Short-form content, or otherwise referred to as ‘brainrot’ has gotten increasingly and worryingly popular over the past year on social media; most children from the younger generation or ‘Gen-Alpha’ appear to over consume this type of content.

Short-form content is not exactly new, with Youtube Shorts being introduced in Sept. of 2020 and Instagram Reels that following month. Most short-form content is produced and consumed on these specific platforms, and is not really seen in other social media apps like TikTok and X. Although there is no exact date or idea of when its content targeted towards children in a harmful manner was started, most assume it’s when YouTube Shorts gained popularity.

Overstimulation of childrens’ dopamine receptors (which is what brainrot content’s priority is to do), contribute to children’s inability to focus during school hours and poor memory.

Is it intentional on the content creators’ behalf? Yes and no. These content creators directly target children, and although they aren’t showing graphic or inappropriate images (thus, YouTube’s TOS and guidelines) they can still do a great harm to children’s attention span and a plethora of other concerns from parents.

Not all short-form content is brainrot though, although the term is used loosely online there are some criteria that the content must follow. For example, most of these videos seem mindless and have negative values that are targeted specifically towards younger children. According to the National Library of Medicine, 45% of teenerages with phones exhibit doomscrolling, which is mindlessly being on a smartphone or other electronic device.

Although not all children who spend time on their phone indulge in brainrot media, most professionals include excessively being on a mobile device to fall under this category. Or otherwise referred to as ‘chronically-online’.

The rise of ‘brainrot’ and what would truly define the content for what is, is the Youtube Channel “DaFuq!?Boom!”, or Alexy Gerasimov with the creation of the infamous ‘Skibidi Toilet’. This Youtube series immediately blew up with young children, getting well over 48 million views. Although there are plenty of examples of brainrot content, this is the most famous one among children. So famous that Walmart carries a toy lineup for the series.

It’s not just visual media though, many children speak in lingo and buzz-words that are directly related to short-form or brainrot content, and have been widely normalized and used in normal conversations. Words like ‘sigma’, ‘rizz’, and ‘alpha’ have been replaced in daily language for both younger and older children. ‘Sigma’ is used in a way where someone is cool, similar to ‘alpha’. ‘Rizz’ is typically used in a flirtatious manner, coming from the word charisma. Brainrot is not just limited to actual slang though, a popularized facial posture technique, ‘mewing’ is also trending with children.

Is all brainrot content inherently harmful? Although these videos may seem harmless at first, the answers seem to be a shocking yes. These videos, which target children ages from five to older adolescent, provide no educational value. Not all forms of media need to be educational or have some sort of value, however, when children overconsume brainless or thoughtless media it’s shown to be harmful.

The main problem with brainrot is the brain’s response to dopamine, or the happy hormone that the brain releases when doing things that make a person happy, like reading or watching a movie. These videos target children’s dopamine receptors and put on extremely overstimulating levels of visual media with the intention of keeping children attached to the videos and/or content creators. There are plenty of examples and videos online of children only being able to watch or speak in ‘brainrot’ otherwise suffering from mental breakdowns or tantrums.

The reward-system in your brain, or dopamine, prioritizes negative information over positive information; which can be extremely detrimental to children. These videos desensitize children to overstimulating media and can completely ruin their dopamine receptors.

The trend has reached outside of social media and is affecting parents and teachers in educational settings. Many educators on social media, such as Instagram and TikTok have voiced their concerns over brain rot trends, claiming that it has gotten increasingly more difficult to teach and handle younger children.

However, some teachers have been using this rise of slang and brainrot media to their advantage in the classroom and indulge in the brainrot-ness themselves, which helps captivate some students.