The Doomscrolling Paradox: Why We Watch Anti-Internet Videos Online

• Content about disconnecting from the internet is a popular online genre, creating a paradox where users doomscroll through videos advocating for less screen time.
• Videos promoting an 'analogue simplicity' lifestyle, like cottagecore and Dark Academia, are themselves digital phenomena, thriving on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
• The 'tradwife' genre, depicting screen-free domestic lives, is also filmed, edited, and monetized on social media, highlighting the irony.
• Doomscrolling is linked to worse mental well-being, life satisfaction, and existential anxiety, impacting focus and cognitive function.
• While some anti-internet content can be genuinely motivating, the core issue remains that the desire to escape feeds has become another monetized content genre within the same algorithms.