“Brain Rot,” a term that is used to refer to cognitive or emotional decline due to low value internet content, has been gaining popularity, especially among the younger generation, Gen-Alpha. Some words that are included under the “brain rot” umbrella are “skibidi,” “rizzler,” and “gyatt,” which outside of being the Gen-Alpha vernacular, have no real meaning. Yes, each generation has had its own slang, with Boomers coining terms like “jonesing” or “peace out” and Gen X adopting “fam” and “gnarly,” but is the rise of “brain rot” something more?
“It’s a weird subset of Internet culture but I don’t really think that it’s a problem in society outside of its impact on attention span,” said senior Owen Kelly.
“Most students just see it as a joke and aren’t seriously ‘brain-rotted,’” said Mrs. Anneta Fortner, fine arts teacher.
Personally, I would have to disagree with the notion that “brain rot” slang is something that we can just brush off. Though brains are not actually rotting because of “brain rot,” the constant scrolling through social media which led to the creation and mass adoption of these terms is concerning. Gen Alpha’s oldest kids are eleven years old, clearly having an entire generation addicted to screens and coming up with their own slang at the ripe age of eleven is not a good sign for society. Giving eleven year olds platforms to create content that “shapes the culture” will turn out to be disastrous. What is even more disappointing is that in this “Information Age” where any information is available to us at any time, most people spend that time scrolling through thirty second clips instead of doing anything productive. Instead of having a society that values advancement we have one that values living life through screens. I think that it is no coincidence that with the rise of screens there has been a decline in not only intelligent slang, but intelligence in general.