BOOMSCROLLING / FIELD GUIDE
Boomscrolling vs doomscrolling vs bloomscrolling
Three words, one letter apart, and your thumb can’t tell the difference. Here’s what each one means and how to tell which one you’re doing.
The short answer: doomscrolling is compulsively reading bad news. Bloomscrolling is choosing a feed that makes you feel better. Boomscrolling is reading a post and coming back with something worth saying. The first two are about what goes in. The third is about what comes out.
The side-by-side.
| Doomscrolling | Bloomscrolling | Boomscrolling | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you do | Keep reading bad news you can’t fix. | Pick a feed that makes you feel better. | Read a post, then work on your own reply. |
| Who’s driving | The algorithm. | You, choosing what comes in. | You, choosing what goes out. |
| What you leave with | Dread and a dead battery. | A better mood. | Something worth saying. |
| Output | None. | None. | A post with your name on it, if you decide to send it. |
| How it usually ends | It’s 1am and you know a lot about a flood in a country you couldn’t find on a map. | You watched a capybara take a bath. You feel fine. | You wrote one sentence you’d stand behind. You put the phone down. Possibly. |
Doomscrolling: the one everybody knows.
Doomscrolling is spending far too long on content that makes you feel bad. Wikipedia dates the word to around 2018 and says it took off during the pandemic, which sounds right. It’s the only one of the three with a dictionary entry. That tells you something about us.
Nobody sits down to doomscroll. You check one thing. Forty minutes later you’re angry at a city councilman in a state you’ve never visited.
Bloomscrolling: the nice cousin.
Bloomscrolling is doing something about it. You unfollow the accounts that spike your pulse and fill the feed with things that don’t. Flowers opening. Soldiers surprising their dogs. A man restoring a rusty vise for forty minutes without saying a word. Newport Healthcare has a good plain explanation if you want the wellbeing side from people qualified to give it.
It’s a good idea. I do it. It is still, at the end, watching.
Boomscrolling: the one where you say something.
People have used “boomscrolling” for a few things over the years, and I’ve collected them in what is boomscrolling? Ours is specific. You read a real post. You get a suggested response. You change it until you’d put your name on it, or you throw it out. Then you choose whether to share it.
That’s also what BoomScrolling, the app, does. Try the free preview. The $19/month plan adds a private feed and access for your own supported AI agent; model access is separate. It doesn’t post for you. You review and send in X yourself.
I’m not claiming it makes you scroll less or feel better. We haven’t shown either. The claim is smaller: you leave with one thing you actually wanted to say. That’s a different result from a better mood, and a very different result from dread.
Why people mix them up.
They rhyme. That’s most of it.
The rest is that the internet hasn’t decided. A Republic World article about bloomscrolling spells it “BoomScrolling” partway through. Google corrects “boomscrolling” to “doomscrolling” and then tells you it’s often spelled “bloomscrolling.” I wrote about that separately, because I did not mean doomscrolling.
If you came here for tips on a happier feed, you want bloomscrolling. No hard feelings. The capybara is that way.
Which one are you doing right now?
- You feel worse and you’re still going. Doomscrolling.
- You feel better and you haven’t said a word. Bloomscrolling.
- You typed something and you’re deciding whether to send it. Boomscrolling.
- You’re reading a comparison article about scrolling. That’s a fourth thing. We don’t have a name for it yet.
You can do all three before lunch. Only one leaves evidence.
Quick answers.
What is the difference between doomscrolling and bloomscrolling?
Doomscrolling is getting pulled through negative content you didn’t choose. Bloomscrolling is deliberately filling your feed with content that lifts your mood. Same scrolling, opposite diet.
Is boomscrolling the same as bloomscrolling?
No. Bloomscrolling changes what you read. Boomscrolling adds a step after reading: you write a response and decide whether to post it. You can bloomscroll all day without typing anything.
Is boomscrolling the opposite of doomscrolling?
Not exactly. The opposite of doomscrolling is probably putting the phone in a drawer. Boomscrolling is for the scrolling you were going to do anyway. It gives that time something to produce.
What about boonscrolling?
Urban Dictionary has an entry for boonscrolling that means roughly what bloomscrolling means: looking for the positive, relatable stuff. At this rate every consonant gets a turn.
Is “doomscroll” slang?
It started that way. It now has a Merriam-Webster entry, so it’s graduated.
How do I try boomscrolling?
Open the free preview, read one post and fix one suggested reply. The simple guide walks through it with screenshots.