Oxford University Press has named “brain rot” its 2024 word of the year, reflecting the hyper-online language of Gen Alpha. Defined as the perceived decline in mental or intellectual health from excessive consumption of trivial online content, the term originated in Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 Walden, but gained new meaning in the digital age.
It is now popularized by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who use the term on social media to describe the impact of online content. According to Oxford, these younger generations display a “cheeky self-awareness” of social media’s harmful effects, using “brain rot” to critique the very platform they use to amplify the term.
Born after 2010, Gen Alpha’s online habits have significantly influenced the term’s rise in popular culture.
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