How I got brain rot: Social media’s breakup blackhole

In July, I decided to seek solace in Instagram to distract myself from the raw emotions of a breakup. The Instagram algorithm fascinated me and scared me with how accurately it read my situation and my exact feelings. I felt heard and understood.

Before I knew it, I was wallowing in a genre I didn’t know existed: breakup content.

From Instagram dating coaches convincing me to get into “my villain era” to tarot card readers telling me how my ex partner was regretting what he did, I ended up spending hours on the app. Edits from the Rockstar, Laila Majnu, La La Land and 500 Days of Summer hijacked my page, and after every scroll you could find a reel with the Walter’s I Love You So or Mohammad Rafi’s Kya Hua Tera Vada.

Reddit threads on the other hand made me feel better about myself because of the absolutely bizarre and entertaining breakup stories it had. And Quora helped me find a community of people who experienced something similar and through their experiences, find some sense of closure.

However, I soon realised that instead of making me feel understood, this content was trapping me in a bubble. Rather than helping me process and move on, I was constantly being reminded of my painful past.

I began...

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