This "Bad" Social Media Habit Actually Cuts Down My Doom-Scrolling

As someone who grew up going to the movies every single weekend, I love being in a theater. Few things are better than escaping into a cool, dark room with a big screen for a couple of hours. But recently, when I sat down to see Christopher Nolan’s three-hour-plus epic, The Odyssey, my social media-wired brain couldn’t help but wish I could tap and hold a tiny screen so the last hour could go two times faster.

I know. That’s bad. I’m a little embarrassed to admit it as a cinephile who should take their time to enjoy and escape into film. Beyond the artistic merits of appreciating a movie’s deliberate pacing, speeding up videos can also affect memory retention, according to a 2025 study. However, this “bad” habit of watching things twice as fast actually has a plus side: I spend less of my free time doom-scrolling on social media.

This didn’t happen overnight. Like 64% of Americans (according to a survey by Payless Power), I’m a doom-scroller. When TikTok introduced its 2x speed feature in 2023, I frequently used it to zoom through people’s storytimes, analyses, or interviews. That habit eventually crossed over into TV. Netflix added the option to slow down or speed up their shows around 2020, but I didn’t really start using it until the last two years. I’m telling you, watching Love Is Blind’s pods episodes 1.5 times faster is a game changer. I can never go back.

Over time, I started spending at least an hour or two less scrolling on social media (and watching mindless junk-food TV) because, by speeding up the videos, I can pack in entertainment more quickly. But watching them sped up is a little more exhausting and overstimulating, meaning I naturally want to take a phone break sooner than I would if I had been watching them at a normal rate.

That leaves me more time to engage in real activities. I actually play video games now (I’ve been wanting to improve my hand-eye coordination). I go outside more often, which my dog undoubtedly appreciates, as it gives her extra attention and playtime. I’m able to focus on mini-projects and hobbies, like organizing my Pokémon card collection and reading books (instead of video captions!) that I had kept pushing to the back burner because my brain no longer feels as burnt out from hours of consuming TikToks.

And I go to sleep at a normal hour, no longer swiping until way past midnight, and I can feel the difference — I’d argue doom-scrolling hangovers are a real thing. (A 2024 study found that “excessive screen time appears to be associated with poorer sleep quality, ultimately increasing anxiety and depression.”)

Maybe I’m consuming as much content as I was before, but it’s nice to realize that I’ve found a better balance between my social media use and all the very real — and not-so-real (ahem, The Odyssey) — things happening in my life. So even though I’m slowly wiring my brain to think that everyone sounds like chipmunks, the benefits of watching everything in double time can’t be beat.