In a span of 30 seconds, I scrolled past a thirst trap, a video of someone being shot in broad daylight, a celebrity's messy break-up story, a 'sprinkle sprinkle' post, and a “get ready with me” tutorial. This isn't fiction; it's a sneak peek of my Saturday afternoon scroll. My thumb kept moving, but my brain couldn’t keep up. One moment, I was stunned. Next, I was watching a lipstick and lip gloss recommendation. It's disturbing how normal this has become.
We’ve gotten used to the emotional whiplash of scroll culture, a digital buffet of tragedy, joy, vanity, heartbreak, and violence, all stacked into one endless feed. There's no time to feel one thing before we’re hit with the next. The lines between reality and performance are blurry. Between what we choose to see and what the algorithm feeds us? Even blurrier.
And somehow, we still call it “content.”
We meme our burnout. We joke about doomscrolling and content fatigue. But underneath that humor is something much darker: a collective desensitization. We are overstimulated and underprocessed, consuming so much and processing so little, then wondering why we can’t sleep, focus, or feel grounded. This is digital overload at its most dangerous, and it’s affecting our mental health in real time.
As creators, marketers, and digital storytellers, we need to take a hard look in the mirror. What are we adding to this feed? Are we making it heavier, louder, and more chaotic? Or are we creating moments of clarity in a world that desperately needs them?
Empathetic storytelling has never been more urgent. Not the fluffy kind but the grounded kind. The kind that understands people aren’t just “audiences” or “users.” They are human beings trying to make sense of the world while carrying their own grief, stress, and digital distractions.
Before you hit “publish,” ask:
- Will this add to someone’s anxiety or ease it?
- Am I sharing something meaningful or just feeding the machine?
- Could this be the reason someone takes a breath… or holds one?
In a culture drowning in social media trauma and constant notifications, your care and clarity are not soft skills, they’re your edge. This is what ethical digital marketing should look like.
The scroll won’t stop. But we can pause. We can be more intentional. We can create work that doesn’t just perform it connects. And in doing so, maybe we reclaim a bit of what the internet was meant to be: a place to feel a little less alone.
