The term “Brainrot” has made waves through social media as it refers to media that causes minds (younger minds particularly) to suffer from cognitive development or halt any general neurological development. The originator of Brainrot has not been identified officially, however, most sources say and from the opinions of many others, the so-called originator of Brainrot is “Skibidi Toilet”. Skibidi Toilet is a YouTube Shorts animation series created by animator “DaFuqBoom”, the animations are 10-30 seconds long and consist of a series of toilet-like humanoids doing various activities such as dancing, driving cars, etc. Although on paper these animations may seem harmless, the mass number of children consuming this short form of media is what is considered the start of brainrot. In very recent times Brainrot has grown and branched out in multiple forms of media such as, Videos, Art, Music, Etc. Brainrot has also developed slang such as Rizz, Sigma, Hawk Tuah, Mangos, Crashout, Unc, Huzz, Bruzz, and Ohio.
The overall result of such rapid development is the attention spans being affected by those who consume such media. The Brain rot media is usually in a short form of content and being shown on short-form video platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Due to the addictive nature of the platforms, it has caused an abundance of young children to develop strange habits relating to Brainrot.
West High senior Branden Hill stated that his younger siblings have developed some sort of habits relating to brainrot, “One time my little brother said I wasn’t rizzy” he states as he demonstrates some of the strange behaviors of his younger developing siblings.
West High senior Riley Cerda expresses that the younger and developing generations aren’t introduced to any engaging activities to participate in besides what’s going on their phone screens leading to a strong addiction to Brainrot media. Riley expresses the worrying behavior of his youngest nephew, he states that “he lacks any social skills or manners”. This alarming claim not only showcases the halt in neurological development in their attention span but as well as their decline in necessary human functions.
Overall brainrot has been shown to have a severe affect on the youth who rely on their phones and the internet, the neurological and cognitive effects of brainrot may have a long-term effect on younger generations that are consuming such media but only time will tell.
