In a day and age where social media platforms are at a record-high usage rate, companies have found a way to monetize attention from viewers.
Taking root in August 2014, the app Musical.ly which is no longer available to download, introduced the idea of scrolling on one’s phone to discover a multitude of videos. This way of capturing the viewer’s attention has successfully kept a person continuously checking and scrolling on an app. While this idea of scrolling has gained popularity, other social media platforms have started adding video exploring options to the menu. Apps like Facebook, X, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and even Amazon have added this feature to increase viewers’ time on their apps.
In a world where money brings great power, these social media platforms do not care about their viewers’ mental health. The scrolling feature introduced on these apps produces endless dopamine, which our minds crave. This craving leads to hours of endless scrolling, which means more money for these major companies that have adopted this idea of a multitude of videos that will capture a person’s attention.
Each scroll is like heroin to our dopamine levels. This increased phone usage from video scrolling on social media has many effects on a person’s well-being. Negative feelings such as increased anxiety and stress because constantly consuming negative news can create a sense of helplessness and fear. This continuous exposure to distressing information can lead to depression, it can disrupt sleep patterns and overwhelm people. Over time, this habit can also reduce productivity and increase mood swings.
Doom-scrolling can significantly impact a person’s daily life and productivity because when people spend excessive time scrolling through negative news and content, it can decline their focus and concentration, making it harder to complete simple tasks in their daily lives. This habit can interfere with personal relationships, making people more introverted. Lastly, doom-scrolling can reduce the time available for activities, such as hobbies, exercise, or spending time with loved ones, leading to a less balanced and fulfilling lifestyle because when someone is glued to their phone for hours on end, they do not feel the need to carry out important tasks.
For this reason, doom-scrolling is detrimental to a person’s mental health because it fosters increased anxiety, stress, and feelings of helplessness. This act of scrolling harms individuals but has monetary benefits for social media companies. The relentless exposure to negative news can and will disrupt a person’s everyday life making them more susceptible to feelings of anger and sadness. While there may be very few benefits from scrolling like learning something new, the majority of videos watched have no beneficial value to a person’s life. These useless videos only fill people’s minds with rage, envy and fear. Therefore doom-scrolling has no benefits and it puts human mental health in danger.
