What is a Scroll Loop?
A Scroll Loop is the moment picking up your phone turns into scrolling you didn't really choose. It happens because the phone and apps are designed to keep you there.
Noticing is a first step.
The term comes from The Attention Experiment, a simple, body-led practice for spending less time lost on your phone. You might have heard it in a school assembly, a parent talk or a workshop. This page explains what a Scroll Loop is, why it happens, and what to do when you notice one.
By Katie Brockhurst, digital wellbeing researcher and speaker
Why Scroll Loops happen
Most apps are built to hold your attention for as long as possible. Feeds refresh, videos play one after another, and there is always one more thing to see. None of that is an accident. It's the design working.
So getting caught in a Scroll Loop isn't a personal failing. It happens to adults and young people alike, including the people who study it.
Willpower alone rarely works, because you're up against a system designed to keep you there. What does work is noticing. Once you can see the loop, you can choose what happens next. That's why, in The Attention Experiment, noticing is the skill.
What made you pick up your phone?
Most Scroll Loops start with a doorway: a feeling or a need that sends your hand to your phone. There's nothing wrong with any of them. Spotting your usual doorways makes the loop much easier to catch.
This is Scroll Loop Bingo. Tap the doorways you recognise.
DopamineLooking for stimulation and a little reward.Every single time I open an app,Christina
I'm asking myself what doorway is this?
ScrollLoopNoticeChoose
Scroll · Loop · Notice · Choose is the four-step sequence at the heart of The Attention Experiment. Each step has a small movement, so your body remembers it even when your mind is on autopilot.
Scroll.
You pick up the phone.
Loop.
The loop takes over. That's the design working.
Notice.
You say it: I'm in a Scroll Loop. That sentence is the skill.
Choose.
You've moved from automatic to aware. Now decide what you'll do to step out of the loop.
Then feet on the floor, a few breaths, and decide what's next. That pause is where your attention comes back to you.
The same pattern shows up with AI. When useful prompting turns into a Prompt Loop and your own thinking starts to disappear, the same four steps help. Explore AI and attention
Scroll Loops for young people and families
Phones are part of how young people connect. Of 13 to 17 year olds who use social media and messaging platforms, 72% say they help them feel closer to friends (Ofcom, 2025). So simply telling them to stop isn't the whole answer.
What helps is a shared language. When a family or a class can say "I'm in a Scroll Loop", it becomes something to notice together rather than something to argue about.
Grown-ups go first. Young people learn more from what we do than from what we tell them, so the most useful thing an adult can do is catch their own Scroll Loops out loud.
Katie runs pupil sessions, parent talks and staff CPD for schools. See sessions for schools
Frequently asked questions
Is a Scroll Loop the same as doomscrolling?
Not quite. Doomscrolling usually means scrolling through bad news. A Scroll Loop can happen with any content: funny, useful, beautiful or dull. It's about the moment scrolling stops being your choice, not what you're looking at.
Is the Scroll Loop bad?
No. A Scroll Loop is what happens when a well-designed app does its job. Getting caught in one isn't a failing, and there's no need for shame. The aim is simply to notice it, so you can decide whether you want to stay.
How do I stop a Scroll Loop?
Start by naming it. Say, out loud or in your head, "I'm in a Scroll Loop." Then put your feet on the floor, take a few breaths, and choose what's next. Sometimes you'll keep scrolling, and that's fine. The difference is that you chose.
Can children and teenagers use Scroll Loop Notice Choose?
Yes. It's short, memorable and body-led, so it works in classrooms and at home. Katie Brockhurst teaches it in school assemblies, pupil sessions and parent talks. It works best when the adults around young people use it too.
Who created the Scroll Loop?
The term Scroll Loop and the Scroll · Loop · Notice · Choose method were created by Katie Brockhurst, digital wellbeing researcher and speaker, as part of The Attention Experiment.