It’s no secret that the content you consume can affect your mood. When you encounter something stressful or triggering, you may feel upset or moody afterward. Unfortunately, social media is teeming with such content, making it easy to fall into the trap of doomscrolling.
Of course, you don’t have to sit back and assume that every online interaction will leave you feeling mentally drained. Now there’s also bloomscrolling, a habit touted as the opposite of doomscrolling.
Bloomscrolling is about looking for uplifting, happy, and inspiring content with the goal of making you feel better—not worse—afterward. But with all the hype about bloomscrolling online, can it actually improve your mood and quality of life? Psychologists break it down.
Meet the experts: Thea Gallagher, PsyD, clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Health and co-host of the Mind in View podcast; Hillary Ammon, PsyD, clinical psychologist at the Center for Anxiety & Women’s Emotional Wellness
It’s not entirely clear. TikTok is packed with videos people have posted in the name of bloomscrolling. Some are all about positivity and silliness, while others take the concept very literally and focus on content surrounding flowers blooming.
Whatever the exact message, the overall theme is the same: it’s content designed to make you feel happy and positive – not stressed.
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“In general, people are becoming more aware that what they consume has an impact on how they feel,” says Thea Gallagher.
“We are naturally biased towards negativity, so threatening, disturbing or outrageous information can easily grab our attention,” she says. “This can make doomscrolling almost effortless.” This is why you can click on TikTok to watch something and 30 minutes later leave your scrolling session feeling like the world is terrible.
That’s why Gallagher encourages her patients to examine what types of content emotionally energize them and what types drain them—and based on that, change their algorithm as much as possible. “That could mean more memes that really make you laugh, funny videos, animals, wholesome content, creativity, inspirational stories or content that relates to hobbies and interests and makes you feel like yourself,” says Gallagher. “We tend to talk about ‘the algorithm’ as if it were something that just happened to us, but our behavior shapes what we see.”
It can be a bit of both. “Positive content can absolutely change our current emotional state. Something funny can break up rumination. Seeing kindness or connection can make us more hopeful,” says Gallagher. “But I wouldn’t assume that content is healthy just because it’s positive.”
According to Hillary Ammon, bloomscrolling isn’t a perfect practice either. “The internet can be the Wild West because you never have complete control over the content you encounter,” she points out. “Even if you think you have the ‘perfect algorithm,’ there may be times when a video or post pops up that defeats the purpose of bloomscrolling.”
Ammon adds that bloomscrolling “might be fine in moderation,” but she recommends looking for ways to use the practice to support human interaction, such as sharing something cute or funny you’ve noticed with a friend or partner.
“Also, think about when and why you are looking for this content,” says Ammon. “Are you avoiding something bigger and escaping with social media? Are you spending too much time on the internet and not being present in your life?” In general, the same mental health recommendations apply to bloomscrolling as other content.
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Gallagher recommends staying in control when using social media, including bloomscrolling. “Do you use it briefly to change your mood, connect with someone and then return to your life, or do you use it to get out of the way of your life?” she says. “Staying up until 1 a.m. watching heartwarming animal rescues is probably emotionally better than staying up until 1 a.m. reading scary news, but you still lose sleep because you can’t put the phone down. Positive content doesn’t cancel compulsive behavior.”
Ammon recommends limiting yourself to 10 to 20 minutes per bloom scrolling session. “Be intentional,” she says. “Take time to think about how you feel afterwards. Also think about what you learned or what brought you joy.”
Gallagher also suggests thinking of bloomscrolling as “more of a snack than a meal.” This means you probably won’t have to spend an hour reaping the emotional benefits. “Even five or 10 intentional minutes can be enough to break a negative spiral, make you laugh, connect with a friend, or focus your attention,” she says.
She also recommends continuing to challenge yourself with bloomscrolling to keep the habit under control. “Ultimately, the goal isn’t about creating a happier version of compulsive scrolling. It’s about using technology in a way that supports the life you actually lead,” she says.
This article by Korin Miller was originally published on Women’s Health US.