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'Brain Rot' Gains Attention Amid Short-Form Addiction
Literally Means 'Brain Decay'... Decline in Intellectual Abilities
Trend Continues Toward Regulating Social Media Use Among Adolescents

The Oxford University Press in the UK has selected "Brain rot" as the word that will define 2024, amid growing global concerns over excessive social media consumption. Literally translated, brain rot means "brain decay," referring to the phenomenon where excessive consumption of meaningless short-form content leads to a decline in mental and intellectual abilities.

Debbie Sridhar, Chair Professor of Public Health at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, recently cited brain rot alongside avian flu as one of the health issues expected to become more prevalent this year in a column for the UK’s Guardian newspaper. Professor Sridhar stated, "There is likely to be an increasing movement to regulate social media use among adolescents for mental health reasons," adding, "Spending long hours on social media is harmful to mental health. It is no surprise that Oxford selected brain rot as the word of the year last year." She further noted, "Legislation to protect minors under 16 from social media and harmful content is likely to be introduced in many countries," emphasizing, "This is a topic that transcends political divides."

Last month, Oxford University Press chose brain rot as the representative word for 2024, describing it as "a term that has gained attention to express concerns arising from excessive social media consumption." Oxford reported that the usage frequency of the term brain rot increased by 230% from 2023 to 2024.

As more people excessively consume short-form content, the term "Brain rot," meaning "brain decay," is gaining attention.

Brain rot was first used by American poet Henry David Thoreau in his 1854 book Walden. He used the term to criticize the neglect of mental and intellectual issues while focusing on material problems. Although it did not gain much attention at the time, the term has recently attracted notice as more people watch low-quality content on platforms like YouTube and Instagram without caution. The BBC pointed out, "If you find yourself scrolling mindlessly for hours on Instagram Reels and TikTok, you may be suffering from brain rot."

South Korea is also voicing concerns about social media addiction, citing the negative impact of short and stimulating content on short-form content users. According to the Korea Press Foundation’s report published in October last year, titled "Who Uses Short-Form Content and How?", 87.1% of domestic short-form content users responded that it is addictive. Additionally, 52.6% of respondents said their concentration worsened after using short-form content, and 45.2% reported a decline in memory.

As concerns about the side effects of social media grow, countries worldwide are moving to protect adolescents from social media. In Australia, a law was passed in November last year that completely bans social media use for those under 16. This is the first law in the world to prohibit all minors from using social media regardless of parental consent.

Concerns about adolescent addiction to social media are growing worldwide. Photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. Photo by Pixabay

Moreover, in English-speaking countries including the US and Australia, Instagram introduced "teen accounts" in September last year. This feature allows parents to limit their teenage children’s Instagram usage time as a protective measure. Parents or guardians can also check the list of people their children have communicated with over the past seven days. South Korea, concerned about excessive social media use among adolescents, implemented the "teen account" policy for domestic users aged 14 to 18 starting from the 22nd of last month. Instagram accounts for Korean teenagers aged 14 to 18 are set to private by default, and newly created teen accounts are also set to private by default.

With global discussions on legislation to prevent social media addiction among adolescents gaining momentum, calls for regulation have emerged in political circles as well. Last year, Jo Jung-hoon of the People Power Party proposed an amendment to the Information Protection Act to set daily social media usage limits for those under 16, while Yoon Gun-young of the Democratic Party proposed an amendment to the Information and Communications Network Act to require social media companies to refuse membership registration for children under 14. However, all related bills remain pending in the National Assembly.