doomscrolling

or doom-scroll·ing

[ doom-skroh-ling ]

/ ˈdumˌskroʊ lɪŋ /

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noun Digital Technology.

the practice of obsessively checking 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.

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Origin of doomscrolling

First recorded in 2016; doomscroll + -ing¹

Words nearby doomscrolling

doom-laden, doom palm, dooms, doomsayer, doomscroll, doomscrolling, doomsday, Doomsday Book, doomsdayer, doomsman, doomster

How to use doomscrolling in a sentence

I’ve been thinking about the importance of commemoration, and how scarce it’s been in the age of doomscrolling, the days stressful and monotonous without the rituals to mark birth and death and so many milestones in between.
My Son Knows Exactly How He'll Mark the Occasion of Getting His COVID-19 Vaccine|Vanessa Hua|November 3, 2021|Time
It’s no wonder, then, that recent research suggests there’s a link between cognitive overload during this pandemic and the spread of misinformation and unproductive doomscrolling.
The Year Of Choosing Dangerously|Maggie Koerth (maggie.koerth-baker@fivethirtyeight.com)|March 11, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
It’s easy to get caught up in a doomscrolling cycle of despair, even as we feel that we should do something.
Even if You Feel Like This Was a Lost Year, That Might Not Be True|Joanne Lipman|February 16, 2021|Time
If you need all that power for something other than gaming, you can use your Shadow PC for tasks ranging from music production to image editing to doomscrolling, without worrying about losing your progress when you’re done for the day.
No PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X? Here's How to Get Your Next-Gen Gaming Fix at Any Budget|Patrick Lucas Austin|December 7, 2020|Time

Combine that with a high volume of politically-inclined folks and an algorithm that promotes controversy, and you’ve got a recipe for endless doomscrolling.
Social media can be toxic. Here’s how to make sure your feeds aren’t.|Whitson Gordon|December 1, 2020|Popular-Science