We examine the negative impacts of social media, and let it happen by treating it as a joke.
In the past, brain rot seemed like an exaggeration; the digital version of “my brain is soup” was something you said in a joke after spending way too much time online.
These days, though, it feels more like a shared diagnosis than a joke. Nowadays, people discuss it casually as if it were simply another negative aspect of being young and using the internet.
It’s a feeling that it’s more difficult than it should be to focus; that ideas don’t stick, because the brain doesn’t actually land but just bounces from one item to the next.
The fact that this generation is neither unaware nor uneducated is concerning, as information is always all around us, with posts, hot views, explanations, and news alerts.
However, there is an increasing awareness that we’re keeping less even if we’re taking in more than before. It’s not that we are incompetent, but actually, the way we engage with knowledge is changing.
Hope, a second-year university student, says, “I don’t think I am dumb; however, I do feel divided? I can’t seem to get my brain to catch onto anything, especially at longer periods.”
She admits that when she opens her laptop to begin any piece of work, she has the need to check anything on her phone right away. Not even anything specific, but only due to this urge.
“Let me just check TikTok for a second, and all of a sudden, thirty minutes have passed. But the worst bit about it is that I didn’t even notice anything noteworthy from it. It is kind of embarrassing. After literally just reading a paragraph for class, I will realise I don’t understand what I just read. As if my eyes read the words, but my mind was gone, and I will have to reread it again.”
People talk about feeling bored yet overstimulated, mentally busy but oddly empty. The brain has been programmed by short-form content to wait for reward right away. Jokes are delivered quickly, videos are carefully cut down, and topics have been simplified into manageable chunks. And you move on if you’re not immediately drawn to it.
Your tolerance for slow videos decreases as a result. Anything that calls for patience becomes annoying and a waste of time. Teachers have seen the same thing, but also see that for it to get to this point, it took time.
At first, the difference was hardly noticeable, but eventually, it was hard to ignore. One teacher explains, “It’s not that they can’t understand the material. It’s that they find it difficult to stick with it.”
Previously easy assignments suddenly seem complicated. More specifically, reading has come to be an important area of resistance.
“It’s like eight pages, and I’ll hear, ‘Do we really have to read all of this?'” she adds. “It’s not even about challenging text. Just the fact its constant focus.”
Students who struggle are frequently held back by impatience rather than misunderstanding. “They want a quick response. They believe something is too difficult or not worth it if it doesn’t click right away.
It’s not an accident that you’re impatient. It’s developed. Nothing on the internet requires you to wait. The content loads immediately. Videos play automatically. Feeds are constantly updated. You move on without impact if something doesn’t immediately catch your attention.
Most of that comfortable space is digital. The purpose of social media platforms is to minimise discomfort. Autoplay, endless scrolling, and behaviour-aware personalised feeds. The information is carefully chosen to maintain interest rather than increase understanding.
To Trey, who now studies psychology, differentiation is important: “People talk about ‘dumb content’ a lot, but that’s not really the issue. The speed and volume are the problem.”
When the brain is always switching between stimuli, it does not have time to take in anything in depth. “You’re always reacting from scrolling, skipping, and liking. No pause occurs,” Trey explains.
At first, people do not notice the subtle ways that it develops. Instead of being read, articles are skimmed, videos are viewed 1.5 times faster, and discussions are difficult when explanations take too long; they become annoying, and for some, it is difficult to be silent.
Brain rot has also become a joke on the internet. Millions of people watch TikToks about short attention spans. Individuals take pride in calling themselves “chronically online.”
It’s as if high screen time is a badge of honour; screenshots of excessive screen time are shared with laughing emojis. It’s simpler to deal with humour as it seems less frightening when you laugh about it; nobody has to panic if everyone’s brains are dead, it becomes a common thing.
However, underneath the humour lies a quieter fear. People are aware that something is wrong, as they experience it when they find it difficult to concentrate, when boredom becomes painful, and when their first reaction whenever they have free time is to grab their phone.
One of the most significant shifts may be the dislike of boredom. In the past, boredom was guaranteed; there were also times during the day when nothing happened, such as waiting rooms, bus journeys, and standing in line.
Those voids are now immediately filled. There’s always something to watch, listen to, or scroll through. However, boredom has a purpose, as it allows the mind to roam, think and make connections. Without it, ideas remain reactive and simple.
“I feel like I’m just reacting to what I just saw online unless I really try to come up with something original,” one student said. People’s ability to form their own opinions is affected by that constant reactive mode.
It is more difficult to have a solid idea of anything complex when ideas are swiftly absorbed and then forgotten. Everything becomes fake, making it feel like opinions are borrowed rather than created.
Because of this, brain rot does not indicate that a person is losing their intelligence. Intelligence is not fading; just certain mental skills, such as patience, attentiveness, and critical thinking, are not being used as frequently.
However, students who make an effort to reduce distractions frequently see a noticeable improvement. Slowness seems strange at first, and silence seems loud, but that discomfort is a necessary part of the transition.
A similar observation appears outside of school: people who make tiny adjustments, like reading a bit each day, watching films without multitasking, or shutting off their alerts while working, frequently realise that their attention gradually returns, not immediately, but over time.
Brain rot is neither a permanent condition nor an outright mistake; it’s a reaction to an environment that tries to catch attention at any cost. The true threat isn’t distraction itself, but rather the quiet acceptance that this is how our minds work now.
This generation is not stupid, but is psychologically drained, overstimulated, and continually disrupted. There is still awareness because individuals can identify brain rot, make jokes about it, and acknowledge it, and awareness means there’s still time to fix it before it’s too late, even if it starts small and begins by just doing nothing for a minute and allowing the brain to catch up.
All images by Kiera Mitchell-Camps.