Doomscrolling: The Effects of Awful News on Us

We almost instinctively go for our phones when we see a notice here or a news alert there. Even when we make an effort to put down our gadgets, we often find ourselves sucked back into a vicious cycle of negative news: disasters, violence, and conflict take up much of our news feeds. And the flow from one to the other is almost perfect: the Middle East conflict, earthquakes, and natural calamities came first, then the epidemic, and finally the war in Ukraine. There are a lot of upsetting and gloomy tales and pictures in the news.

Does doomscrolling exist?

When we continue scrolling over unfavorable news even when it disturbs us, it’s known as doomscrolling. The word “doom” refers to calamity, devastation, the end, and terror. The phrase “scrolling” refers to what we do when we browse the internet on our phones.

It’s now often used to characterize the way individuals constantly take in negative information. However, the epidemic was when the term truly started to take off.

Something from the Stone Age

The main theme of doomscrolling is negative bias. People tend to be negative by nature.

For instance, praise has less of an impact on behavior and cognition than criticism. The same holds true for negative news vs positive news.

“The brain processes negative words faster, better and more intensively [than positive words], and that means we remember them more,” Maren Urner, a neuroscientist, said.

In any case, from the standpoint of evolutionary biology, it makes sense.

The last thing you would have wanted, according to Urner, was to ignore the warning that you were in danger during the era of mammoths or saber-toothed cats.

By methodically acquiring knowledge, our prehistoric brains continue to attempt to assist us in overcoming ambiguity. We want to be ready for any dangers that may come our way. Furthermore, we feel more prepared the more terrible news we absorb.

However, it’s false. Though such kind of thinking may have worked with mammoths, it is little use in the era of news feeds and applications.

applications that resemble a bag of chips

The purpose of our news applications is to keep us engaged. It wasn’t an error, that notion of the “infinite scroll”.

In the early 2000s, researcher Brian Wansink’s “Bottomless Soup Bowl Experiment” served as an example of this psychological trick.

One set of participants in the experiment received soup in bottomless bowls, which continuously refilled without the diners’ knowledge. Compared to participants in another group who received a single bowl of soup, they consumed 73% more soup.

The first group did not report feeling fuller after eating more soup, nor could they detect that they had.

Scholars now draw comparisons between Wansink’s experiment and our unbridled news intake.

However, there is a further gimmick that app designers employ: the casino-appropriated “Pull-to-Refresh” feature. The website reloads as you pull down, and you wait eagerly since you have no clue what’s going to happen.

 

It resembles dragging down the arm of a fruit machine. Dopamine, the happy hormone, is expressed in our brains while we wait for the expected victory. We want for more of it.

ongoing tension throughout the brain

Reading or watching upsetting news lowers our serotonin levels. We experience fatigue, tension, irritability, moodiness, and sometimes even disrupted sleep.

The stress hormone cortisol starts to work at this point. Cortisol momentarily elevates feelings of productivity and activity while we are under stress.

But because we’re basically always stressed out, high cortisol levels may be harmful.

Although studies have revealed a correlation between excessive intake of negative news and greater rates of stress, despair, and other symptoms like those of post-traumatic stress disorder, doomscrolling impacts individuals differently.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the Huffington Post found that those who had read negative news for three minutes in the morning were 27 percent more likely to report having a difficult day six to eight hours later.

After reading so-called “solutions-based” news, 88% of participants in the same survey reported having a positive day.

The way the media spreads unfavorable news

Media businesses are aware that negative news may increase clickthrough rates. Additionally, more clicks equate to increased engagement, circulation, and ad income.

However, if doomscrolling is so bad for us, what can or ought to media providers do to make things better?

According to researcher Maren Urner, while covering a story, reporters should consider “what’s next?”—detailing an issue is vital, but the research process should also include searching for answers.

Your news intake: striking a personal equilibrium

It’s necessary to be informed and aware of global events, but you don’t have to do it all the time.

There’s no secret recipe, but shutting off all of the household electronics as soon as you get out of bed is a terrific way to start the day.

Consider how much news you consume and the best times to do it.

Avoid descending into a doomsday spiral by sticking to background articles, reliable sources, and less attention-grabbing headlines.

Decide how long you want to spend reading the news—for example, 20 to 30 minutes each day. Try not to spend the whole day scrolling.

Additionally, disable breaking news alerts and notifications. Instead, read the daily summary.