DOOMSCROLL

Doomscrolling (sometimes written doom-scrolling and aka doomsurfing) describes the habit of continuously scrolling through your socials or news feed, especially late at night or during stressful events. The term was originally associated with consuming bad news, dramatic social media posts, or anxiety-inducing content, on apps like TikTok, X, Instagram, Reddit, Instagram and Facebook. However, it is now also used (sometimes humorously) for obsessively following celebrity drama, politics, sports disasters, or online arguments.

Doomscrolling became a bad habit for many people during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they found themselves trapped in a cycle of reading alarming headlines and social media updates. Probably due to the algorithmic feed used by many apps, it has now become a way of life for more and more of us. (How long have you been looking at your screen? 📱🕳️😬)

Doomscroll is considered a neologism, which is a new word or phrase that has entered common usage but is still establishing itself in formal language. It first appeared around 2018, but saw a massive surge in popularity and was officially added to major dictionaries between 2020 and 2022.