A study says endless social media scrolling is linked to memory slips: Why everyday plans can go missing

You get up in the morning and pick your phone. The doomscrolling hour then begins. In between, you remember you have certain things to do. You have to prepare breakfast. You go to the kitchen now and think you should order some grocery for breakfast. You pick your phone again, now 2 hours have passed, you are still scrolling and you haven't even order the grocery. You forgot! How? Why?

It happened because as soon as you pick your phone your brain automatically takes you to scrolling, as it someone else is controlling your mind. Here's an explanation on why these things happen:

In one study, problematic social media use among young adults was associated with more self-reported memory slips. It was difficult to recall information from the past or plans for the future.The findings don’t prove social media caused them.



Imagine college student Mellisa looking at her phone to see where to meet. A video catches her attention. Another follows. Soon, she cannot remember why she opened the app.

Later, she forgets a detail from yesterday’s conversation. On her way home, she misses an errand she had promised to finish.

Mellisa is an imagined character. Her day makes the research easier to understand.

What was the finding of the social media and memory study?

Higher problematic social media use was associated with more self-reported everyday memory failures. Conchita Sisí and colleagues surveyed 943 Spanish adults aged 18–35. Their research appeared in Frontiers in Psychiatry in 2026.

Participants answered questionnaires about their social media use and memory difficulties. The findings concerned people’s reports of forgetting, rather than their performance on memory tests.

What counts as problematic social media use?

Problematic use means engagement that is difficult to control and interferes with daily life. Spending a long time online does not automatically establish that pattern.

Imagine Mellisa planning to check one message before starting homework. She repeatedly returns to the feed, even while wanting to stop. The example illustrates difficulty controlling use. It does not diagnose Mellisa or anyone with a similar experience.

Why might someone forget why they opened an app?

Losing track of an immediate goal can be explained by competing demands on attention and working memory. Psychologists Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch developed the influential model of working memory. Working memory is where we hold information temporarily as we use it.

You rely on it when following an instruction. Keeping “check the meeting place” in mind helps you complete the task. Baddeley’s model includes a central executive. It helps control attention and coordinate mental activities.

Mellisa starts with one goal. The video introduces another. The model offers a possible explanation for losing track during competing activities. The new survey did not test that explanation directly.

Can divided attention affect memories of a conversation?

Yes. Experimental research shows that dividing attention while learning can weaken later memory. Psychologists call the initial processing of information encoding.

In four experiments published in 1996, psychologist Fergus Craik and colleagues asked participants to learn spoken words or word pairs. They also performed a visual reaction-time task.

Dividing attention during learning substantially reduced subsequent memory performance. The experiments did not involve social media. They provide evidence about attention and learning.

For Mellisa, listening while checking a feed could mean processing her friend’s words less effectively. She might remember having the conversation without recalling an important detail. Her nodding would not necessarily show how much she absorbed.

What is the difference between prospective and retrospective memory?

Prospective memory concerns future intentions. Retrospective memory concerns past information. Remembering to collect a notebook is prospective memory. Recalling where your friend asked you to meet is retrospective memory.

Psychologists Mark McDaniel and Gilles Einstein’s multiprocess framework explains how future intentions return to mind. Sometimes you deliberately watch for the right moment. Sometimes a relevant cue brings the intention back more automatically.

Spotting the shop might remind Mellisa about her notebook. To be actively seeking it would mean to deliberately monitor it. The framework describes different ways of remembering a plan. It does not establish how social media affected the survey participants.

Does the study prove social media causes memory issues?

Actually no. A snapshot survey cannot establish cause and effect. The researchers could not establish which difficulty came first. Sleep or emotional difficulties were not controlled for. Reporting forgetfulness also does not prove impaired memory.

What practical habits could support attention?

Give important information your attention and use reminders for future tasks. Start with the task at hand. Mellisa could put her phone aside while her friend explains the meeting. She could write down the address before reopening the feed.

A reminder about the notebook could provide a cue when she needs to act. Such suggestions follow from the psychology discussed here. The survey did not test them as treatments.

FAQs

Were children included in the study?

No. Participants were adults aged 18–35. The findings cannot automatically be applied to school children.

Does every forgotten errand mean a memory failure?

No. Someone may remember an errand but lack the time to complete it. The outcome alone does not explain what happened.