# doomscrolling

Pronunciation: say "DOOM-skroh-ling" US /ˈdumˌskɹoʊlɪŋ/, UK /ˈduːmˌskɹəʊlɪŋ/

## Noun

1. The practice of continually reading online news about disasters and other catastrophic events. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The habit of reading bad news online again and again, even when it makes you feel worse.
   - _Constant doomscrolling during the pandemic worsened many people's mental health._
   - _She blamed her low mood on weeks of late-night doomscrolling about the war._
2. Endless, aimless consumption of any social media content, especially on scroll-based platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
   - Simple: Scrolling through social media for a long time without any real reason or goal.
   - _Her weekend disappeared into mindless doomscrolling across three different apps._
   - _He admitted that doomscrolling had replaced reading before bed._

## Verb

3. Present participle of doomscroll. — present participle and gerund of doomscroll
   - Simple: Present participle of doomscroll. Use this form when the scrolling is happening right now.
   - _He was doomscrolling through news feeds well past midnight._
   - _They kept doomscrolling even as the headlines grew grimmer._

## Origin

A blend of doom and scrolling, from the habit of scrolling through timelines and news feeds on a computer or mobile device, originally tied to unhappiness with current socio-political conditions and headlines. The term surged in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/doomscrolling (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).