"Det finns egentligen inget slut." : En kvalitativ studie om unga vuxnas uppfattning och förståelse av fenomenet doomscrolling

Sammanfattning

In recent years doomscrolling has been acknowledged as a phenomenon connected to social media and mental health issues, predominantly in young users. Most of the research in this field are psychology-focused, quantitative studies. However the personal experience of young adults and their understanding of the phenomenon is uncharted territory, particularly in media- and communications studies. The purpose of this study is to get a deeper sense of how young adults understand and experience doomscrolling in relation to their media use. This study explores how young adults define the term doomscrolling and whether it is experienced as an active choice or unconscious behavior, what needs are gratified through this behavior and how the technological design of social media affects the experience. The study was conducted with a qualitative approach, where semi-structured interviews were carried out in four separate focus groups, each containing three adults between the ages 20-28. The subjects were sorted into groups by the amounts of screen time they had per day, two of which had an average of less than six hours per day, and the other two with more than six hours per day. The material was thematically analysed using uses and gratifications theory and Stanfills affordances. Results show that young adults have a widespread and more nuanced understanding of doomscrolling than previous research suggests. Doomscrolling is not only experienced as negative, but also as a way to gratify needs of information, control and creating purpose. Additionally, the study shows that doomscrolling can be experienced as an active choice and an unconscious, automated behavior, simultaneously. The research suggests that technological and design affordances, such as algorithms, infinite scroll and short video formats, play a crucial role in how and for how long the user gets caught in doomscrolling. The study contributes a user perspective on doomscrolling and shows how individual needs interact with the platform's technological conditions in young adults’ media usage on a daily basis.