Scrollrotting: You ARE the traffic jam.
Don't complain about the traffic if you ARE the traffic!
Ever been stuck in a brutal traffic jam, cursing the world, wondering why everything is so clogged, slow, and miserable? Here’s the truth: You ARE the traffic jam.
That’s social media today. Everyone complains about how awful it’s become—endless junk, pointless trends, mindless outrage. But guess what? We created this mess.
Welcome to Scrollrotting—the slow, relentless decay of social platforms into garbage. Not because of some evil tech overlords pulling the strings, but because we keep feeding the machine.
What is Scrollrotting?
Scrollrotting is the digital equivalent of gridlock. A once-clear road full of ideas, creativity, and conversation has turned into an endless snarl of pointless content.
Here’s how it happens:
The Open Road (Golden Age) – Early days. The platform is fresh, exciting, full of value.
The First Traffic (Growth Phase) – More people join. Engagement rises. The system adjusts to keep users scrolling.
The Clusters Form (The Clout Era) – Everyone starts driving the same way—toward likes, views, virality. Meaning takes a backseat to what performs.
Total Gridlock (The Rot Sets In) – The roads are clogged. The feed is a mess of noise. You’re stuck, scrolling through miles of junk, looking for a single useful post.
Abandon Your Car (The Graveyard) – Some people leave. Some stay out of habit. Either way, nobody’s getting anywhere.
Sound familiar?
This is why Facebook sucks. This is why Instagram is a wasteland. This is why Twitter feels like a screaming match. And this is why LinkedIn feels like a never-ending, cheap networking event where everyone’s pretending to be a thought leader—drinking warm Prosecco and munching on stale discount pretzels.
The roads are packed with junk content, and we’re the ones driving on it.
Stop blaming the platform - you’re part of the problem.
Algorithms don’t create bad content—they just amplify what we engage with. And we engage with trash.
We say we want quality, but we reward clickbait.
We say we hate drama, but we can’t stop clicking on outrage.
We say we miss real conversations, but we react before we even read.
We’re stuck in a traffic jam of our own making.
How to Escape
You won’t fix social media. But you can stop making it worse.
Get Off the Main Highway
Quit driving into the traffic. Stop engaging with garbage. Starve the algorithm.Pick Better Routes
Curate your feed. Follow thinkers, not attention junkies. Seek real conversations, not viral sludge.
Drive With Purpose
If you post, make it count. Add something to the conversation. Don’t just chase engagement—say something that matters.
Walk Instead
You don’t need to sit in traffic. Step outside the feed. Read books. Have real conversations. Touch some damn fresh grass!
Fix it or Rot in it
Next time you complain about social media, ask yourself:
Are you stuck in traffic? Or are you part of the jam?
You can keep scrolling. Keep consuming. Keep feeding the rot.
Or you can break free.
Your move.