{{Short description|Compulsive consumption of negative online news}} {{cs1 config|name-list-style=vanc}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} [[File:Scrolling_on_phone.jpg|thumb|alt=A photo of a person's hand while scrolling through news on smartphone|A person scrolling through news on a smartphone]] '''Doomscrolling''' or '''doomsurfing''' is the act of spending an excessive amount of time watching short-form content or watching large quantities of user-generated content or news, particularly negative news, on the web and social media.<ref name="Leskin">{{Cite web |title=Staying up late reading scary news? There's a word for that: 'doomscrolling' |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/doomscrolling-explainer-coronavirus-twitter-scary-news-late-night-reading-2020-4 |access-date=January 7, 2021 |website=Business Insider |vauthors=Leskin P}}</ref><ref name="MerriamWebster">{{Cite web|title=On 'Doomsurfing' and 'Doomscrolling'|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/doomsurfing-doomscrolling-words-were-watching|url-status=live|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=Merriam-Webster|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424020405/https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/doomsurfing-doomscrolling-words-were-watching |archive-date=April 24, 2020 }}</ref> The concept was coined around 2018, and became more widespread in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) observed that the pandemic was accompanied by widespread misleading information, conspiracy theories, and false reports, which it referred to as an "infodemic".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Mandliya |first1=Anshul |last2=Pandey |first2=Jatin |last3=Hassan |first3=Yusuf |last4=Behl |first4=Abhishek |last5=Alessio |first5=Ishizaka |date=April 2, 2024 |title=Negative brand news, social media, and the propensity to doomscrolling: measuring and validating a new scale |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00208825.2023.2301219 |journal=International Studies of Management & Organization |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=137–158 |doi=10.1080/00208825.2023.2301219 |issn=0020-8825|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Surveys and studies suggest doomscrolling is predominant among youth.<ref name="Briggs-2024">{{Cite web |last=Briggs |first=Ellyn |date=March 20, 2024 |title=How Americans Feel About Doomscrolling |url=https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/doomscrolling-impact-users-mood-2024 |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Morning Consult Pro |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=July 13, 2022 |title=Kids and teens spend more time on TikTok than YouTube |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/13/kids-and-teens-watch-more-tiktok-than-youtube-tiktok-91-minutes-in-2021-youtube-56/ |access-date=February 11, 2024 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref> More specifically, research indicates that doomscrolling tends to be more common among males, individuals in younger age groups and those who actively follow political events.<ref name="Sharma">{{Cite journal |last1=Sharma |first1=Bhakti |last2=Lee |first2=Susanna S. |last3=Johnson |first3=Benjamin K. |date=January 10, 2022 |title=The Dark at the End of the Tunnel: Doomscrolling on Social Media Newsfeeds |url=https://tmb.apaopen.org/pub/nn9uaqsz/release/3 |journal=Technology, Mind, and Behavior |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1: Spring 2022 |doi=10.1037/tmb0000059 |issn=2689-0208|doi-access=free }}</ref> It can be considered a form of internet addiction disorder. In 2019, a study by the National Academy of Sciences found that doomscrolling can be linked to decline in mental and physical health.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Soroka S, Fournier P, Nir L |date=September 2019 |title=Cross-national evidence of a negativity bias in psychophysiological reactions to news |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=116 |issue=38 |pages=18888–18892 |bibcode=2019PNAS..11618888S |doi=10.1073/pnas.1908369116 |pmc=6754543 |pmid=31481621 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Numerous reasons for doomscrolling have been cited, including negativity bias, fear of missing out, increased anxiety, and attempts at gaining control over uncertainty.
==History== === Origins === 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".<ref name="Wired">{{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=January 7, 2021|issn=1059-1028}}</ref> Studies show that seeing upsetting news leads people to seek out more information on the topic, creating a self-perpetuating cycle.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Park CS |date=October 2, 2015|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}}</ref>
In common parlance, the word "doom" connotes darkness and evil. In the World Wide Web's infancy, "surfing" was a common verb used in reference to browsing the web; similarly, the word "scrolling" refers to sliding through online content.<ref name="MerriamWebster" /> After three years of being on the Merriam-Webster "watching" list, "doomscrolling" was recognized as an official word in September 2023.'''<ref>{{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=March 21, 2024 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref>''' Dictionary.com chose it as the top monthly trend in August 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 30, 2020|title=The Dictionary.com Word Of The Year For 2020 Is ...|url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-year/|access-date=April 8, 2021|website=Dictionary.com|language=en-US}}</ref> The ''Macquarie Dictionary'' named doomscrolling as the 2020 Committee's Choice Word of the Year.<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 7, 2020|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=August 31, 2021|website=Macquarie Dictionary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114070148/http://macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/view/word/of/the/year/ |archive-date=January 14, 2014 }}</ref>
=== Popularity === The term was first used in 2018, when it was coined by Ashik Siddique,<ref>{{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=December 10, 2020 |website=www.wsj.com |date=December 10, 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Phelps |first=Addison |title=Why students doomscroll |url=https://thecrimsonwhite.com/121052/culture/why-students-doomscroll/ |work=The Crimson White |date=April 16, 2025}}</ref> now co-chair of Democratic Socialists of America. The term continued to gain traction in the early 2020s<ref name="Rella_2020">{{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=January 7, 2021 |website=www.yahoo.com |language=en-US |vauthors=Rella E}}</ref> 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, the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2022,<ref>{{Cite news|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|work=The Guardian|date=March 6, 2022|access-date=November 30, 2025|issn=0261-3077|language=en-GB|first=James|last=Tapper}}</ref> and the Gaza war which later expanded into the Middle Eastern crisis since 2023,<ref>{{Cite news|title=Watching war unfold is distressing — here's how to protect your mental health|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/11/24/1214534579/images-war-gaza-israel-vicarious-trauma-stress|work=NPR|date=November 24, 2023|access-date=November 30, 2025|language=en|first=Malaka|last=Gharib}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Stuck in a doomscrolling dive? Here are signs of 'vicarious trauma' to watch out for|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2024-07-05/doomscrolling-vicarious-trauma-gaza-israel/104022894|date=July 4, 2024|access-date=November 30, 2025|language=en-AU|publisher=ABC News (Australia)|last=Salleh|first=Anna|first2=Sana|last2=Qadar}}</ref> all of which have been noted to have exacerbated the practice of doomscrolling.<ref name="MerriamWebster"/><ref name="Jennings-2020">{{Cite web |date=November 3, 2020 |title=Doomscrolling, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/21547961/doomscrolling-meaning-definition-what-is-meme |access-date=January 6, 2021 |website=Vox |vauthors=Jennings R}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |title=The Doomscrolling Capital of the Internet |url=https://time.com/5905324/reddit-collapse/ |access-date=January 7, 2021 |magazine=Time |vauthors=Perrigo B}}</ref> Doomscrolling became widespread among users of Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic<ref>{{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=April 8, 2021 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> and has also been discussed in relation to the climate crisis.<ref>{{cite news |author=Amanda Hess |date=February 3, 2022 |title=Apocalypse When? Global Warming's Endless Scroll |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/arts/climate-change-doomsday-culture.html |accessdate=September 25, 2022 |work=The New York Times |language=English}}</ref>
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is argued that mobile devices became central communication tools which were so significant that they were referred to as "the primary, and addictive, lifeline for society" during this period, including for news concerning "police brutality, misinformation and political anxieties".<ref name="Garcia">{{Cite journal |last=Garcia|first=Stephanie M.|date=February 1, 2024|title=Expressions of Doomscrolling in Pandemic Comics: How Portrayals of Mobile Technology Shifted to a New Normal After COVID-19|url=https://www.comicsgrid.com/article/id/10296/|journal=The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship|volume=13|issue=1|doi=10.16995/cg.10296|doi-access=free|issn=2048-0792}}</ref> This consumption of news also reflected competing demands for timely updates and periodic disengagement since users faced the dilemma of needing information fast, but also sometimes avoiding it in order to personally manage the intake of such news.<ref name="Ytre-Arne 1739–1755">{{Cite journal |last1=Ytre-Arne |first1=Brita |last2=Moe |first2=Hallvard |date=October 3, 2021 |title=Doomscrolling, Monitoring and Avoiding: News Use in COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2021.1952475 |journal=Journalism Studies |volume=22 |issue=13 |pages=1739–1755 |doi=10.1080/1461670X.2021.1952475 |issn=1461-670X|url-access=subscription |hdl=11250/2838261 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
A 2024 survey conducted by Morning Consult, concluded that approximately 31% of American adults doomscroll on a regular basis. This percentage increases 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%.<ref name="Briggs-2024" /> Despite this, research has indicated that those who have initially claimed that they did not engage with the act of doomscrolling were later found to exhibit the behaviour of doomscrolling, which highlights a gap between the awareness of the term itself and the practice of it.<ref name="Sharma" />
=== Infinite scrolling === {{Main|Infinite scrolling}} Infinite scrolling is a design approach which loads content continuously as the user scrolls down, thus eliminating the need for pagination. Consequently, this feature can exacerbate doomscrolling as it removes natural stopping points at which a user might pause.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 22, 2022 |title=Infinite Scroll Advantages & Disadvantages {{!}} Built In |url=https://builtin.com/ux-design/infinite-scroll |access-date=March 29, 2024 |website=builtin.com |language=en}}</ref> Research has also demonstrated that the tendency of social media platforms to amplify negative content may worsen this continuous scrolling behaviour, leading users to remain engaged with unfavourable news for extended durations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mandliya |first1=Anshul |last2=Pandey |first2=Jatin |last3=Hassan |first3=Yusuf |last4=Behl |first4=Abhishek |last5=Alessio |first5=Ishizaka |date=April 2, 2024 |title=Negative brand news, social media, and the propensity to doomscrolling: measuring and validating a new scale |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00208825.2023.2301219 |journal=International Studies of Management & Organization |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=137–158 |doi=10.1080/00208825.2023.2301219 |issn=0020-8825|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Doomscrolling has also been linked to platform level incentives where these digital news environments use features such as gamified interfaces and automated or algorithmic recommendation systems to keep audiences engaged and to prolong time spent on their services.<ref name="Ytre-Arne 1739–1755" />
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.<ref name="Murano-2020">{{cite journal |last1=Murano |first1=Pietro |last2=Sharma |first2=Sushil |title=A usability evaluation of Web user interface scrolling types |journal=First Monday |date=February 18, 2020 |volume=25 |issue=3 |doi=10.5210/fm.v25i3.10309 |hdl=10642/8218 |s2cid=216020691 |hdl-access=free |doi-access=free }}</ref> 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".<ref>{{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=September 10, 2022}}</ref> Usability research suggests infinite scrolling can present an accessibility issue.<ref name="Murano-2020" /> The lack of stopping cues has been described as a pathway to both problematic smartphone use and problematic social media use.<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref>
=== Role of social media === 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. Researchers have also linked doomscrolling to a broader sense of permacrisis, where being constantly exposed to distressing news fosters continuous cycles of consuming negative information.<ref name="Sharma" /> A 2022 study by the Cyprus University of Technology noted that platform-driven news environments are progressively emphasising rapidly evolving and high-impact stories, thereby intensifying cycles of repetitive verification and prolonged scrolling.<ref name="Spyridou-2022" />
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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 4, 2024 |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=November 11, 2024 |website=protoolscout.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
Oftentimes, doomscrollers engage with social media that is heavy on news media or content, and when paired with the nature of engagement on social media platforms, doomscrolling can occur even when it is not intended.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neijzen |first=Mara |date=May 30, 2024 |title=The epistemic value of doombehaviour: beyond the prudential consequences of doomscrolling, doomchecking, and doomsurfing |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-024-04602-2 |journal=Synthese |language=en |volume=203 |issue=6 |article-number=185 |doi=10.1007/s11229-024-04602-2 |issn=1573-0964|doi-access=free }}</ref>
== Explanations ==
=== Negativity bias === The act of doomscrolling can be attributed to the natural negativity bias people have when consuming information.<ref name="Rella_2020"/> Negativity bias is the idea that negative events have a larger impact on one's mental well-being than good ones.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Megan-Marples-2021">{{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=April 8, 2021|website=CNN|date=February 26, 2021 }}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Network|first=The Learning|date=November 3, 2020|title='Doomscrolling'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/learning/doomscrolling.html|access-date=April 8, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Miller">{{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=January 7, 2021|website=Health.com|language=EN| vauthors = Miller K }}</ref>
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.<ref name="Megan-Marples-2021" /> 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."<ref name="Miller" />
=== Fear of missing out === Doomscrolling can also be explained by the fear of missing out (FOMO), 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".<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 4, 2023 |title=Social Media and FOMO |url=https://socialmediavictims.org/mental-health/fomo/ |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=Social Media Victims Law Center |language=en-US}}</ref> A 2024 digital-behavior study conducted by Mandliya et al. showed that numerous users repeatedly refreshed news or social media channels to prevent missing rapidly evolving events, demonstrating how FOMO can lead to sustained exposure to adverse content.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brenner |first=Carla Delgado, Brad |date=May 6, 2022 |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=March 28, 2024 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Control seeking === Obsessively consuming negative news online can additionally be partially attributed to a person's psychological need for control. Research also suggests that doomscrolling can be reinforced by platform features such as endless feeds and algorithmic recommendations, which encourage habitual scanning for timely negative information.<ref name="Sharma" /> 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 will provide them with protection from grim situations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Satici |first1=Seydi Ahmet |last2=Gocet Tekin |first2=Emine |last3=Deniz |first3=M. Engin |last4=Satici |first4=Begum |date=April 1, 2023 |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}}</ref> A 2022 study found that people who engaged in high levels of problematic news consumption were more likely to have worse mental and physical health.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Conversation |first=The |date=September 9, 2022 |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=March 29, 2024 |website=ScienceAlert |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Brain anatomy === 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".<ref name="Blades-2021">{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Blades-2021" />
The inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) plays an important role in information processing and integrating new information into beliefs about reality.<ref name="Blades-2021" /><ref name="Sharot-2012">{{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 }}</ref> In the IFG, the brain "selectively filters bad news" when presented with new information as it updates beliefs.<ref name="Blades-2021" /> When a person engages in doomscrolling, the brain may feel under threat and shut off its "bad news filter" in response.<ref name="Blades-2021" />
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.<ref name="Sharot-2012" /> 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.<ref name="Sharot-2012" /> 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).<ref name="Sharot-2012" /> 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;<ref name="Sharot-2012" /> this can result in negative emotions that make one feel anxious, depressed, and isolated.<ref name="Miller" />
== Health effects ==
=== Psychological effects === Health professionals have advised that doomscrolling can negatively impact existing mental health issues.<ref name="Blades-2021" /><ref name="Sestir-2020">{{Cite journal|vauthors=Sestir MA|date=May 29, 2020|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}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=December 5, 2014|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=April 8, 2021|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> While the overall impact that doomscrolling has on people may vary,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Mean-World Syndrome|url=https://thoughtmaybe.com/the-mean-world-syndrome/|access-date=April 8, 2021|website=Thought Maybe|language=en-US}}</ref> it can often make one feel anxious, stressed, fearful, depressed, and isolated.<ref name="Blades-2021" />
==== Research ==== 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".<ref name = "Johnston_1997">{{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 }}</ref><ref name="Harvard-Business-Review-2015">{{Cite news|date=September 14, 2015|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=April 8, 2021|issn=0017-8012}}</ref> The study revealed that participants who watched the negative news programs showed an increase in anxiety, sadness, and catastrophic tendencies regarding personal worries.<ref name = "Johnston_1997" />
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.<ref name="Harvard-Business-Review-2015" /> Comparatively, the group who watched solutions-focused news stories reported a good day 88% of the time.<ref name="Harvard-Business-Review-2015" />
==== Doomscrolling diagnostics ==== Melnyk Y.B., Professor of the Laboratory of Psychological Research of Scientific Research Institute, Kharkiv Regional Public Organization "Culture of Health" together with Stadnik A.V., Associate Professor of Uzhhorod National University, have developed an accessible method for research doomscrolling. Consisting of 12 items, the questionnaire is based on four criteria, which were proposed by the authors: addiction, rigidity, mental health, and reflection. The authors of the diagnostics also provide guidance on how to interpret the severity levels of the doomscrolling symptom scale that they developed: minimal, mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe. This enables qualitative and quantitative research into doomscrolling.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Doomscrolling Questionnaire|language=en|last1=Melnyk|first1=Y. B. |last2=Stadnik|first2=A. V.|date=2024|publisher=KRPOCH|doi=10.26697/9786177089161.2024|doi-access=free |isbn=978-617-7089-16-1 }}</ref>
== News avoidance == 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.<ref>{{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=July 11, 2022 |website=Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism |language=en}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Ripley">{{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=The Washington Post|date=July 8, 2022|language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Ripley" /> Research has noted that doomscrolling and news avoidance can emerge from the same conditions of repetitive, negative reporting with "negativity, repetitive reporting, and information overload" leading some people to reduce or avoid news altogether.<ref name="Spyridou-2022">{{Cite journal |last=Spyridou|first=Paschalia|date=2022|title=New consumption patterns during the coronavirus pandemic across time and devices: The Cyprus case|url=http://worldofmedia.ru/volumes/2022/2022_Issue_2/World%20of%20Media_2-2022-124-146.pdf|journal=World of Media - Journal of Russian Media and Journalism Studies|issue=Cyprus University of Technology|pages=124–146|doi=10.30547/worldofmedia.2.2022.8|last2=Danezis|first2=Christos}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> In 2023, 39% of people worldwide reported actively avoiding the news, up from 29% in 2017. The report suggests that the long-running conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East may be contributing factors to this trend, with industry leaders citing both news fatigue and news avoidance around these stories.<ref name="DNR2024-exec">{{cite web |last=Newman |first=Nic |title=Overview and key findings of the 2024 Digital News Report |url=https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2024/dnr-executive-summary |website=Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism |date=June 17, 2024 |access-date=May 4, 2026 |quote=Open comments suggest that the intractable conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East may have had some impact.}}</ref> In the UK, interest in news has nearly halved since 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=More people turning away from news, Reuters Institute report says |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj7799jv74vo |access-date=June 17, 2024 |website=www.bbc.com |date=June 17, 2024 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Some scholars suggest that the decrease in interest in news is not due to consumers being apathetic, but due to the misalignment between traditional news journalism, and what is subjectively viewed as engaging.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Groot Kormelink |first1=Tim |last2=Klein Gunnewiek |first2=Anne |date=April 26, 2022 |title=From "Far Away" to "Shock" to "Fatigue" to "Back to Normal": How Young People Experienced News During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2021.1932560 |journal=Journalism Studies |volume=23 |issue=5–6 |pages=669–686 |doi=10.1080/1461670X.2021.1932560 |issn=1461-670X|hdl=1871.1/f8e0467d-72c8-467b-a2c3-566835b681e4 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Scholars describe doomscrolling as a "divergent effect to news avoidance," meaning that both behaviours are driven by the same media environment but result in opposite reactions, such as over-consumption versus withdrawal.<ref name="Spyridou-2022" />
== See also == <!-- Please respect alphabetical order --> {{Portal|Internet}}{{Div col|content= * Alt-tech * Attention inequality * Culture of fear * Enshittification * Hatewatching * Mean world syndrome * Tabloid television * Terminally online}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *{{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 Category:News