Brainrot: Why Content Is Affecting an Entire
Generation's Mind

Skibidi, Rizz, Gyatt, Aura, to some this string of words is just incoherent gibberish, but to a whole generation, it's their entire vocabulary. If you know anyone who is a member of Gen Alpha (Born after 2010) chances are you hear them constantly reference these terms, along with a whole host of seemingly ordinary terms turned into lingo such as W, L, Fanum Tax, and even Ohio. These terms are often referred to as Brainrot, a term used to classify low-quality content made for quick consumption usually by kids between the ages of 5 to 14, generally made for platforms that prioritize video content like TikTok and Youtube. Brainrot, as the name suggests, is associated with the feeling of having your brain actively decay due to being chronically online and consuming an abundance of low-effort content leading to a loss of intelligence. The short-form flashy content is addictive to consume, directly attacking the part of the brain that releases dopamine, making it hard to stop scrolling and instead consume more and more of this content. This consumption becomes harmful as it creates an addiction that turns passive social media use into a way of life. Brainrot and the excessive use of Social Media amongst Gen Alpha is incredibly harmful for the new generation of children, as it reduces their cognitive and social functions by creating harmful addictive content.

 

We have all fallen into the addictive loop that is going on a lunch break, opening a TikTok your friend sent us, beginning to scroll past this one video, and then suddenly looking up and your break is over without even realizing that thirty minutes have passed.

 

Binge-watching short videos, hours at a time directly targets our brain's dopamine receptors. Dopamine is sent directly to our Nucleus Accumbens in the Basal Ganglia, leading to a pleasurable feeling when we continue to see new content. Kids are more susceptible to binging such content, as their prefrontal cortex has yet to fully develop, meaning the fight between their rational decision-making and immediate satisfaction is more often won by the midbrain where the dopamine is released than it would when an adult is making the decision to stop and put down the phone.

 

It is not out of the ordinary for one to go to a restaurant and see parents of young children hand
them an iPad in order for them to not make a fuss in public. This trend has coined the term “iPad Kid”, which is a term that refers to young children who are seen with a tablet at all times, barely looking up to interact with others. The term insinuates that the children are being raised by the iPad rather than their parents. This leads to the addiction to screens at an early age, due to the habits built while the brain is rapidly developing.

 

A lot of people, mainly parents, will brush off these claims and think this type of content is harmless. They believe Brainrot is just a buzzword or a joke amongst those online. Haven’t we all had something similar to Brainrot in our childhood? Past generations have also had widely condemned forms of entertainment accused of harming their brains; Gen Z had Vines and early TikToks, Millennials had programs such as South Park and Family Guy, and even Gen X had Punk Rock music, so are the warnings against Brainrot just as meaningless as those before it? Some might think that since other generations turned out just fine, the concerns over Brainrot ruining our children’s minds are just as meaningless as the concerns that Punk Rock music would turn an entire generation of kids into anarchists.

 

This pushback against the harms of Brainrot would be justified if there wasn’t an exuberant amount of evidence that those who consume such content have much worse social and executive skills. DovePress has released a study in which they found that individuals aged 18 to 27 with more screen time had worse performances in planning and decision-making than those who used their phones much less often. The same study uncovered that those aged 18 and above with higher social media usage had higher levels of depression and burnout, as well as developing an addictive relationship with social media. Dr. Preetika Mukherjee, a neuropsychologist, noticed it in her own son’s behavior. During the pandemic, her son began consuming more and more content on social media, which caused him to become more moody, tired, and irritable.

 

“I teach seventh grade, and they are still performing on a fourth-grade level,” says a
middle school teacher and TikToker @QBthedon.

 

So how do we stop kids' brains from “rotting”?

 

Habits built at an early age are difficult to break once the brain fully develops, which is why it is important to create a healthy relationship between kids and their screens at an early age. It is recommended that children who are developing limit their screen time to an hour a day. A lower use of their screens creates a less reliant relationship between someone and their phone/tablet. These can also be automated through parental controls on many devices, which has the added benefit of blocking kids from seeing a ton of inappropriate content.

 

Overall, the rise of Brainrot content has made Social Media and screen usage amongst small children and teens immensely addictive, each new video bombarding our brain with a quick dopamine rush. This phenomenon serves as a reminder that while social media and technology give the access to connect in ways we have never seen, it also comes with negative risks to cognitive development and mental health. By understanding these problems, we can create and foster healthy habits and help Gen Alpha develop a much healthier relationship with their social media and screen time.