Bed Rotting

Submission 4,058

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About

Bed Rotting, also known as Bed Rotting Trend, Rotting In Bed or to Rot In Bed, is a slang term that refers to the commonly depressive activity of sitting or laying in bed all day, usually consuming social media, television or movies. The concept gained memes and attention on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Tumblr, predominantly starting in the early 2020s. In mid-2023, a Bed Rotting TikTok Trend allegedly emerged, covered by news outlets that deemed the "trend" unhealthy, using it to pose concern over Gen Z and the generation's concept of productive "self-help." Historically, "rotting in bed" memes were mostly created and spread by female meme creators who often romanticized the activity.

Origin

Viral posts and memes about bed rotting first surfaced en masse in the late 2010s on Twitter. For instance, the first-discovered tweet about bed rotting to reach over 100 likes was posted by Twitter^[1] user @c0mic_sans on December 24th, 2017, earning over 140 likes in six years (shown below, left). A few months later, on February 5th, 2018, Twitter^[2] user and musician @conangray quote retweeted Timothée Chalamet with a bed rotting joke, gaining roughly 19,000 likes in five years (shown below, right). The QRT is currently the first-discovered viral post about bed rotting online.

Spread

Posts about bed rotting became increasingly viral and prevalent going into the early 2020s. For instance, on February 8th, 2021, Tumblr^[3] user fuckg-0-d posted, "im young beautiful and having so much fun rotting in my bed," gaining roughly 52,700 notes in two years (shown below, left). On August 14th, 2021, Instagram^[4] user @dontsendfeetpix posted a variation of the Damn Bitch, You Live Like This? catchphrase, reading in all caps, "DAMN SHAWTY YOU BE ROTTING IN BED?" gaining over 140 likes in two years (shown below, right). The post gained multiple reposts on Instagram^[5] thereafter. @dontsendfeetpix's post is currently the first-discovered sharing of the meme online.

Evident in the aforementioned meme, the concept of "rotting in bed" was often portrayed as a feminine trait, purported by meme pages and Twitter accounts seemingly run by E-girls and Femcels that romanticized the activity. For instance, on December 31st, 2021, Twitter^[6] user @d1zzydreamerr tweeted a variant of the Pussy From a Girl Who X snowclone, earning roughly 3,900 likes in two years (shown below, left). On July 9th, 2022, Twitter^[7] user @girImuse related bed rotting to Hot Girl Summer in a tweet that gained roughly 85,600 likes in one year (shown below, right).

Viral posts with similar, female-centric sentiments surfaced on TikTok around the same time. For instance, on July 29th, 2022, TikToker^[8] @ninaxpao posted a video that related rotting in bed to the Feminine Urge, receiving roughly 766,500 plays and 195,600 likes in one year (shown below, left). On August 4th, 2022, TikToker^[9] @meganbsullivan posted a similar video, gaining roughly 637,900 plays and 102,500 likes in one year (shown below, right).

Bed Rotting TikTok Trend

TikTok videos about bed rotting, like the aforementioned ones, continued to surface going into 2023. In turn, news outlets started to cover the concept, labeling it a "TikTok trend." One of the first was the New York Post which published an article^[10] on May 29th, 2023, titled, "Why ‘bed rotting’ is the newest hot self-care trend for lazy Gen Zers." Soon after, the tabloid published more articles about the trend, labeling it as destructive in its headlines. Soon after, on June 3rd, 2023, Twitter^[11] user @dethcultdeskjob humorously riffed on the New York Post's article in a tweet that gained roughly 7,300 likes in one month (shown below).

The concept of a "bed rotting TikTok trend" gained more mainstream attention in July 2023, as more news outlets spread the concept of it being a trend as well as something that was concerning for Gen Z. For instance, on July 10th, 2023, the TikTok^[12] page of ABC7 News posted a video from its then-recent broadcast coverage of bed rotting, gaining roughly 926,800 plays and 44,100 likes in one day (shown below).