The kids are alright, right? TikTok, Brainrot, and Generation Alpha

By Katie McShane

A few weeks ago, I was minding my own business catching up with my younger brother. Of course, I said something that displeased the teenager, and he caught me with a cold hard stare before uttering the three words that have plagued my waking thoughts since; “it’s giving old”. In a flash I felt my youth slip away from me as I grappled with a rapidly incoming future where I am not a cool trendy member of the ‘It Generation’. I was merely 19 and a half and already geriatric. The problem is trends are moving faster than we can age out of them, and with the prevalence of social media and the users of technology getting younger and younger, the age range of trend followers is widening. To keep up, content is getting churned out at an alarming rate. It seems the internet cannot go more than two or three days without a new meme to be obsessed with. It’s the word on everyone’s tongues these days; Brainrot, and if you don’t speak brain rot, then you’re just not ‘with it’. 

Brainrot; an etymological study

Now despite what my brother thinks I am the most chronically online person I know (she says proudly), rarely a new trend, meme, or yes, a piece of ‘brainrot’ goes by without me seeing it.  So, I give place myself, on good authority, capable to define the word here. Brainrot: Oxford University Press’ word of the year in 2024. The word describes low grade videos, images, and content online but more commonly is used to describe trends and phrases found on TikTok and YouTube shorts.[1] It can be a noun (I love brainrot), an adjective (brainrot content), and a state of being (I am so brainrotted). Despite what you may think brainrot is not a new word per say. It was first said in 1854 by Henry David Thoreau, also as a condemnation of a decline in mental effort and intellectualism (which many also place at the core of brainrot today). You could argue young people have always been blamed of ‘Brainrot’ or of turning their backs on intellectualism in favour of ‘mindless trends’ (see ‘Vine’ circa 2010) but is it a problem that this age is getting younger and younger. It used to be the rebel teenager trope who follows what’s in and what’s out, but now it seems even children as young as 7 and 8 are concerned with what’s cool. 

Is technology to blame? (Yes)

Not to point fingers but the worst cases can be seen in Generation Alpha (2010-2025), the age group who grew up surrounded by technology from the get-go and are coming of age in an era where memes change so quickly, we have new words to describe it. Children are now being handed a smartphone at a key developmental age. Instead of allowing themselves to get bored they’re scrolling mindlessly online, taking in one short 15 second video after another, destroying their attention span in the process. This desire for content 24/7 and aversion to boredom is carrying over to our daily lives as well in the way we consume content online. Videos are getting shorter and shorter and in turn, key topics and discussions are getting simplified. Trends are short-lasting, and even tv shows have moved from 30-episode series to 8. 

Is it fatal

To put it shortly, no. Professor Przybylski reassures us that ‘Brainrot’ is not a real thing but that it instead refers to a widespread dissatisfaction with online content today [2]. But I wouldn’t count ourselves out of the woods yet. Brainrot is not real in the sense that it’s a neurological disease, but it is a symptom of a new psychological shift. It marks the entrance of the totally tech generation, within the next five years the earliest gen alpha will enter adulthood and the long-term effects of being raised in and amongst technology is yet to be seen. This dependence on tech might place this generation in a prime position to develop the world beyond our imagination, but in this gain, I fear that they will also lose connection to both themselves and others as well as a satisfaction with the here and now. Only time will tell what the real aftereffects will be. 

Like it or not, brainrot is here to stay, and it doesn’t look like the internet is slowing down. We don’t have to embrace it fully, or totally shut out the change, but we do need to live with it for the foreseeable future. So, sit back, relax, embrace being ‘old’ and laugh at whatever ridiculous trend comes next (just maybe don’t give your baby a smartphone). 

Sources

1 – Rufo, Yasmin, ‘Losing your mind looking at memes? The internet has a word for that’, BBC, 1st December 2024, What is brain rot, the Oxford University Press 2024 word of the year?

2- Rufo, Yasmin, ‘Losing your mind looking at memes? The internet has a word for that’, BBC, 1st December 2024, What is brain rot, the Oxford University Press 2024 word of the year?