❄️ Freezethawed: The Newsletter #009

Hello everyone!

Let me start off by wishing you, your friends, family and loved ones a happy, safe, joyful and prosperous Diwali!

I am sure you all are continuing to take precautions against COVID, but incase you’re feeling extra festive I would request you to save it till Diwali 2021 when hopefully COVID will be history and we can all have a blast together!

I received news earlier this week that a number of states have imposed a ban on the sale and bursting of crackers this time. I think this is one of the most logical decisions this country’s legislation has taken in recent times. I just hope the people will respect it taking into consideration the current situation of the world.

Doom Scrolling

Anyhoo, today I would like to talk about ‘doom scrolling‘, a term I came across recently and something I am sure we all have been guilty of at some point in our lives. Doom scrolling or doom surfing is a term that has made its way into urban dictionaries as to be the act of being sucked into an infinity pool of mindless information (often negative) on social media. What starts off as just a quick peek into Facebook or Instagram because we have a minute to spare while waiting for a cup of coffee turns into an endless journey down the rabbit hole.

The COVID pandemic has breathed new life into this term as a greater fraction of people have spiraled down the misinformation train trying to find answers related to this pandemic. However, in more casual terms, doom scrolling is what we are guilty of every time we endlessly flick through social media without purpose or reason, in an effort to not stay idle. This is also something common with shopping applications where the algorithm provides us something it thinks we would be interested in and often we fall prey to the bait.

The internet suggests many remedies (most of which are inconclusive) for this and I must admit that I went on a doom scrolling spiral in search for some effective ones for you. What I realised is, the best remedy is to just try and recognise a pattern in you – then avoid / rectify. Now that you’ve read this, you are aware of it, and you are at a better position to stop it.

Until next time!

Anujeet.