Recently, I saw a friend’s social media post. It was a picture of flowers with the word “Bloomscroll” on it. It captured my attention. I wondered what bloomscrolling was. I am intimately familiar with doomscrolling. I engage in doomscrolling all too often. What is bloomscrolling and does it differ from doomscrolling? I quickly searched online to find out more about bloomscrolling.
Bloomscrolling is defined as “the intentional act of curating social media feeds to consume uplifting, positive, and educational content.” It is meant to be an alternative to doomscrolling, which is defined as “the act of obsessively scrolling through social media or news feeds, consuming large amounts of negative, sad, or depressing content despite it causing anxiety or distress”. Doomscrolling increases stress, fear, and anxiety. It can lead to lower mood and sleep disturbances. The definition of doomscrolling hits home. I get caught up in this, especially when my mood is already low. The effect is a worsening of my mood. I feel trapped and often struggle to break the habit.
As I examined my social media habits, I realized that my friend’s bloomscrolling post was speaking to me. I needed to discover bloomscrolling. For one thing I need to stop scrolling social media when my mood is low. More importantly, I need to find positives. I need an uplifting of my mood. Therapy and the treatment I receive are important, but what about the times when I am on my own, those times in between appointments? Bloomscrolling offers relief for those times. I need to try to find the positives on social media. The positives are out there. I know this because I try to share positive posts when I share my blog on social media.
Let’s look a little more at bloomscrolling. There are four key aspects to bloomscrolling:
· Intentionality: With bloomscrolling there is a conscious and active choice to seek out positive content on social media. This choice contrasts with just passively consuming whatever algorithms provide on your feed.
· Mental Well-being: Bloomscrolling is an effort to fight against what is referred to as digital fatigue (“the mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion caused by excessive, prolonged use of digital devices.”) This push back is intended to reduce stress, anxiety, and what might be called “brain rot” that results from endless, negative social media scrolling.
· Curated Feeds: This involves unfollowing or blocking accounts that bring negativity. Instead, bloomscrolling involves actively seeking out, saving, and sharing posts that are inspiring.
· Digital Diet: With this aspect, social media use is treated like nutrition by getting rid of the negative posts and feeding the mind better, more nourishing social media content.
Incorporating these key aspects requires some steps to stop doomscrolling. First, it is important to set social media time limits. This can be difficult when you are struggling with depression and/or anxiety. I know I get trapped doomscrolling because it is mindless. I often catch myself spending more time than I realize on social media. It is a mindless activity that negatively fills my head when I do not want to think. Another effective strategy to stop doomscrolling is to set no-phone zones or times. We can try avoiding our phones first thing in the morning and just before bed. A third strategy is to practice mindful social media usage. This requires being conscious of why we are opening an app and stopping when we notice a lowering of our mood.
This last strategy leads into the concept of bloomscrolling. When we are mindful of our social media usage, we can adhere to key aspects of bloomscrolling mentioned above. We can practice bloomscrolling by following positive content. This might include accounts that post about nature, art, hobbies, mental health, or positive stories. Just like with stopping doomscrolling, bloomscrolling should still have time limits. The longer we are on social media, the easier it is to get caught up in doomscrolling. Also, work on scolling past negative content. This can be difficult because somehow it sucks us in. It might help to save positive posts and go back to those posts or accounts.
There are some positive impacts of bloomscrolling on mental health. One, it reduces stress. It breaks the cycle of anxiety caused by doomscrolling. Another benefit is the boosting of neurotransmitters. Looking at positive content releases positive chemicals in the brain. This leads to an increase in a sense of security and joy. Bloomscrolling rewires the brain. When we engage with posts that are positive neural pathways that are associated with resilience and gratitude are strengthened. Another positive mental health impact is the activation of the prefrontal cortex. Bloomscrolling encourages active and conscious choices. This moves the brain into a calmer state. Finally, bloomscrolling is a tool for emotional regulation and self-care. This leads to a feeling of being inspired.
I am going to make a determined effort to bloomscroll. I think I will try to stick to mental health, writing, art, and music posts. I am going to set limits. No more spending my evening with my phone in my hand. No more social media before bed. I am only going to share posts that are uplifting. What I post on social media is usually only about this blog. So, I think I am already only posting positive content.
Take a few minutes to consider your activity on social media. Are you caught up in doomscrolling? Would you like to engage in more bloomscrolling? Use some of the strategies presented in this blog post to decrease any doomscrolling you might be doing and to make bloomscrolling a larger part of your life.
Reminder: Don’t miss Thursday’s post. It will be the second post in a series debunking depression myths.
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