doomscroll

verb

doom·​scroll ˈdüm-ˌskrōl 

doomscrolled; doomscrolling; doomscrolls

transitive + intransitive

: to spend excessive time online scrolling (see scroll entry 2) through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, angry, etc.

Why habitually check that inbox or doomscroll social media when you could sit back, relax and watch a pair of river otters paddle about via a livestream?

—R. Dallon Adams

… stop doomscrolling. You don't need to know every detail of every tragedy. And you certainly don't need to see what all those strangers on the internet think about it.

—Ryan J. Rusak

For the past two months I've spent big chunks of my day doomscrolling through bad news and preprint studies about mask effectiveness and virus transmission.

—Charlie Warzel

Like many in St. Louis, as the thunder roared in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, I sleeplessly doomscrolled Twitter to find reports of closed highways, first responders using boats, and later images of the Forest Park Metro stop and underpass flooded out.

—Josh Mogerman

doomscroll noun

plural doomscrolls

Twitter encourages taking a pause by asking users if they want to read an article before hitting the retweet button. But it can be a difficult thing to do, considering how quick social media interactions can be—during a five-minute break from work or a late-night doomscroll.

—Adithi Ramakrishnan

Word History

First Known Use

2020, in the meaning defined above