I Came, I Saw, I Scrolled

I heard the following a few years back (probably when we were sitting at home waiting for the world to “open up” again): “Sitting is the new smoking.”

I’m guessing you heard that as well; likely from a source that will, in a moment, become the topic of this piece.

With that in mind, and after some recent observation of human behavior (including my own), I’d posit that “scrolling” (the act of “thumbing” through one’s device for minutes or sometimes hours at a time) might be just as profound as the “sitting/smoking” comparison.

As I thought about scrolling (my own and that which I’ve observed in pretty much all day, every day and everywhere I go), I came up with the following. It’s not really verse, and it’s also not prose. It’s just a stream of “something” that went from my head to the page. Does it make sense? I think so. (You may think it’s crap, and that’s fair.)

Is it original? While I can’t believe I’m the only one who has gone down this path, I haven’t read or heard it positioned in this way.  

Note: The “I” in this story is not yours truly per se; it’s humanity, or at least, a good portion of it. With apologies to the luddites and those simply disciplined enough not to fall into the traps of technology and society.

*****

I sit and I scroll. Sometimes, I walk while I scroll. (It seems healthier.)

Other times, as I’m walking and scrolling, I stop, right in the middle of the sidewalk or aisle or corridor, and I continue to scroll. (This often does not sit well with others around, who may also be walking and scrolling.)

I scroll at home, at work, at the store, in the car, at the doctor’s office, in class, in meetings, in bed, at the kitchen table, at parties, while waiting in line, and while out to eat (with other people who, by the way, are likely scrolling just like me as we await our entrees).

I scroll on the couch, on the front porch, on the back patio, and in the upstairs bathroom.

I scroll when I’m happy, and I scroll when I’m sad. I also scroll when I’m neither of those things. And sometimes, that scrolling makes me happy … or sad. (I hate when it makes me sad, and that causes me to continue scrolling until I find some happy things, like dog videos or people doing stupid things.)

I scroll at the gym, on the bus, and as soon as the plane touches down and we can take our phones off “Airplane Mode.”

I scroll when I’m walking the dog, feeding the cat, and watching TV.

In fact, I’m scrolling, like, all the time … but you are too, right?

But just why am I scrolling? You know, I don’t I ask myself that question often enough.

Because in this day and age (that’s a phrase that reveals my age), It’s like asking why I’m breathing, or eating, or sleeping (something which I don’t do as well since I ramped up my scrolling years ago).

But back to breathing. It’s necessary for survival, and it’s something (luckily) most of us don’t have to think about. But what role does scrolling (or “mousing” if you’re an old-school computer user) play in our lives? I might argue it’s almost as constant and automatic as breathing.

But it’s not … at least it shouldn’t be (in my opinion). But as I studied the “Is” mentioned above as they scrolled and breathed simultaneously and automatically in so many daily situations,

I’m wondering if the “new smoking” is “scrolling.”

In other words, what are we doing to our health when we constantly put our heads in, and our thumbs on, our devices … to check the news (real or fake) … to see what our friends (or maybe our enemies) are doing … to get answers (maybe correct, possibly false), to reach out to others (maybe for a good reason, maybe for none at all) … to respond (to everyone and everything from people, to bots, to exhausting group chats and text threads, often just to be heard or counted)?

It’s kind of like breathing, isn’t it? It’s happening all the time, sometimes without us even trying. Feels like that to me anyway. And often, we’re not even worried about the quality of the “air” (content) we’re “breathing” (scrolling through).

What does that tell you? (It’s rhetorical, and frankly, none of my business. But go ahead and answer it in your head.)

I went through this exercise as a self-check, not as a judgment of others. And the awareness I gained was the following: "David, put down your device, and breathe … really breathe.”

I make no bones about my anxiety. I have it, I live with it, and I do my best to manage it. I won’t get into details, but most days, it’s at a level where it doesn’t affect my energy, my work, or my momentum.

One of the things I will share is that exercise (for me) helps a ton, as does breathing; deep full breathing. It calms me, and it makes me slow down and reset.

When I reflexively begin to scroll, I find it has the equal and opposite effect. And that’s what made me wonder what it’s doing to me … is it taking a tiny bit of me away, like every cigarette my dad smoked all those years?

I don’t know, but I don’t want to find out. So, as I re-read this piece, I’m going substitute the word “breathe” for “scroll” because it will help me realize just how prevalent and powerful our devices have become, AND it will help me realize just how important and how powerful it is to stop and breathe good, deep breaths.

Who knows? Maybe scrolling is the new sitting, which as we all know, is the new smoking (at least, according to that research we’ve all heard or read by now, many of us while scrolling).

Public Service Announcement to myself: more breathing, less scrolling.

© 2026 David R. Haznaw