Doomscrolling has become an unavoidable part of daily life—an impulsive habit where hours are lost to emotionally exhausting content. For Jamie, a 26-year-old in Toronto, Canada, the act is far more than a passive distraction, she told Newsweek. It is a symptom of something bigger: the class divide.
In an Instagram post, Jamie, who would prefer to keep her full identity private, argued that doomscrolling—the act of endlessly consuming digital media, often to the point of emotional fatigue—is increasingly a marker of socioeconomic status.
Jamie told viewers that she feels doomscrolling is set to become a “class differentiator,” because those who do not need to rely on technology or face burnout and feel the urge to escape into their phones are often the people who live “lives of leisure.”
“I theorize that those who are of a higher social standing … are not as prone to doomscrolling the way we plebeians are,” Jamie said. “Because doomscrolling is a symptom of a greater problem that affects the lower and working class: burnout, stress, lack of resources.”
Jamie’s argument—posted as a personal reflection—quickly gained traction online, with more than 45,000 likes and hundreds of comments from people across the globe. She soon realized that she is not alone in noticing a shift.
As Gen Z continues to idolize the esthetics and rituals of “old money”—offline hobbies, luxury wellness routines, limited digital footprints—opting out of social media has become its own kind of status symbol. What was once a tool for connection has morphed into a digital class divider.
“Being able to simply stop the habit of doomscrolling or log off and go off the grid is something that takes a lot of privilege,” Jamie said. “If doomscrolling is something that happens to almost everyone, why is it still being seen as a personal failing?”
Jamie traces her own relationship with social media to her upbringing in a working-class household.
After moving into the heart of Toronto and gaining some financial mobility, she began to notice stark differences in how people from different economic backgrounds interacted with the internet.
“The generation that I see from 16 to 30-ish who are ‘properly’ socialized—able to hold conversation, introduce themselves, have varied hobbies and interests, and aren’t afraid to express themselves—are children who are of perhaps a wealthier background,” she said. “They have resources to not get stuck in these online bubbles because they simply aren’t appealing enough.”
For those without time, money, or energy to invest in self-care, Jamie said she believes the algorithm becomes a form of habit, escapism and survival.
“Burnout, stress, lack of access to proper mental health supports, feeling stagnant, feeling stuck … These cheap dopamine hits via doomscrolling is a quick fix,” she said.
While the language around doomscrolling often frames it as a personal or moral failure—something to be solved with discipline or screen-time limits—Jamie wants to recenter the discussion on access.
“Access to hobbies, access to leisure, access to being offline—it all ties back to money,” she said. “You’re not choosing to scroll for hours because you want to.
“You’re doing it because it’s what’s available to you.”
Doomscrolling, in Jamie’s experience, is about what people do not have as much as what they do.
“The lack of resources … This prevents us from engaging in the activities that we would actually find enjoyable, like traveling, going to a pottery class, flower arranging, swimming,” she said. “So, we supplement by seeing these things being enjoyed by others online.”
The result is a form of class mimicry—those with less watching the curated lives of those with more, feeding an endless cycle of comparison, escapism, and fatigue.
“No one can read a book, people don’t really read news articles anymore, and no, it’s not because we are lazy,” Jamie said. “But because so many of us are just burnt out and overwhelmed.”
Is Doomscrolling a New Class Indicator?
Experts who study the neurological and behavioral patterns behind social media use say Jamie’s theory has touched on something both scientifically valid and socially visible.
“Doomscrolling is the habit of prolonged surfing through news and social media, consuming negative headlines and content,” psychologist Alex Krasovski told Newsweek. “It’s a form of internet addiction disorder mainly characterized by a compulsion to immerse yourself in distressing news.”
Krasovski said this habit forms a self-perpetuating cycle that affects mental well-being, harmony, and life satisfaction by creating ongoing psychological distress.
“Studies point to the psychological need for control and the evolutionary wiring of the human brain to detect and anticipate danger,” he said. “Which, in turn, is fueled by social-media algorithms that prioritize emotionally stimulating content to keep users scrolling.”
Although Krasovski does not believe there is direct causal evidence linking doomscrolling to socioeconomic status, he said that people under financial or social stress may be more vulnerable to it.
“Rising living costs make the future feel uncertain, insecure, and anxiety-inducing, putting people with lower incomes at greater vulnerability to stress,” he said. “It drives their efforts to stay as informed as possible about potential threats, as it gives them a sense of being better prepared and in control.”
Sydney Ceruto, founder of MindLAB Neuroscience, agreed that the neurological processes behind doomscrolling are designed to keep users engaged well past the point of usefulness.
“Doomscrolling is your amygdala stuck on threat alert while your dopamine system mistakes novelty for reward,” she told Newsweek. “Every swipe triggers anticipation—not satisfaction—so your ventral tegmental area keeps shipping dopamine without effort, but your brain never actually gets the payoff.”
Ceruto also believes the economic divide is now visibly reflected in online behavior.
“Wealthier clients are increasingly treating disconnection as status—digital detoxes, minimal phone use, zero social feeds,” she said. “One CEO told me last month that staying offline signals you’ve ‘made it’ because you don’t need to perform your life online anymore.”
Ceruto said the ultra-wealthy often curate their information environments through private channels like Telegram or exclusive networks, where the barrage of algorithmic content doesn’t reach them.
“Basically, they’ve designed environments where their prefrontal cortex isn’t constantly hijacked by algorithm-driven threat loops,” Ceruto said.
The class dynamics become even starker when comparing access to leisure.
“The same platforms that make inequality so visible are also trapping lower-income users in dopamine-depleting cycles they can’t afford to escape, while the rich just log off,” Ceruto said. “It’s not discipline—it’s having resources to opt out entirely without losing access to opportunity.”
Social-media expert Yaron Litwin echoed the sentiment.
“The idea of doomscrolling being a class indicator is both interesting and apt,” he told Newsweek.
Litwin described a familiar dynamic where a person of means can mitigate the impact of social media: “He can afford to spend time with his children, or at least to outsource it to a professional. He can subscribe to a gym and travel often, spending time in the real world instead of online.”
In contrast, Litwin said a working-class individual “comes home after a long day and has little options beyond taking out her phone to obtain easily-accessible and affordable entertainment.”
While all three experts agreed that doomscrolling is not limited by class, they noted the conditions that make it harder to avoid are often economic.
Ceruto summed up the long-term effect succinctly: “The real issue: doomscrolling depletes cognitive bandwidth, which makes it harder to problem-solve or focus. If you’re stuck in the scroll, you’re stuck in survival mode. That’s not a level playing field.”
Through the viral attention of her post, Jamie has seen the implications of doomscrolling globally.
“I heard from a viewer in Ecuador about how a similar phenomenon is seen there,” she said, “with laborers who are so overworked that mindless doomscrolling is all they engage in, in their time off.”
Krasovski said that, while “staying informed is essential,” the ability to disengage from excess information is just as crucial for one’s mental health.