We All Have Brainrot

Internet overconsumption is a hobby and a habit for us

By Hope Rasa

Two Western students, Sofia and Elle, splay out on the floor of Sofia’s dorm room and mindlessly scroll Tiktok together. The two don’t speak, the only noise in the room is the scattered noises of posts as they whizz by. // Photo by Hope Rasa

Ask virtually any young adult in America, and they won’t be able to tell you with a straight face that they can’t stand to cut back on screen time. The internet has many practical uses, but most of the time, that’s not why we use it. 

Brainrot is an internet term most commonly defined as low-quality online content consumption with negative consequences on the mind. Brainrot has become another victim of the internet’s perpetual game of telephone, resulting in countless definitions of the word, each a little different.

A staggering, and somewhat respectable, amount of Gen Zers are completely aware of the fact that they have brainrot. It’s not one of those “I can quit anytime I want to,” or “I don’t even use it that much,” situations. A whopping amount of today’s youths will tell you, point blank, that they’re online too much. The fact is that moderate to severe internet addiction is the equivalent of the common cold.

A recent article from NPR revealed that 35 minutes on TikTok is all it takes for the average user to begin displaying addictive behaviors. 

There is such a thing as a healthy dose of the internet, but it’s near impossible for the average American young adult to adhere to expert recommendations. 

More than six hours of computer or television use per day is linked to higher rates of depression in adults, according to a 2017 study. 

Experts recommend two hours or less of recreational screen time, which is internet use outside of work or school. However, it is difficult to toe the line between using the internet without going overboard.

It’s difficult for someone raised on screens to kick the habit to the extent experts recommend. The factors that make it difficult to reduce screen time: addiction-like habits, socialization, convenience, lack of support, etc. are similar to the roadblocks commonly encountered by those trying to quit smoking. 

It’s especially difficult to ask a generation that’s been logged on since elementary school to suddenly cut back in a big way. Anna, a student at Western, considers themself to be suffering from a mild case of brainrot; they rate themself a four out of 10 on the brainrot scale. 

“I’m not on social media a ton, but I’m still very caught up on trends, and I know where different phrases come from,” Anna said. 

Anna spends almost four hours on their phone every day, a mere 200% of what experts recommend. Although Anna has a double serving of internet in a given day, their screen time is quite modest compared to what some of their peers consume. 

Jaques has an average daily screen time of six hours and 25 minutes. Jaque’s friend, Cam, has a daily average of 14 hours and 46 minutes. Most of that time is spent on Instagram. 

“Reels have done terrible things to me,” Cam said.  

Jaques said he’s the same way; he’s been using Tiktok since it was Musical.ly, and the internet since he was eight. 

“And it shows,” Cam said, about Jaques.

The average age at which children begin regularly engaging with media is four months, as opposed to four years back in 1970. 

Today’s young adults given unrestricted internet access as children have woken up to the fact that it wasn’t healthy. The effects of excessive internet use in children have been heavily researched, and all those pages of academic research can be summed up as; it’s not good for them. A 2010 study found that an hour of increased TV time for a two-year-old translated to a 7% decrease in-class participation and a 6% decrease in math proficiency by the time they reached fourth grade. 

Not everyone who touches a phone is immediately contracting a hardcore internet addiction. Plenty of people are capable of exceeding the recommended dose of daily screen time without falling headfirst into the scroll hole. 

A 2023 study done with a sample of 480 Malaysian university students found that those at the highest risk of internet addiction are males with ADHD who also report high levels of loneliness and stress. 

Although certain factors may make people more at risk of developing an internet addiction, nobody is immune. A 2022 survey found that 48% of respondents considered themselves to be addicted to the Internet to some degree. Recent studies on the prevalence of internet addiction in the U.S. range from below 5% to nearly 50%.