As of late, the term Brainrot is in the majority of student vocabulary. Awarded Oxford University’s word of the year for 2024. It is often associated with phrases like ‘Skibidi Toilet’ or video clips of Spanish films cropped above Subway Surfers gameplay. Whilst this fits the definition in its own right, the perspective towards Brainrot should shift in contemporary social media discourse, particularly amongst younger users. A hidden Brainrot is perpetuating our everyday subconsciousness. Without significant change, this phenomenon could spiral out of our control. The Brainrot I am referring to is Snapchat Discovery.
The Algorithms of Snapchat Brainrot
Snapchat Discovery proves the problematic nature of the algorithm. On platforms such as Instagram, the algorithm can promote relatively harmless content that will ‘rot’ your brain due to the pervasive dopamine hits. However, Snapchat content does not numb the brain but alters its chemistry entirely, and negatively influences the way people can interact in social settings. The type of content ranges from outrageous and unrealistic gym routines to celebrity gossip and humiliation, with clickbait headlines designed for doom scrollers to interact with plague our iPhone pixels. This risks exposing young Snapchat users to abhorrent expectations concerning beauty standards, health habits, and gendered norms.
Typically, men will be recommended content that I consider hyper-masculine, whereas women will be marketed to articles surrounding gossip, influencer content and drama, stuff that society would label as more ‘girly’, further perpetuating stereotypes. For example, one of these Snapchat articles, addressing Ice Spice, is entitled ‘Her New Skinny Look Is…’, with an accompanying photo of the rapper in skin-tight gym wear doing a stretch. The focus on her body without further elaboration supports these stereotypical beauty standards, objectifying Ice Spice as nothing more than a fitness craze and a body to admire. In a culture of new-wave feminism, this ethos elicits a colossal regression in pro-feminist principles, reverting to the overt sexualisation that impacted the lives of countless female celebrities.
Snapchat promotes this sentiment more obviously, however, with consistent thirst trap posts from influencers and occasionally even porn stars. Snapchat’s age limit is 12+, which risks exposing adolescents to harmful content that could potentially have dire impacts on their mental health. However, it seems that the problematic nature of Snapchat Discovery is becoming more elusive to prevent, and users are continuously tolerating its intellectually challenged entertainment purely from a state of boredom, which has led to the dopamine-seeking habits that see our brain structure reduced to ashes.
My Research
I wanted to take a deeper dive into the split of content pushed by the Snapchat algorithm by doing a little primary research, and the results shocked me. 14 participants (seven male, six female, and one non-binary) between the ages of 18 and 25, sent me between two and five screenshots of their Snapchat discovery, with 168 total articles available for analysis. All of my participants gave their willing consent for their findings to be used in this article, and their identities shall remain anonymous. Of course, every time a user leaves the app and then returns to the discovery page, the content changes, so it would be insincere to present these findings without acknowledging it is not necessarily representative of every single rotation. However, it gives us a general overview of what we can expect from this slippery algorithm.
And the results are in…
Upon analysis, I discovered first that of the 168 articles, 25 were advertisements. In other words, for every six articles you see, you will be subjected to some form of marketing. Algorithmic advertising operates under the principles of a concept called ‘Programmatic Advertising’, whereby digital space is auctioned to marketers. The highest bidder will have their advertisement processed and distributed on the space, providing the product or service visibility to users whose interactions warrant it the most. This is determined by data tracking, where ‘clicks’ and ‘views’ are monitored and stored by the algorithm to determine what space is most valuable. This is prominent in all forms of digital media, but its consistency in Snapchat’s cyberspace promotes a culture of consumerism that negatively impacts the environment and supports a late-stage capitalist system that is hellbent on promoting the patriarchy and disadvantaging the poor.
In addition, there were 19 gym or hyper-masculine articles amongst my male participants. These articles highlighted unrealistic or frankly untrue gym routines and traits that are socially considered ‘manly. Furthermore, I identified 20 gossip and body standard slideshows in my female survey. This covered taboo topics like botched plastic surgery, personal and relationship turmoil of popular celebrities, and sheer objectification. The gendered nature of Snapchat Discovery is evident here but follows the same pattern of negativity and shameful discourses surrounding bodily expectations. Interestingly, not a single man was promoted gossip content, and vice versa, regardless of sexual orientation or background. Curiously, my non-binary participant was also promoted more female presenting content, which suggests that Snapchat is all too accepting of an algorithm that misgenders and devalues gender identity.
Most shockingly, 31% of these articles were clickbait articles. Similar to the example of Ice Spice, this content is tailored to elicit anticipation surrounding tabloid topics that will get a quick and easy audience. This means that one in every three articles are especially made to rot your brain, which is bad enough for users. However, how does it affect the content creators whose channels are taken out of context for the gain of these Brainrot outlets?
jessjessjessu
I spoke to TikToker and influencer Jess (@jessjessjessu). With a fanbase upward of 4 million on TikTok and 350,000 on Instagram, Jess creates content that raises awareness for Tourette’s syndrome that she lives with, as well as showing off fashion and hair hacks for a predominantly female audience. However, it seems this has been taken out of context to create clickbait articles for these discovery pages.
Jess recounted when a company, that will remain nameless, “messaged me a lot, and then eventually, I just replied to them, and I said they could make a post about me as long as I can see the video.” It seems this nameless content-creating company fosters unhealthy habits of persuasion and pressure that seem persistent and needy. Jess “signed this short agreement, just allowing them to use clips for content”. Following the contractual agreement, “they showed me the video they were going to post, and it looked good. But they didn’t show me the thumbnail, which read “I can’t stop meowing or something really stupid”. From this, we can see the deceptive strategies of media companies. To not fully disclose the nature of the content, Jess is presented in a way that does not at all reflect her role as an influencer. The title suggested.
Jess’s story is all too common in the scope of influencer content taken by media production businesses, which damages the reputation and outlook of influencers such as her. It also has the potential to devalue the good-willed nature of her morals, such as raising awareness for Tourette’s syndrome. It also is a clear example of how the algorithms keep users enticed, by drawing them into a clickbait article and feeling the dopamine when reading the full article. Imparted with the knowledge that was devoid in the headline, users will continuously scroll through the slides and expose themselves to these harmful ideologies.
Food for thought?
It seems like the pervasive phenomenon of Snapchat Discovery clickbait content has then impacted both influencers’ credibility and the brain structure of users. What is most alarming, however, is our blissful ignorance of the issue at hand, even if it exposes younger people to harmful images. The question is, what will it take for us to realise how damaging this could be?