Move over doomscrolling — everyone is hopescrolling after the blue wave

The midterm elections have left millions of Democrats across the country feeling hopeful for the first time in a long time, resulting in a flurry of internet activity.

Celebratory messages and memes captured the jubilant mood among Democratic voters, resulting in what’s been deemed “hopescrolling.” The trend emerged virtually overnight as Democrats took back the House and the Senate, in direct contrast to doomscrolling, the constant consumption of negative content.

Online users posted videos of newly elected leaders giving speeches overlaid with text reading “hopescrolling,” while others shared the term in blue wording on a simple blue background, signifying the color of the Democratic Party.

Mental health expert Matt Grammer has told The Independent that hopescrolling can be a good way for voters to relieve stress after a political cycle.

“Reading positive posts can be a good way to engage with others and take a mental break from stressful posts. There is nothing bad with appreciating a good post,” said Grammer.

It’s not entirely different from “bloomscrolling,” which puts a positive spin on doomscrolling by encouraging social media users to curate their feeds around uplifting, positive content.

Social media users have felt and shared the impacts of hopescrolling, with one person writing on Instagram, “Hope scrolling. For real tho. I can’t even describe some of the weight I’ve been carrying lifting.”

“What is this feeling!? Could it be…hope?” another commented as someone else said, “Right! What a strange new feeling.”

While it feels good to reshare these positive posts and inspiring speeches of newly elected officials, there can be downsides to relying on the internet for those warm fuzzy feelings.

“Feeling hope is a more complicated human experience. Experiences through the lens of social media tend to be short, but intense,” psychotherapist Dipesh Patel told The Independent.

Grammer warns that hopescrolling can lead to someone being in an echo chamber, where one person’s beliefs are repeatedly reinforced by internal communication.

He said: “Hopescrolling becomes bad when it turns into a way to seek reassurance. One of the most dangerous side effects is that it can make users think that because they see a lot of positive posts, that means that everyone shares that optimism and that all negative consequences of this election will go away.”

Psychotherapist Dr. Aditi Bhalla also warned not to be fooled by the algorithm, which is essentially designed to keep you active on your respective social media apps.

“It’s still a feed designed to keep you scrolling, and that keeps your body in a busy, switched-on state. Part of you keeps chasing the next little reward, and part of you stays on alert, checking that you’re not missing something,” said Bhalla.

Still, Grammer said that hopescrolling “can be a good way to engage with others and take a mental break.”

“I think that hopescrolling will be a short-term feature that people engage with,” he continued. “Hopefully it will create a way for people to share positive thoughts with each other.”