFG usingtranscranial magnetic stimulation(TMS), patients were more likely to incorporate negative information when updating beliefs.[38]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.[38]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 (seeoptimistic bias).[38]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;[38]this can result innegative emotionsthat make one feel anxious, depressed, and isolated.[31]

Health effects

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Psychological effects

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Health professionals have advised that excessive doomscrolling can negatively impact existing mental health issues.[37][39][40]While the overall impact that doomscrolling has on people may vary,[41]it can often make one feel anxious, stressed, fearful, depressed, and isolated.[37]

Research

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Professors of psychology at theUniversity of Sussexconducted a study in which participants watched television news consisting of "positive-, neutral-, and negative valenced material".[42][43]The study revealed that participants who watched the negative news programs showed an increase in anxiety, sadness, and catastrophic tendencies regarding personal worries.[42]

A study conducted by psychology researchers in conjunction with theHuffington Postfound 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.[43]Comparatively, the group who watched solutions-focused news stories reported a good day 88% of the time.[43]

News avoidance

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Some people have beguncopingwith 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.[44]Some journalists have admitted to avoiding the news; journalistAmanda Ripleywrote that "people producing the news themselves are struggling, and while they aren't likely to admit it, it is warping the coverage."[45]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.[45]

In 2024, a study by theUniversity of Oxford'sReuters Institute for the Study of Journalismindicated that an increasing number of people are avoiding the news.[46]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.[47]

See also

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References

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  2. ^"On 'Doomsurfing' and 'Doomscrolling'".Merriam-Webster.Archivedfrom the original on April 24, 2020.RetrievedAugust 25,2021.
  3. ^abBriggs E (March 20, 2024)."How Americans Feel About Doomscrolling".Morning Consult Pro.RetrievedMarch 21,2024.
  4. ^Perez S (July 13, 2022)."Kids and teens spend more time on TikTok than YouTube".TechCrunch.RetrievedFebruary 11,2024.
  5. ^Soroka S, Fournier P, Nir L (September 2019)."Cross-national evidence of a negativity bias in psychophysiological reactions to news".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.116(38): 18888–18892.Bibcode:2019PNAS..11618888S.doi:10.1073/pnas.1908369116.PMC6754543.PMID31481621.
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  35. ^Satici SA, Gocet Tekin E, Deniz ME, Satici B (April 1, 2023)."Doomscrolling Scale: its Association with Personality Traits, Psychological Distress, Social Media Use, and Wellbeing".Applied Research in Quality of Life.18(2): 833–847.doi:10.1007/s11482-022-10110-7.ISSN1871-2576.PMC9580444.PMID36275044.
  36. ^Conversation T (September 9, 2022)."Doomscrolling Isn't Just Bad For Your Brain, Study Finds. Here's How to Stop".ScienceAlert.RetrievedMarch 29,2024.
  37. ^abcdefgBlades R (March 2021)."Protecting the brain against bad news".CMAJ.193(12): E428–E429.doi:10.1503/cmaj.1095928.PMC8096381.PMID33753370.
  38. ^abcdeSharot T, Kanai R, Marston D, Korn CW, Rees G, Dolan RJ (October 2012)."Selectively altering belief formation in the human brain".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.109(42): 17058–62.Bibcode:2012PNAS..10917058S.doi:10.1073/pnas.1205828109.PMC3479523.PMID23011798.
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  43. ^abc"Consuming Negative News Can Make You Less Effective at Work".Harvard Business Review.September 14, 2015.ISSN0017-8012.RetrievedApril 8,2021.
  44. ^"Overview and key findings of the 2022 Digital News Report".Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  45. ^abRipley A (July 8, 2022)."Opinion | I stopped reading the news. Is the problem me — or the product?".Washington Post.
  46. ^"Digital News Report 2024"(PDF).Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.p. 27.
  47. ^"More people turning away from news, Reuters Institute report says".bbc.RetrievedJune 17,2024.
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