There’s a new Gen Z idol on the scene – and it goes by the name of “Amusable Croissant”. This cute cuddly toy has dominated wishlists since Christmas, and the hype shows no signs of slowing. Today, we’re taking a closer look at Amusable Croissant, and the wider cuteness overload it represents.
First, came “chronically online”. Then, we heard about “doom scrolling”. Now, something else has set in. Something weirder, harder to pinpoint: a digital landscape that was – all at once – barren and claustrophobic. Online, communities and structures are built rapidly, towering into subcultures and trends. It’s easy for rot to set in.
Brain rot is a term you’ll see in comment sections on TikTok and in baffled Reddit threads. It’s hard to pinpoint a common theme. Some videos are disturbing – video-game-esque renderings of heads popping out of toilets and going into battle. Others are simply banal – childlike, even. Often, brain rot is referenced if someone uses too much online slang IRL, or who overuses memes as a point of reference.
On a deeper level, brain rot is described by the Newport Institute as “a condition of mental fogginess, lethargy, reduced attention span and cognitive decline that results from an overabundance of screen time.” Faced with the results of our most recent research – students own an average of four devices each, and 78% admit to using multiple screens at once – it’s tempting to put two and two together. Is banal, pointless content causing cognitive decline?
For the UK’s Gen Z students, being online is a way of life. The average student racks up 7.2 hours a day on digital platforms – 4.8 of which are on social media. Is this quality time? Some students would say yes. “So much of my life is on the internet”, says Isabella – a 19-year-old student at the University of Sussex.. “Like who I’m engaging with – we message online. If I want to find out about certain events, they are advertised on social media. So sometimes I kind of wish I could take a break but then I also feel like I’d miss out on the things that I want to find.”
Other students are slightly more concerned about their screen time. “I do worry”, says Sarah* – a 22-year-old University of Oxford student. “I worry it’s damaging my eyes, or that I spend a lot of time not engaging with the world, or doing stuff to increase my intellect”. She says that she spends up to 8 hours a day looking at screens – “watching a show, playing a game, or on Twitter (X)”.
In fact, eyesight was a common theme in the students we spoke to – they were more likely to be concerned about needing glasses due to screen time than they were about the rotting of their brains. Brain rot content is unlike a TV show, or a game, or even other social media content. It’s not enriching or informative – it is purposeless filler, deliberately devoid of narrative. By contrast, most of the students we spoke to spent their hours online talking to friends, working on assignments, or playing relaxing games to unwind.
And it’s true – many Gen Zs will reference moments from digital pop culture in normal conversations, or spot things IRL that they first noticed online. But – and here’s the thing – they know it. In fact, part of creating brain rot or commenting “brain rot” on posts could be seen as a collective wake-up call – an in-joke in itself. It’s a self-aware reminder to stop scrolling, close the app, and touch grass.
In short? Don’t worry about Gen Z students’ brains. Worry more about their eyes.
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