doomscrolling
Meaning
The act of continuously consuming a large quantity of negative online news or social media content, often leading to feelings of anxiety, distress, or despair.
Origin
The term "doomscrolling" arose organically in the early months of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by global uncertainty, rapid news cycles, and widespread social media usage. It’s a vivid portmanteau of "doom," referring to the pervasive sense of dread and catastrophe, and "scrolling," describing the continuous motion of navigating digital content on a screen. The act captured the collective, often compulsive, habit of endlessly consuming distressing news and updates, even as it heightened anxiety, becoming a defining behavior of the pandemic era.
Examples
- After an hour of reading about global crises, she realized she had been doomscrolling and needed a break from her phone.
- Many people found themselves doomscrolling during the early months of the pandemic, unable to look away from the unfolding disaster.