2024’s Words of the Year reflect the anxieties, brokenness and the larger crisis of meaning that gave birth to Donald Trump’s return to power in America, as well as the surge of authoritarian populist outrage and uprising against pluralistic democracy around the world.
Oxford University Press (OUP) selected “brain rot” as its 2024 Word of the Year. OUP defines “brain rot” as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration." Oxford University Press continues:
Our experts noticed that ‘brain rot’ gained new prominence this year as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media. The term increased in usage frequency by 230% between 2023 and 2024.
The term has taken on new significance in the digital age, especially over the past 12 months. Initially gaining traction on social media platform — particularly on TikTok among Gen Z and Gen Alpha communities — ’brain rot’ is now seeing more widespread use, such as in mainstream journalism, amidst societal concerns about the negative impact of overconsuming online content.
In 2024, ‘brain rot’ is used to describe both the cause and effect of this, referring to low-quality, low-value content found on social media and the internet, as well as the subsequent negative impact that consuming this type of content is perceived to have on an individual or society.
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