Social Media: When Even “Brain Rot” Has Its Uses
“Brain rot” was the Oxford Word of 2024 and tells us what social media does to the brain. What is brain rot?
Brain rot is the deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, as the result of overconsumption of online content considered to be trivial or unchallenging.
Reduction in attention spans is one crucial component of brain rot. Attention spans dropped from about 12 seconds for millennials to 8 seconds for Gen Z! In the words of psychologist and economist Herbert Simon, this wealth of information is creating a poverty of attention.
Why is our attention span reducing?
Human beings are becoming increasingly addicted to continuous stimulation through “self-interruptions”: we disrupt what we are doing when we get the sudden urge to look something up online, check emails, etc.
This addiction is directly related to the well-known chemical: dopamine, which is the want signal in our brains. Contrary to popular belief, dopamine doesn’t create pleasure, but the motivation to seek pleasure. Here is what happens: endless scrolling on social media lights up our brain’s dopamine system, the same circuits involved in addictive behaviors. We wait for the response of others, not wanting to miss any updates, and the uncertainty hooks us, akin to gambling.
To “feel” rewards more quickly, our brains start pruning (or trimming) neurons, a bit like cutting away extra branches on a tree. In other words, we start to rely more and more on mental shortcuts. This reduces our ability to stop ourselves from scrolling and makes us choose scrolling (an immediate reward) over something important, like studying, sleeping or even hanging out with people in real life.
These mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that help us make quick, efficient decisions provide a wealth of information on the inner workings of our brains as well. Responses arise from thoughts, feelings and these inner workings of the brain, so responses enable us to peep into peoples’ brains. Some examples:
Shortcut 1: I focus on what I already know and like.
Peep: I stop seeing opposing viewpoints, believing that my opinion is the obvious truth, and anyone who disagrees is misinformed.
Social media example: If I follow nutritionists who promote a specific diet, I will most likely ignore or scroll past any scientific articles suggesting that diet might be ineffective.
Shortcut 2: If everyone else is liking/sharing this, it must be true or good.
Peep: I base the value or credibility of information on its likes/views/retweets (vanity metrics) rather than its actual substance.
Social media example: A viral health tip to live longer gets millions of views. Because so many people are talking about it, I assume it’s safe and effective, even if medical experts have debunked it.
Shortcut 3: This person is attractive/successful, so they must be an expert on everything.
Peep: I transfer others’ positive feelings about a person’s appearance or one specific skill to their unrelated opinions.
Social media example: A famous actor gives financial advice. Because I admire their “brand”’ I trust their investment tips, even though they have no financial background.
Shortcut 4: They did that because they are a bad person; I did that because I had a bad day.
Peep: When I see someone post something I dislike, I attribute it to their character. When I make a mistake online, I attribute it to the situation.
Social media example: I see a famous person make a clumsy comment in a 10-second clip and label them "toxic" forever, ignoring the possibility that they were tired, out of context, or misspoken.
Shortcut 5: Everyone is watching me and judging my every move.
Peep: I overestimate how much others notice my online activity, leading to performance behavior or extreme anxiety over a post that didn’t get enough likes.
Social media example: I deleted a photo because it only got 10 likes in an hour, assuming everyone noticed the failure, when most followers simply didn’t see it in their feed yet.
Shortcut 6: If I can think of an example easily, it must be a common occurrence.
Peep: I might believe the world is far more dangerous or polarized than it is because news of a single crime or a heated political argument is shared thousands of times.
Social media example: Post-Indigo meltdown, seeing multiple posts about airline delays might make me believe travel is still collapsing, even if 95% of flights are on time.
Earlier only a mentalist or a therapist could peep into our inner world. Social media has changed that. Now, others can peep into our inner world as well. We can say that social media has not changed us but revealedus!
