Please keep in mind that while reading this article, arguments are based on the author’s personal experiences and own (biased) opinions.
Brainrot is a new trend that has been affecting primarily Generation Alpha. According to today’s slang, it is used as a form of representing Internet content deemed to be of low quality or value and the negative psychological and cognitive effects associated with the exposure to it.
The ‘genre’ of brainrot can be separated into 2 different categories: watching, or visual, brainrot, and saying brainrot. These categories are separated because one is used to absorb the content by watching brainrot and the other to spread brainrot by speaking it. Brainrot could be considered many things. Some brainrot phrases, for instance, that have little value or are considered cheesy and “cringe” could be “skibidi toilet, fanumn tax, gyatt, rizz, sigma, alpha, livvy dunne,” and many more. These words are used in almost every sentence by some teenagers. Why? Because teenagers consider brainrot stupid, which is “so unfunny it became funny,” said an anonymous interviewee. Today, there is new brainrot that is still considered relevant. Some examples of this could be “hawk tuah,” “bruh,” “gulp,” and many more. These are said at completely off-topic, or unprecedented times, to make said phrases funny and uncalled for.
Watching brainrot:
Watching brainrot is what causes people to gain information on what brainrot is. It is how people learn brainrot. Brainrot is posted on social media, most commonly on TikTok. Most of the brainrot is seen from extremely viral videos that went viral for very stupid reasons, such as the skibidi toilet, hawk tuah, I like my cheese drippy bruh, Still Water, Those who know, mango, FE!N, Balkan rage, and German stare videos, and many more. When the person that watches Brainrot thinks it’s stupid and funny, they tell their friends about it, who then start to speak in Brainrot after the phrase becomes an inside joke.
Speaking brainrot:
Speaking brainrot is what makes others join in and start speaking it as well. The most common one seen at ASB is the popular “gulp.” Most commonly used by boys in 10th grade. The gulp was also found on TikTok, and when a teacher or someone speaks in a corny way, as in trying to say something intimidating or concerning, all the boys start gulping (including myself). When the boys started gulping or saying hawktuah, others started saying it to fit in or try to be funny. It is completely understandable that this happens, since it is what some would consider best to fit in. Repeating brainrot may not be a good idea, but it is definitely common among teenagers. Due to this, brainrot spreads like wildfire. By speaking from statistics and evidence, I can prove myself that the 10th grade boys started saying brainrot in the first week of school, which still hasn’t died off recently, almost 2 months into school.
Effects of brainrot: is it an addiction?
This debate is somewhat controversial and extremely broad, due to the fact that brainrot could be seen as an addiction but it also, depending on the person, could not be one. Students and teens say brainrot, and when it reaches its peak in relevance, they say it all the time. This leads to brainrot naturally becoming a cornerstone to the vocabulary of these students, which seems similar to an addiction because they can’t stop saying it, but in reality, the students have simply adapted to such vocabulary. It is inconclusive, however, whether the effects of brainrot negatively impact the minds and intelligence of a student. Speaking brainrot is considered extremely immature due to the nonsense that speaking it entails. It also affects the sense of humor, making it more childish and immature, which compounds the already negative effects of brainrot.
In conclusion, I think that brainrot could be funny at some points, but it can also be unhealthy at times if used consistently in a way that contributes to a worse learning experience for those around you.