Brain rot
Brain rot
In Internet culture, the term brain rot (often written as brainrot) describes digital media deemed to be of low quality or value, to such a degree that it is ironically spoken of as causing harm to the viewer. The term more broadly refers to the harmful cognitive effects associated with excessive or disordered use of digital and social media, particularly short-form entertainment AI-generated content, and doomscrolling. Popularized by Generation Z and Generation Alpha social media users, the term has since entered mainstream usage. In 2024 it was termed Oxford Dictionary's "Word of the Year".
Origin and usage
According to Oxford University Press, the first recorded use of the term brain rot traces back to the 1854 book Walden by Henry David Thoreau. In that book, Thoreau reflected on materialism and argued that a tendency to prefer trivial ideas could weaken the mind, a harbinger for how the term would come to be used to describe the effects of disordered use of digital content. He asked:
Origin and usage
While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?
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