Do you have ‘brain rot’ from endless social media? Try our quiz

Endlessly scrolling social media? Maybe you too have ‘brain rot’. Photograph: OcusFocus/Getty Images/iStockphoto

“Brain rot” has been announced as the Oxford word of the year for 2024, defined as the deterioration of your mental capacity owing to “overconsumption of material considered to be trivial or unchallenging” especially through endless scrolling online. Why not stick on your phone for an extra few moments, and endlessly scroll through our quiz to see whether you too have brain rot from social media …

1. What is 'rizz' shorthand for?

   1. Risqué

   2. Charisma

   3. Rizla cigarette papers

2. You might use the hashtag #furrypotato if you are going to post a video clip of what?

   1. Cute animals

   2. Bad takeaway food

   3. Kiwi-eating challenge

3. Which of these is the 12-year-old American youth football player and social media personality whose dad just happens to be a digital media marketing manager?

   1. Dribby Betz

   2. Boosie Dunne

   3. Baby Gronk

4. Which of these stars has the biggest following on TikTok?

   1. Charli XCX

   2. Dua Lipa

   3. Chappell Roan

5. If you are over a certain age, all celebrity news famously reads "Curtains for Zoosha? K-smog and Batboy caught flipping a grunt", but which of these is a real headline on Buzzfeed today?

   1. "Chicken Shop Date" creator Amelia Dimoldenberg gave us a lesson on what it's really like to run your own YouTube business

   2. "Smosh TV" creator Grian Xelqua gave us a lesson on what it's really like to run your own Twitch business

   3. "Hot Ones" creator Jimmy Donaldson gave us a lesson on what it's really like to run your own TikTok business

6. Which of these has been a viral YouTube sensation?

   1. Zebedee Bangwall

   2. Skibidi Toilet

   3. Tallahassee Pooper

7. Who is generally considered to be the highest-paid "influencer" on Instagram?

   1. Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo

   2. Singer and actor Ariana Grande

   3. Reality TV star Kylie Jenner

8. What is TikTok called in China?

   1. TikTok

   2. Douyin

   3. Lachang quan

9. Which of these YouTube horror series does LaurenZside habitually make reaction videos of?

   1. Shrouded Hand

   2. Four Nights At Franco's

   3. Life of Luxury

10. Can you spot the name of a real TikTok influencer from the Philippines

    1. Bella Stoop

    2. Bella Foyeur

    3. Bella Poarch

11. Jiff Pom's Instagram account has over 9m followers. What is he?

    1. A dog

    2. A cat

    3. A hamster

12. What is a wasteman?

    1. Someone who has done nothing with their life

    2. Someone who has recently lost a lot of weight

    3. The person who comes to pick up your recycling bin every other Thursday

Solutions

1:B - You've either got the rizz or you haven't, 2:A - They are just little furry potatoes, right?, 3:C - It seems likely he will end up more famous for his dad's ambitions than his actual achievements, poor lad, 4:B - It may have been a brat summer, and Chappell Roan might be the zeitgeist of the moment, but Dua Lipa has the most with 10.6m followers. Chappell Roan has 4m and Charli XCX has 3.5m, 5:A - No, us neither, 6:B - Don't Google it if you don't want the earworm, 7:A - He has 632m followers and you can reportedly get him to endorse your product for a mere $3.23m when he isn't busy playing for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr , 8:B - Both platforms are owned by ByteDance, 9:C - The reaction videos mostly hilariously consist of her going "Oh God, don't go in there" and then they inevitably go in there, 10:C - She has nearly 100m followers on the platform and also appears to have pets called Peepee, Doodoo and Poopoo, 11:A - At one point Jiff Pom had more social media followers than any other animal, but he hasn't posted for a long time, leading some fans to fear the worst, 12:A - Possibly the kind of person who ends up writing quizzes like this, who can say?

Scores

1. 3 and above.

   Your social media usage is probably at an acceptable level

2. 7 and above.

   You might be endlessly scrolling a little too much

3. 0 and above.

   Have you even heard of the internet?

4. 11 and above.

   You've got brain rot