“Brainrot,” a term popularized by Gen Z, has been used to focus on the entertainment Gen Alpha consumes and then repeats with terms like “skibidi toilet,” “fanum tax” and “rizz.” But, is brainrot new or is this a generational pattern?
Thinking back, every generation has had its versions of entertainment or a way of speaking that older generations believed would “rot our brains.”
One example of early “brainrot” could be the “do you kno da wey” meme, a phrase popularized by Gen-Z in the late 2010s, showcasing a Sonic the Hedgehog character repeating the aforementioned phrase.
There are many examples of Gen-Z brainrot, like Vines, which were short-form videos on an app similar to TikTok. Many Gen-Zers grew up on Vine, where videos such as YouTuber Drew Gooden’s popular “Road Work Ahead” Vine was made. A lot of younger people still reference this meme although it was released in the early 2010s. This little piece of internet humor is something Gen-Z may still find relevant to this day which stays prevalent in other more recent memes such as the “Send it to me, Rachel” meme.
The same thing can be said with millennials and older Gen-Z’s use of “YOLO,” “swag” or calling something “dope.” It is also very present in how millennials text or write online with continued use of internet emoticons such as “uwu,” “owo” or “:3.”
“Our generation (older Gen-Z) used a lot of ‘bro’ not ‘bruh,’ or ‘you’re lying,’” Social Studies teacher Jessika Lozada said. “We also use ‘pero like’ for a lot of things and ‘dude’ for everything.”
Even further back, the generations of Gen-Xers and Boomers experienced similar trends such as the “Valley girl accent” or arcade game culture. These things could be classified as brainrot because at the time it did take over the way the youth of that generation spoke, and their attention spans.
The spread of brainrot has increased and this is mainly due to the various ways people can view entertainment through media. Platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts can spread trends in a matter of hours making them harder to escape. The increased exposure could also contribute to the feeling that brainrot is taking over the minds of the youth and in turn making it feel overwhelming all around.
“My brother uses ‘sigma,’ ‘rizzler,’ and ‘he’s cooked.’ He also refers to people as ‘chat.’ He’s very brain rotted. I don’t know what he’s talking about half the time,” senior Barbara Fermin said.
The truth is that technically every generation has its own form of brainrot that they find entertaining often to the judgment of older generations. What we call brainrot is likely just the latest iteration of this generational cycle that will continue as kids grow up and another generation comes around. The repetition of certain phrases and the adoption of nonsensical trends are not symptoms of a dumber or failing generation, but a pattern of youth culture.