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Happy Doomscrolling Day! Here’s How to Avoid Spiraling Out of Control Online
Because you really don’t need to do this to yourself
Today is a day — like many others — when some of us will overconsume the internet, spending way too many hours scrolling through Twitter, Facebook, and the various news sites that we still trust. It’s a habit we’ve decided to call “doomscrolling.” While our friends at Merriam-Webster are still figuring out the best ways to define it, doomscrolling has already become the national pastime for 2020.
I’m a master at beating myself up about how much time I spend mindlessly scrolling. What helps me is knowing why I’m scrolling. In Elemental, Kate Morgan writes that our brains are designed to collect as much information as possible. We’re hardwired that way. According to Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Research Center, “When you’re anxious about something, you want information, because it’s how we make our environment safe.”
But we can also kindly remind our brain that too much doomscrolling isn’t good for…
