Let's call doomscrolling what it is
Drowning.
We used to surf the web. Now we're trying not to drown.
I said that this morning to my brother, then realized that's a whole thought iceberg on it's own.
Especially since I grew up with the special interests of entrepreneurship, marketing psychology, and sociology. Couple all that with being a full on Millennial Netizen of DeviantArt, Tumblr, Gaiaonline, Newgrounds, Habbo, Runescape, and even cringey IMVU...then you get someone like me wondering why people are classifying meditation as 'rawdogging boredom'.
Image screenshot from Spill's "Millions deleted TikTok..."
Being bored is fun, if you know how to do it.
I forgot how to be bored after March 2020 hit my community into COVID lockdown measures that never fully went away socially.
I got to watch in real time people creating the coolest shit I've ever seen because a majority of us were all collectively bored at home at the same time. And as soon as lockdowns lifted, it was back to neocities and spacehey for me.
Why? It was very noticeable when people stopped posting the wholesome trends born from becoming acutely socially disconnected. Remember when we'd be lucky enough to post 'got ninja'd today' after seeing a friend scurrying away after dropping off a care package?
...Trends. When did we start classifying 'being nice to others' as a trend?
Man I miss the language of the early netizen days; there was always a sense of exploration. This new language based off how we feel online is such a drag.
Think about it for a sec with me, the difference between surfing and drowning in online content:
Surfing
- You choose where to go.
- Pages have ends.
- Sites have personalities.
- Leaving is normal.
Drowning
- The feed never ends.
- Every swipe is another wave.
- You don't decide what's next.
- Looking up feels like you're "missing something."
Thinking about it around 2015, I know I was happiest as a kid being online, but now it's when I'm most unhappy. What changed? Language.
Looking even further back 20 years ago, 2006...internet usage was commonly described as:
surfingthe net started by boarding through a disc to have your PC scream for a few minutes before you signed into Angelfire, or Geocities, or Piczo to check on your little weird corner of the internet. Then it was off for a good round ofvisitingyour neighbours! Not followers, not customers. Neighbours. Were they down the road or in Zimbabwe? Who knew? Who cared? Did they sign your guestbook or nah? While waiting for someone else to join the chatbox, you'd be in another browser window,browsinga topic! Which topic? Who knew? Google didn't. That's how we ended up alwayswanderinginto a new place. Not another algorithm. If the place was interesting enough, you'd click around and end updigginginto information that made you wonder 'what the heck?' until you werefalling into rabbit holesfor a few hours until suddenly, you'rehitting an icebergof deep lore that you must immediately sink all thoughts and goals for the day and find out what's at the bottom.
Words that all imply curiosity, tell a story of how you 'went online'. You went, then you left. You still can. Why should we want to leave the internet? Because today's modern terms are telling a much different story...
doomscrollingstarts first thing in the morning, usually before the first bathroom break of the day, just to check in on bad news updates, the rage-baiting bots farming for page revenue, the ads between every two posts on all five websites making you forget which app you're on for a second. To avoid the ads, we buy subscriptions to satisfy the urge for dailybingeingon either the latest Netflix series or whatever Youtuber has the best background noises to watch your phone scrolling. All while wondering if youraddictionto the internet is caused by algorithms, or your own lack of tech discipline. But that doesn't last long because Big Al is designed to reclaim our attention by creating loopingengagementwith a simple UI switch to stop reaching the end of a page, so the platforms we're engaging on can increase theirretentionof your attention, so you're easier to market to if the transaction feels inevitable. If you're the affiliated content creator, that retention matters as much as yourpersonal branding...which used to be just unapologetically yourself, consistently. You are the niche platforms commodify on, while your old corners of the net only asked you to be yourself.
See it yet? All those words imply compulsory transaction for either attention or money, and expected optimization. Since we are the internet, it meant our vocabulary as creators changed too.
After seeing these patterns emerge from myself, that changed how I use my internet time.
The real first step was calling it "internet time" not doomscrolling lol. Stupid simple, because reframing is what will remind you that you can turn any time block into a place to be, not just get through.
Nobody building GeoCities pages in 1999 sat around asking, "How do we improve session duration by 18%?" They were asking, "How do I make this cursor sparkle?" or "Why is guestbook not using the scrollbar hex I just put there?" 😄
The Default Mode Network thing is no joke people. Being bored is one of the only times you can truly connect with it, and if your default isn't known, then something else will decide for you what your default will be next. Forever.
I'm rambling now, but if you really can't stop short form content consumption for quick dopamine release, learn how to create little things for yourself. Learn how to create that weird art trick you saw doomscrolling. Try out that weird keyboard shortcut on a real keyboard again.
I mean, if we're going to waste and rot hours of our days away, it should be redirected into what we want to see online.
That's how my stupid ass channel started: out of boredom.
The internet is the most immediate way you can 'be the change you want to see in the world' and if we're all living digitally anyways, change your digital world.
My only social media is Youtube comments, my new blog i built on bearblog, and status cafe for sharing quick updates to no one. turning off the status defaults on all your socials to "me only" when you hit post scratches the itch too.
I say this all as a recovering doomscroller who still often bedrots a night away with my dog after a long day. But it's now with a book that left me on a cliffhanger, a habit I thought I lost after gradution.
After ignoring all my socials for nearly 7 months now in favour of just building things for myself again...never been mentally sounder since 2020 lockdowns ramped up my doomscrolling.
Not saying I have any answers to the mess the internet has left us all in; but maybe there's something to being a loser with too much time on their hands.