Gen Z: Lazy. Idle. Unemployed. Vigorous. These common descriptions of our generation are often tied to modern technologies, most notable amongst them including AI. Many of these words are rooted in the idea that Gen Z is too reliant on their smartphones in their daily lives, such as using ChatGPT for practical tasks, doomscrolling in substitute for “winding down”, and having lifestyles that revolve around social media trends. But one of the greatest advancements that has really propelled smartphone usage is monetization through social media. 
From apps like Substack that allow you to write when you reach a certain subscriber amount, to Tiktok which pays out for the production of content, the opportunities to make money are endless. With Gen Z’s doomscrolling habit, if monetization continues to broaden, then most people could be well above the poverty line. Multiple studies have demonstrated that huge chunks of the population routinely engage in doomscrolling, which has been proven to be a very detrimental activity. Over the years, we’ve seen an increase in technological dependency, and things only seem to be getting more digital.
With almost everyone scrolling, the idea of turning doomscrolling into cash has become a new reality. Specifically, an organization called Verb.AI has contributed to the spread of monetization in social media. This youth polling company allows people to earn money tracking their digital moves across apps like Instagram and Tiktok. These findings help contribute to market research and the money earned from such activities can range from $50-100, as reported in an article from the New York Post.
It seems that doomscrolling itself does not directly generate income but it can contribute to it. Verb.AI operates on a system that requires users to download a variety of apps to receive money. By downloading the required apps a user is motivated to spend more time on their phone, thus, increasing digital consumption and the possibility of “doomscrolling.” Apart from Verb.AI, which uses this habit to leverage research, other advancements are more indirect, requiring users to view certain advertisements to earn pay. All in all, the habit of doomscrolling weighs far more negatively than enabling a polling company to generate some extra easy revenue. Employers potentially lose $5,600 during the workweek with 3.5 hours spent on doomscrolling, a statistic reported by Payless Power. And in addition, the very action of doomscrolling can be very time-consuming—1 hour a day of endless scrolling is equivalent to 2 weeks a year.
To say that monetization has gone too far is an overstatement but as users we should be cautious of these advancements. Profiting off laziness is only a downfall for society and to prevent this, we must take the first step, which is disconnecting from our phones, and loosening the reliability we have on technology.