Brain Rot / Brainrot

About

Brain Rot or Brainrot is a slang term used to describe content that has little to no artistic, educational or substantive value, painting it as having a negative impact on the viewer and thus leading to the degradation and "rot" of their brain. In relation, the term is used to refer to pieces of "brain rot content" that a person cannot stop thinking about, leading to further brain rot, such as regularly repeating the Skibidi Toilet song. Although the exact origins of the term are unknown, it has been used online since as early as 2007, becoming increasingly popularized throughout the 2010s and 2020s.

Origin

It is unclear where the term "brain rot" originates from. Some of the earliest uses of the term in reference to content that is perceived to "rot the brain" were posted to X,^[1][2] formerly Twitter, by users @IzzyNeis and @carrissa on June 25th and August 23rd, 2007, the former describing reality dating shows as brain rot and the latter describing being online in general as brain rot (shown below).

Spread

The term continued to spread online and in general throughout the 2000s. The term saw an increase in search interest in late 2011 for its use in the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, in which the player can contract a disease called brain rot.^[3]

The term saw increased use in memes throughout the 2020s. On September 28th, 2021, iFunny^[4] user Apathy posted a meme using the Skyrim brain rot status indicator as an exploitable, garnering over 17,000 smiles in two years (shown below). On February 27th, 2022, Instagram^[5] user realjoemema posted a today I offer you meme using the term, garnering over 5,000 likes in a year (shown below, right).

On August 17th, 2023, iFunny^[6] user Quat posted a Soyjak meme using the term in reference to Skibidi Toilet, garnering over 1,300 smiles in three months (shown below).

On October 24th, TikToker^[7] @neptunezz.x posted a video of some kids singing the Skibidi Toilet song captioned "actual brain rot," garnering over 70,000 views in a month (shown below, left). On November 6th, TikToker^[8] @vexbolts posted a video using the term, garnering over 100,000 views in two days (shown below, right).

The Brain Rot Continues

"Brain rot continues" is a phrase that was popularized in 2020, used primarily on X by artists who tend to create art based on one particular franchise or fandom, to indicate that they are still obsessed with the fandom. For example, on December 31st, 2020, X^[9] user @inozuart posted Harry Potter fan art writing, "ayo Harry Potter brain rot continues as does my ever changing style," garnering over 1,100 likes in three years (shown below, left). On August 21st, 2023, X^[10] user @ksj_art posted Steven Universe art, writing, "My SU brain rot continues," garnering over 3,100 likes in three months (shown belwo, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References