Relatable! Scientists Say You Likely Enter a "Dissociative State" While Scrolling Social Media

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Have you ever looked up from scrolling on your phone and realized that hours have slipped by unnoticed? If so, you’re far from alone.

Tracking Everyday Dissociation on Social Media

A study from the University of Washington explores how researchers measured “everyday dissociation”—the non-traumatic mental drifting we experience during routine activities like commuting or scrolling through feeds. The work highlights just how common this state becomes while using social media.

How the Chirp App Worked

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when doomscrolling reached new heights, UW computer science doctoral candidate Amanda Baughan developed an app that connects to users’ Twitter accounts. Called Chirp, it periodically checks whether people remember what they just read—first after three minutes, then every 15 minutes thereafter.

The team recruited Twitter users to try the app for a month as a way to quantify dissociation. Participants rated their agreement with the statement: “I am currently using Chirp without really paying attention to what I am doing.”

Key Findings from the 2026 Study

Presented at the 2026 CHI conference, the month-long study found that 42 percent of participants said at least once that they “strongly agreed” with the statement. In follow-up interviews, roughly 16 percent reported experiencing dissociation while using the app.

Alongside attention checks, researchers tested several interventions: notifying users they were “all caught up,” letting them organize followed accounts into lists, showing daily usage statistics, or displaying a popup with session length and an option to stop. Participants generally appreciated these tools and reported they helped restore focus.

Why Design Matters

While features like Netflix’s “Are you still watching?” prompts or iPhone usage reports already exist, data from studies like this help researchers better understand our relationship with social platforms.

“Social media platforms are designed to keep people scrolling,” Baughan noted. “When we enter a dissociative state, our sense of agency diminishes, making us more susceptible to these designs and causing us to lose track of time.”

She added that platforms should create clear “end-of-use” experiences so users can align their time online with personal goals.

Cheers to that!

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