I remember logging onto Facebook ten years ago and finding compilations of animals doing silly things and extremely simple yet relatable memes. Going online felt like a fun escape from the daily stress of middle school, but I can't say that I was learning much. It was purely for recreational purposes. Nowadays, it is amazing how much we can learn online. News is being shared at such rapid rates, and social activism seems to flood our feeds. Political debates, infographics, GoFundMe pages, donation links and news articles are unavoidable. Don't get me wrong, there are many upsides to the ever-educational internet we have today. Having access to knowledge about global issues increases our empathy, and spreading awareness is always a great thing. But positive outlets such as "Wholesome Meet The Internet" are a breath of fresh air when the negativity online becomes overwhelming. It can be easy to forget that every day a million little moments of positivity are happening as well. 

One trap many of us can fall into online is "doomscrolling". This refers to the "the action of compulsively scrolling through social media or news feeds which relate bad news". Doomscrolling became so common during the pandemic that the Oxford Dictionary named it a word of the year in 2020 and even added it to the dictionary. While the term may have become popularized in 2020, it remains relevant while many of us seek out constant information about upsetting news stories, such as the war in Ukraine. 

Doomscrolling comes from a good place. We feel guilty about the injustices of the world or anxious about the uncertainties, and we want to be as informed as possible. Unfortunately, it can be very challenging to stop the cycle once we've begun. According to Mesfin Bekalu, a research scientist at Harvard, humans have "a natural tendency to pay more attention to negative news". He also explained "mean world syndrome", a term coined in the 1970's giving a title to the belief that the world is much more dangerous than it actually is. The combination of mean world syndrome and a tendency to doomscroll creates a vicious cycle of negativity for many people. 

This constant exposure to bad news can actually affect our mental health as well. A 2020 study in Germany found a positive correlation between intake of Covid-19 related news and severity of anxiety and depression. Doomscrolling can also be a way of self-sabotaging our sleep schedules, according to Dr. Ariane Ling, professor and clinical psychologist at NYU. Be careful not to create a routine including doomscrolling before bed, she warns. "It wreaks havoc on your circadian rhythms, and then you’re not able to regulate your mood because you’re grouchy," she explains. "But if we're a little bit more alert and attuned to ourselves, we stand a better chance at being able to say, ‘Oh, God, I'm doomscrolling again’, let me put this down and refocus my energy on something that's meaningful, that's value driven and aligned with how I want to be living my life."