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Skibidi Sigma Insanity

Updated: Oct 2

By Teresa Sun Sept. 24, 2025


Another innocent teenager curls into bed after a long day of school, crawling under the covers and ready to unwind with a quick scroll. Yet, the initial peek at funny cat videos and trendy dances evolves into a trip down a chaotic digital rabbit hole: Nyan Cat races across rainbow streaked skies, Skibidi Toilet yells and hops to a chaotic rhythm and Tralallero Trallala stomps across the screen in its sneakers. Known as brain rot, these low quality but addictive memes have taken the internet by storm, trapping teens in endless cycles of dopamine-driven doom scrolling. 


Brainrot is a colloquial term used to describe the act of over-consuming mindless or overstimulating content on short form media platforms like TikTok, Youtube Shorts or Instagram Reels. The word’s first recorded use dates back to 1854, when it appeared in a medical context describing a literal brain disease. However, like many other old words, such as ratio, cancel and troll, the internet has redefined the term as a cultural slang. In fact, in 2024, Oxford University Press named it their Word of the Year after a vote of nearly 37,000 participants.  


“I find it amusing how quickly the internet can turn normal words into jokes. I do refer to brainrot memes every now and then, but it is usually to be ironic and not funny, as brainrot grows old and overused fast,” Senior Remy Stewart said. 

One of the earliest examples of brainrot is Nyan Cat, the endlessly looping rainbow Pop-Tart cat that first originated during Christopher Torres’ charity livestream in April 2011. In a 2021 Forbes interview, Torres stated that the meme became so successful that he quit his job as an insurance adjuster to focus on animation. More recently, “Skibidi Toilet”—a dystopian, 3D animated series in which singing heads emerge from toilets—has hooked internet users around the world. Skibidi Toilet’s biggest fans are Gen Alpha, the children born after 2012, who often find appeal in its blend of potty humor and absurdity. Additionally, a surge of “Italian Brainrot” has taken over the internet; these images are given Italianized names and are often accompanied by AI-generated nonsensical narration with an Italian accent.  


“The increased use of the internet by younger generations is definitely a leading cause in the abundance of brainrot. My younger brother uses a lot of brainrot, which my dad finds extremely annoying. It is important to find a balance in how much brainrot is used; it can be pretty funny when used correctly,” Freshman Anais Teper said.  

Brainrot demonstrates the evolving ways people interact with digital media, functioning as both entertainment and emotional release. With its humor and absurdity, brainrot provides a way for teens to process the constant noise of modern life. In that sense, brainrot isn’t simply internet overstimulation, but also a mirror of the anxieties, desires, and coping mechanisms of a generation raised online. 



 About the Contributor


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Teresa Sun

Front Page Page Editor 


Teresa Sun is a junior at Leland High School and the Front Page and Lifestyle page editor for the Charger Account. She spends most of her time at the dance studio practicing for competitions or locked in her room playing the violin and doing homework, but can be occasionally spotted hanging out with friends at the mall.

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