doomscroll

or doom-scroll

[ doom-skrohl ]

verb (used with or without object)

, Digital Technology.

1. to obsessively check online news for updates, especially on social media feeds, with the expectation that the news will be bad, such that the feeling of dread from this negative expectation fuels a compulsion to continue looking for updates in a self-perpetuating cycle.

Word History and Origins

Origin of doomscroll¹

First recorded in 2015–20; doom ( def ) + scroll ( def ) (in the sense “to move text up, down, or across a display screen”); influenced by doomsday ( def )