Brain rot

[1] The term also more broadly refers to the deleterious effects associated with excessive use of digital media in general, especially short-form entertainment[2] and doomscrolling,[3] which may affect mental health.

[8][9] Thoreau was criticizing what he saw as a decline in intellectual standards, with complex ideas being less highly regarded, and compared this to the 1840s "potato rot" in Europe.

[7][8] Its modern usage is defined by the Oxford University Press as "the supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging".

She introduced the speech as addressing "an oft-forgotten section of our society", referring to Generations Z and Alpha, and said that she would "render the remainder of my statement using language they're familiar with".

[16] In 2025 Jubilee of the World of Communications, the term was also used by Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, as he urged for people to reduce their use of social media and avoid "putrefazione cerebrale".