WEBVTT - How Does Doomscrolling Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren boll Obam. Here, chances are you've done it.

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<v Speaker 1>Chase down a rabbit hole on your smartphone, compulsively scrolling

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<v Speaker 1>through posts and news feeds and videos and podcasts, lamenting,

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<v Speaker 1>staggering gas prices, self serving politicians, or the next crippling

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<v Speaker 1>aspect of whichever pandemic we're on now. This obsessive time

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<v Speaker 1>sucking activity is called doom scrolling, and you might want

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<v Speaker 1>to rein in your habit for The article of this

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on has to Work. Spoke by email

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<v Speaker 1>with Jacob T. Fisher, Assistant professor in the College of

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<v Speaker 1>Media at the University of Illinois and an affiliate of

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<v Speaker 1>the Beckman Institute of Advanced Science and Technology and the

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<v Speaker 1>Illinois Informatics Program. He explained that the term doom scrolling

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<v Speaker 1>describes quote a state in which someone feels an almost

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<v Speaker 1>obsessive drive to continuously scroll through their social media feeds,

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<v Speaker 1>paying at ten and to distressing, depressing, or generally negative information.

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<v Speaker 1>Wild doomscrolling could involve a mix of good and bad news.

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<v Speaker 1>It's usually the bad, negative, tragic, or sad news that

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<v Speaker 1>keeps us scrolling How stuff works. Also spoke by email

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<v Speaker 1>with psychologist Joshua Claypo, PhD. He said, quote, we will

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<v Speaker 1>bypass positive news when we are in a doomscrolling state

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<v Speaker 1>of mind. Coincidentally or not, the rise of the term

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<v Speaker 1>doomscrolling also coincides with the development of social media algorithms

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<v Speaker 1>to better understand the viewing habits of users. A Fisher said,

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<v Speaker 1>it's pretty generally agreed on that it first started to

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<v Speaker 1>become popular on Twitter in the late twenty teens, but

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<v Speaker 1>the term didn't break out into general usage until the

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<v Speaker 1>beginnings of the COVID nineteen pandemic. That said, doomscrolling is

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<v Speaker 1>hardly a new concept. Remember nine eleven. If you remember

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<v Speaker 1>nine eleven, millions of Americans sat glued to their televisions

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<v Speaker 1>watching the terrorist attacks against the United States unfold. And

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<v Speaker 1>we've all seen the way traffic slows down to gawk

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<v Speaker 1>at the aftermath of a car crash and play. Po

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<v Speaker 1>pointed to the old headline news idiom If it bleeds,

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<v Speaker 1>it leads. But now we're not restricted to news hours

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<v Speaker 1>or even seven news channels. Smartphones give us notifications to

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<v Speaker 1>tragedies in real time, providing both professionally produced news and

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<v Speaker 1>running commentary from other media consumers at our fingertips. So

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<v Speaker 1>what makes us so curious? Clay Post said, it's borne

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<v Speaker 1>out of a very primal evolutionary behavior. We are drawn

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<v Speaker 1>towards sad, bad, dangerous, and tragic news because it serves

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<v Speaker 1>a protective purpose. He explained that our brains are hardwired

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<v Speaker 1>to be inquisitive about things we perceive as bad so

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<v Speaker 1>that we can learn from them on a subconscious level.

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<v Speaker 1>Fisher said that social media companies know this and have

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<v Speaker 1>created algorithms to keep people scrolling a The more you

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<v Speaker 1>look at a certain genre of content, the more likely

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<v Speaker 1>you are to get that content in your feed as

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<v Speaker 1>you keep scrolling. Doom Scrolling is rarely an intentional action,

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<v Speaker 1>though Clay Poe called it quote more of an obsession

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<v Speaker 1>than an addiction. Obsessions are defined as ritualistic routines that

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<v Speaker 1>become a part of everyday life. They're generally rooted in

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<v Speaker 1>fear that if the routine isn't followed, something bad might happen.

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<v Speaker 1>So what might doom scrollers be afraid of? According to

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<v Speaker 1>a University of Florida study, doom scrolling is often associated

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<v Speaker 1>with the fear of missing out or FOMO, which results

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<v Speaker 1>in a desire to remain constantly connected to one's smartphone.

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<v Speaker 1>They also found that men and young people were more

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<v Speaker 1>apt to be doomscrollers, as were the politically engaged, but

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<v Speaker 1>that left leaners and right leaners were equally prone to

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<v Speaker 1>the obsession. The researchers weren't so much focused on the

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<v Speaker 1>emotional effects of doom scrolling, so they couldn't conclude whether

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<v Speaker 1>the action causes anxiety. However, they did suggest that doom

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<v Speaker 1>scrolling and anxiety may feed off of each other regardless,

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<v Speaker 1>Wallowing in negative information for hours on end can hack

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<v Speaker 1>away at your emotional well being. The clay Posts said

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<v Speaker 1>this can lead to quote negative affect, cynicism about the world,

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<v Speaker 1>irritation and anger, and an overall emotional state of negativity

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<v Speaker 1>that often sticks for hours or days after doomscrolling. It

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<v Speaker 1>clouds our perception of the world by drawing us into

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<v Speaker 1>the real world, but only one part, the negative part.

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<v Speaker 1>So how do we stop? Keep in mind that doomscrolling

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<v Speaker 1>is an unconscious behavior, a clay Post said, we need

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<v Speaker 1>to be snapped out of it. Sounds competing behaviors, changes

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<v Speaker 1>in our routine all will help prevent the situation where

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<v Speaker 1>we find ourselves an hour later having scrolled and scrolled

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<v Speaker 1>and scrolled. Some experts suggest setting an alarm that limits

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<v Speaker 1>your scrolling time or leaving your smartphone in another room

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<v Speaker 1>for a while. However, Fisher said it's important to remember

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<v Speaker 1>that social media sites are painstakingly designed by some of

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<v Speaker 1>the world's brightest and most well paid people to be

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<v Speaker 1>attention grabbing and attention keeping, so it may feel like

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<v Speaker 1>you're fighting an uphill battle. He continued, I believe social

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<v Speaker 1>media and other big tech companies have a responsibility to

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<v Speaker 1>ensure that their users have the ability to structure their

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<v Speaker 1>digital lives in a way that lets them retain agency

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<v Speaker 1>over their attention and focus on things that matter to them.

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<v Speaker 1>A doom scrolling, like other potentially detrimental information seeking and

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<v Speaker 1>sharing practices online, is often framed as individual responsibility, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's important to see it as a natural outflow of

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<v Speaker 1>the business model that powers social media. Here's another idea.

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<v Speaker 1>Add a couple of mobile games to the home screen

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<v Speaker 1>of your phone and reach for those instead of your

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<v Speaker 1>news or social media apps. A columnist for Wired found

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<v Speaker 1>that this cure in her doom scrolling and didn't turn

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<v Speaker 1>into another giant time Stuff. Today's episode is based on

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<v Speaker 1>the article doom scrolling is messing with your mind, but

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<v Speaker 1>you can break the habit on how stuff works dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>written by Jennifer Walker. Journey brain Stuff is production of

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<v Speaker 1>by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.