Its past midnight and the posts shows that the situation is getting worse. Thumb up thumb down, switching between Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. This is the new trend that the lockdown has brought in. It has changed people's perspectives and their lives too. Many have come to be familiar with terms such as online classes and work from home which have arguably never been used in this part of the world ever. In these times many people find themselves compulsively scrolling through pandemic news and their social media feeds which goes on way into the night. This is called "doomsday scrolling" or "doom scrolling."
Although late night scrolling is not a new thing and its what counsellors and therapists often hear in their sessions. But in the past it was digging through Twitter for insights on new series episodes or armchair coaching your favorite football team. Now the only thing left to binge-watch is the episodic collapse of the world into crisis. The 3rd wave is settling in, taking cases to new heights, vaccination news, people protesting on border issues and the list just goes on and on.
The
term Doomsday Scrolling has been gaining momentum lately; the Merriam Webster Dictionary
has also incorporated it in their "Words we’re watching
list" and the LA Times has reiterated the number of lexicons that the
Covid19 pandemic has introduced. Doomsday scrolling is defined as
the “tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even
though that news is saddening or depressing. Many people are finding
themselves continuously reading bad news about Covid-19 without being
able to stop, even sacrificing their crucial sleep time or working
hours in the process”
While
people are scouring the internet for help, to mobilize action and
share resources during the Covid19 pandemic. It has created a
reference point for the social media algorithm to display maximum
number of posts related to or about Covid19 on social networking
feeds. In
many cases, people have unfortunately found themselves overwhelmed
with news containing fake reports and misinformation, which, for
those without the right skills, can be complicated to digest. The WHO
has also warned that the Covid19 pandemic is also accompanied by the
a massive infodemic or an overabundance of information which made it
difficult for people to find reliable sources and trustworthy
information when they need it
This
situation has generated confusion within the population and has also
influenced some statements by public figures and politicians, which
have in turn led to further repercussions on public opinion. The
general population has, in good faith, taken the information,
including fake news, most relevant to their own personal situation
and has used it to formulate their own interpretation of the
pandemic.
Although
the world has not approached doomsday, yet social networking sites
are mostly leading people to believe that they have reached their
end. As several cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown
that negative news have negative effects on a person’s mental and
emotional health. These mental and emotional responses often include greater
fear, stress, anxiety and sadness. Studies also suggests that the
more people consume negative news the more they are prone to assess
the severity and relevance of the news that in turn affect the
emotional response. This high perception of personal relevance in
turn creates a stronger affective response. For some people,
doomsday scrolling may become an unsatisfying addiction that promises
safety, security, or certainty when, in fact, it provides the
opposite, causing a constant, low-level panic that is difficult to
ward off.
For
many years experts in the psychology have reiterated that the net
benefits of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter etc.,
when used responsibly cause positive effects. But in the world
ravaged with the pandemic and conflicting facts, anxiety and
depression trickles into the minds of several people. This civil
unrest coupled with the possibility that social media networks are
incentivized to push trending topics into your feeds— the situation
intensifies. In a situation like that, people engage in more narrow
and immediate survival-oriented behaviors. They switch to
fight-or-flight mode. And when that heap of unrest is added to the
fact that people have lost their conventional social connections
because they are mostly at home and not in their regular environments
the issue is quadrupled. Therefore, making people more prone to
switching to their social networking accounts to gain more
information and thus affecting their mental and emotional health.
Remedies
Although
staying informed is vital but it is also equally important to avoid
being doom. One can consider these remedies to start creating
boundaries for usage of social networking sites:
Abstaining
from over usage of social media by using apps such as Offtime and In
Moment. These apps helps users to set timers when they start to
scroll for updates on their social networking sites.
Apps
like AppDetox also help users allows users to take a digital detox
by setting their own rules — and even take it to the extreme and
lock all their apps. Whenever users violate their own rules,
AppDetox reminds them to take a break and will also keep a log of
all their violations.
Family
interactions are very rare in modern times. It is crucial that
people start to have in-person interactions with their family
members by engaging in other beneficial activities such as physical
games and other recreation.
Meditation
and physical exercise are crucial in having a sound body and mind.
But it is also necessary to abstain from the gloom of negative
social media news and feeds.
Picking
up new and creative hobbies can help develop new skills, build
patience and relieve stress.
References De Hoog, Natascha & Verboon, Peter. (2020). Is the news making us unhappy? The influence of daily news exposure on emotional states. British Journal of Psychology, 111, 157-173 Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12389
Dermentzi, E., Papagiannidis, S.,
Osorio Toro, C., & Yannopoulou, N. (2016). Academic engagement:
Differences between intention to adopt social networking sites and
other online technologies. Computers in Human Behavior, 61,321–332. Retrieved from: https://doi. org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.019
Ellsworth, P. C., & Scherer, K. R. (2003). Appraisal processes in emotion. In R. J. Davidson, H. H.Goldsmith, & K. R. Scherer (Eds.), Handbook of the affective sciences, 572–595
Lazarus, R., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York, NY: Springer.
Comments
Post a Comment