
How infinite scrolling damages our brains - The Saturday Story
From The Story by The Times
June 6, 2026 · 14 min
About this episode
This episode explores the impact of infinite scrolling on our brains and attention spans.
What starts as a quick check of social media can quickly turn into an hour lost to scrolling. The culprit is infinite scroll , a feature once built for convenience that has become one of the most powerful tools ever created for holding our attention. In fact, it's now thought the average Brit will spend five years of their waking lives doomscrolling. So how did infinite scroll come to dominate our online lives and what is it doing to our brains? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory Read by: Fleur Britten, contributor, The Times. Producer: Dave Creasey. Further reading: I created infinite scroll. Now I regret how it damages our brains We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com Photo: Ilustration by Jasmine lee This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Host: Fleur Britten
Topics covered
- infinite scrolling
- social media
- mental health
- attention economy
- technology impact
Keywords
- infinite scroll
- doomscrolling
- social media addiction
- mental health
- attention span
Sponsors
The Times
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Times, The Sunday Times, Acast
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