If someone’s ever blurted out “six, seven” while miming juggling or said “skibidi rizz toilet” and you were completely caught off guard, take it as a sign that you’re not consuming as much brain rot as they are.

Brain rot refers to the cognitive decline and mental exhaustion experienced by adolescents and young adults, specifically due to excessive exposure to low-quality online content, such as social media, according to the National Library of Medicine.

The coined term was Oxford’s Word of the Year in 2024, in which 37,000 people had their say in a public vote. After two weeks of voting, Oxford experts considered the results and public input in which they concluded ‘brain rot’ would be the word of the year.

According to Oxford, the usage frequency of brain rot increased by 230% from 2023 to 2024.

But as the consumption of brain rot is increasing among Generation Z and Generation Alpha, so is the culture to embrace it.

DePaul sophomore Theo Schuler classifies himself as chronically online and feels enthusiastic about engaging in brain rot.

“It builds a connection between people. My friends and I will make references about the Instagram reels we’ve watched when we’re having a conversation,” Schuler said.

Schuler averages a screen time of three hours a day exclusively on Instagram, where he watches reels of soccer and memes.

“It’s like a community of stupidity. Everyone is trying to one-up each other by providing the dumbest meme they can make, but it’s funny to see the memes build off each other,” Schuler said. “That’s the beauty of the brain rot. You don’t know why it’s funny; it just is.”

However, Schuler admits when engaging in brain rot there’s importance in knowing when to quit.

“The good thing about the brain rot, is that you’ll realize how stupid it is and think ‘what the hell am I watching,’ and then close out of the app,” Schuler said.

Along with the growing culture among consuming brain rot, there is increasing concern of the consequences that come with the over consumption of it.

Child development expert and DePaul professor Jocelyn Carter says that, on a cognitive level, people who consume too much media are not receiving all the input their bodies and brains need to fully develop.

“For new college students who find themselves always online, they might have a hard start as they have not learned how to power through things that are boring, uncomfortable and challenging,” Carter said.

Carter also expresses concern about social interactions for those who spend most of their time online.

“People might not be able to make eye contact, be an attentive listener to their friend, or pick up on social cues,” Carter said.

DePaul senior Riley Mays frequents online everyday, specifically TikTok and Instagram. Her average screen time is five to six hours a day.

Mays says her engagement with social media is more for business purposes, looking at social media that revolves around her work of dance or using it to strictly keep up with friends. Although, she admits she finds more joy in engaging in movies or television shows.

“Its hard watching people like my sister lose interest in long-form media. I think viewing social media has proved to be dangerous for that,” Mays said.

Although Mays is supportive of the internet, she compared her sister’s online habits to her own when she was her sister’s age — 15 years old.

“I used social media to curate my interests, where she uses it to be told what she should be interested in,” Mays said. 

Mays reflects on ways she noticed social media has altered her sister’s personality.

“Her patience isn’t the greatest and neither is her ability to be alone because she feels it’s embarrassing to do things on her own,” Mays said.

Mays believes her age group was the last to grow up without being fully immersed in social media, noting that she developed an interest in it only in high school. Her younger sister had already begun engaging with social media, but in middle school.

“I already knew what I liked the time I had social media, but I think my sister was too young to recognize that social media could be used for her own creative space, not just to follow trends.”

Carter touched on a similar idea on the way children who grew up with smart phones and social media.

“If kids don’t have a time to remember when things were different, then they’ll just assume this is the way life always is,” Carter said.

Carter also recognizes the benefits of having access to the internet, such as being in a rural area and having access to online resources. Yet she’s wary about the accessibility to younger children who find themselves consuming brain rot.

“If there are frequent tantrums when you try to limit screen time, or if it’s difficult to take it away. That’s certainly a sign that it’s all too consuming,” Carter said.

Just like teenagers or young adults who can display physical and cognitive signs when they consume an overload of brain rot, so do young children.

“Warning signs can entail observing their developmental milestones in terms of language. Do they have appropriate follow-up conversations, or do they script their conversations based on what they see?” Carter said.

Carter believes the responsibility falls on the children’s parents and guardians as they are the ones who ultimately decide what their kids have access to.

“Parents are a place to start, but without necessarily blaming them, there has to be understanding of why and educating them why it’s not suitable for their kids in the long run,” Carter said.

“But ultimately, as a society, we’re doing this to ourselves, we’re deciding that this is the trade-off that we want. You have to choose to try to fight against that actively,” Carter said.

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