What's 'brain rot', Oxford's word of the Year?

Oxford University has chosen "brain rot" as the word of the year 2024. The term concerns the impact of consuming an excessive amount of time on low-quality content. 

The aforementioned terminology is linked to spending hours on social media, scrolling reels on Meta apps or TikTok. If anyone does so, it means they are suffering from brain rot.

However, a report stated that social media usage increased by 230% in frequency from 2023 to 2024 across the world.

"The popularity of the word is a symptom of the time we are living in," the BBC quoted Psychologist and Oxford University Professor Andrew Przybylski. 

According to Przybylski, the term explains a broader societal concern about the devaluation of intellectual engagement due to trivial or shallow material on social media. 

The term gained attraction among the younger generation, particularly Gen Z and Gen Alpha, as they used it to describe the overconsumption of content lacking depth or value.

Oxford Language President Casper Grathwohl said this word translates the role of social media and the internet in shaping our lives, especially concerning the impact of the virtual world on real-world reflection. 

"Brain rot" has been chosen as the Word of the Year, beating out other contenders like "demure", "dynamic pricing", and "romanasty". 

This term was selected due to its timely relevance to ongoing conversations about how digital technologies impact human behaviour and cognitive abilities.