What is doom scrolling and why we're specifically looking for bad news

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

This is the flip side of the desire to know everything.

The coronavirus pandemic, economic, political and environmental instability, military and social conflicts all contribute to the development of anxiety. When reading the news, you may get the feeling that the world is inevitably moving towards its last day.

Sometimes the search for confirmation of this belief turns into a real mania. Lifehacker tells why this is happening.

What is doom scrolling

Doom scrolling (from the English doom - "doom, fate, fate, Doomsday" and scrolling - "scrolling") is a tendency to watch and read bad news, despite the fact that they depress, upset and demoralize a person. Also sometimes used is a similar term "doomsurfing", meaning the deliberate search for such news feeds.

If you occasionally spend a few minutes or even hours reading disturbing news to the detriment of your business or sleep, you may be prone to doom scrolling. Often the sensations from it are compared to plunging into a "rabbit hole".

The term itself appeared Leskin P. Staying up late reading scary news? There’s a word for that: ‘doomscrolling’. Business Insider on Twitter no later than 2018, where he was spotted by Quartz reporter Karen Ho. The latter, in turn, began to periodically post between 23:00 and 01:00 tweets, reminders that it was time to stop scrolling and go to bed.

“Take a break from doom scrolling and the flow of all that. I'll be back on Tuesday or something. This is what I do."

Hi, are you still doomscrolling?

"Hello, are you still doom scrolling?"

The concept became popular after the article by Barabak M. Z. ‘Quarantini.’ ‘Doomscrolling.’ Here’s how the coronavirus is changing the way we talk. Los Angeles Times in the Los Angeles Times in April 2020. Then, in connection with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the audience of social networks and media Koeze E., Popper N. The Virus Changed the Way We Internet significantly increased. The New York Times publishing news. People began to spend much more time looking for relevant information.

The title of one of the studies at the time was: "The pandemic of panic on social networks is spreading faster than the outbreak of coronavirus." And the WHO said that it is fighting not only COVID-19, but also the so-called infodemia that has arisen around the disease.

Gradually, they began to talk about doom scrolling not only in connection with the news of the pandemic, but also regarding any other events that generate fear or anxiety.

As a result, the term doomscrolling became one of the words of 2020. However, even today it has not lost its relevance.

What causes doom scrolling

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic and other frightening events of recent times, two deeper reasons can be distinguished.

We are afraid to miss important news

In the news, people usually look for answers to questions about how the world works, about pressing problems and events that concern them personally. We are committed to Rutledge P. Your Brain is Wired to Doomscroll. Can You Stop It? Medium to understand what's really going on. In this regard, doom scrolling can give a sense of control over the situation.

Also, the desire to “stay in the know” may seem like a kind of civic duty to a person, and ignorance of what is happening in the world is a sign of backwardness from life. The fear of being uninformed can be compared to the fear of lost profits.

The urge to read bad news is possibly due to Rutledge P. Your Brain is Wired to Doomscroll. Can You Stop It? Medium and the fact that we intuitively try to prepare for potential threats. After all, the principle "forewarned is forearmed" has been contributing to the survival of people as a species since ancient times.

This is how social networks and news resources work

"Shock content" has long been known to be very popular. Therefore, the media actively use our desire to be informed about the dangers in order to expand the circle of readers. Shocking posts and videos go viral on the internet, and scary headlines are attracting large audiences. This can also be done by Rutledge P. Your Brain is Wired to Doomscroll. Can You Stop It? Medium is considered one of the reasons for doom scrolling.

How the media form a negative picture of reality has been talked about for a long time, and doom scrolling in this sense is not a new phenomenon. So, in the last century, there was the concept of the "coefficient of the evil world" - a kind of measure of the degree to which people perceive the world as more dangerous than it really is. Then the researchers were interested in the phenomenon of television news programs, which mainly consisted of crime reports and information about incidents.

Today Rutledge P. Your Brain is Wired to Doomscroll is added to this. Can You Stop It? Medium work of automatic algorithms of social networks: the more often you watch posts with disturbing news, the more they are shown to you. You can also be drawn into the endless tape - a way of submitting publications that are constantly loaded when paging. This is largely due to the automatism of the actions of the dum-scrolling person.

Why the practice of doom scrolling is bad

Despite the seemingly logical position "forewarned is forearmed", doomscrolling does not return Rutledge P. Your Brain is Wired to Doomscroll. Can You Stop It? Medium feeling of control. On the contrary, it contributes to the development of anxiety and stress, gives rise to insecurity.

Trying to overcome them, some people plunge deeper into negative news, receiving a new portion of fear and despair. Formed Garcia-Navarro L. Your 'Doomscrolling' Breeds Anxiety. Here’s How To Stop The Cycle. NPR is a vicious circle, and searching and reading frightening articles becomes an addiction. A person ceases to pay attention to his own thoughts and feelings. All of this has a detrimental effect on mental health.

Due to doom scrolling, the level of stress hormones increases, the likelihood of panic attacks increases, and concentration decreases. Sometimes people will bring Roose K. The Week in Tech: How to Stop Coronavirus ‘Doomsurfing’. The New York Times took it to the point that the excitement of doom scrolling made them feel physically uncomfortable.

Adherence to reading bad news can also lead to poor sleep: some of us flip through social networks and website feeds for a long time without going to bed. And after reading horrors, they cannot sleep.

How to deal with doom scrolling

Coping with doomscrolling cravings is not easy Rutledge P. Your Brain is Wired to Doomscroll. Can You Stop It? Medium, but possible. Here are some tips to overcome your addiction to reading bad news.

1. Use gadgets sparingly, especially before bed

Follow Garcia-Navarro L. Your 'Doomscrolling' Breeds Anxiety. Here’s How To Stop The Cycle. NPR to Karen Ho's advice: Don't read the news about coronavirus, wars, protests and other worrisome phenomena overnight. If you find it difficult to get away from your smartphone on your own, ask someone to remind you of this, or set up a timer or a special blocker. Perhaps you should limit the time you spend on your device altogether.

An interesting life hack is suggested by Google's in-house design ethicist Tristan Harris. He argues that changing the gamut of a smartphone from white to gray will make the screen less attractive to the eye and you will instinctively spend less time on it.

On iPhone, this can be done by selecting a gray light filter in the settings. Android users can take advantage of built-in digital wellness tools, as well as Night or Reading modes.

Of course, this will not completely save you from doom scrolling, but at least it will give you the opportunity to get enough sleep. By the way, using gadgets at night is in itself detrimental to healthy sleep. Therefore, it is better not to drag mobile devices to bed at all.

2. Read only about what you were going to find out

When logging into social media, reading a newsletter, or going to a news site, try Garcia-Navarro L. Your ‘Doomscrolling’ Breeds Anxiety. Here’s How To Stop The Cycle. NPR don't forget exactly why you came. Remember this periodically: did you find what you were looking for or not? This will help you not to jump from page to page, forgetting that, for example, you just needed a recipe for pancakes.

Learning to recognize clickbait - deceptive, enticing headlines - will be helpful. In order not to run into them, it is better to look for information on trusted resources.

In addition, it makes sense to engage in mental hygiene and avoid information oversaturation. So, if the bloggers or publications you follow are posting more and more shocking or alarming content, unsubscribe Rutledge P. Your Brain is Wired to Doomscroll. Can You Stop It? Medium for at least some of them.

3. Take a break from the news

Life is not limited to news bulletins, live coverage and testimonials from the scene. Browse Garcia-Navarro L. Your 'Doomscrolling' Breeds Anxiety. Here’s How To Stop The Cycle. NPR memes or watch videos with cats, send your favorite content to a friend or partner and laugh together.

"We interrupt your regular doom scrolling to show a joyful deer galloping across the beach at dawn."

Study the question ???

• How Memes Help Us Communicate, Criticize, and Sell
• Laughter therapy: what is it and does it work

There is even a site offering to scroll (joyscroll, from the English joy - joy), flipping through animated landscapes of Iceland.

4. Find yourself another activity

When your hands automatically reach for the phone, try doing something else: read a book, watch a movie or TV series, chat with friends or family. Find what distracts you, so you don't have to think about the need to “be aware of everything”.

Take note?

• Things to do at home. 80 exciting, enjoyable and rewarding activities
• 45 ideas for what to do on the weekend without spending a dime

So far, doom scrolling remains a phenomenon that is only talked about in the media and social networks: science has yet to consider it. However, if you feel severe anxiety while flipping through news sites, and you cannot stop and get distracted, you should consult a psychologist.

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