The word initially gained traction on social media among Gen Z and Gen Alpha communities, but it’s now being used in the mainstream as a way to describe low-quality, low-value content found on social media.
Prof Przybylski says “there’s no evidence of brain rot actually being a thing”.
“Instead it describes our dissatisfaction with the online world and it’s a word that we can use to bundle our anxieties that we have around social media.”
Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, says looking back at the Oxford Word of the Year over the last two decades “you can see society’s growing preoccupation with how our virtual lives are evolving, the way internet culture is permeating so much of who we are and what we talk about”.
“Last year’s winning word, ‘rizz,’ was an interesting example of how language is increasingly formed, shaped, and shared within online communities.
“Brain rot speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time.”
