By: Hanadi Alnawab & Steven Lorini
We’re very proud to celebrate Igor and Vitor, third-year students in Humber’s Digital Business Management BComm program, for earning third place in the 6th Annual Map the System competition at Humber Polytechnic! The event was held on Thursday, May 1, 2025 at Humber’s Downtown Campus, featuring presentations from the top six teams and awards recognizing the winning students and teams.
Igor and Vitor explored the timely and complex issue of digital addiction through a systems-thinking lens. Inspired by Oxford’s 2024 Word of the Year – brain rot – defined as “… the deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially due to overconsumption of trivial content”.
Brain Rot: In the the Attention Economy
“Our project explores how the design of digital platforms – particularly social media -prioritizes engagement over well-being. This has led to growing concerns around cognitive decline, shortened attention spans, and mental health issues, especially among youth. Using a systems-thinking approach, we proposed a range of solutions rooted in education, ethical design, and digital literacy. We believe raising awareness is the first step toward creating a healthier and more sustainable digital future.”
Igor & Vitor,
Digital Business Management BComm Students
Brainrot examines the economic structure behind the system where personal data is collected through social media platforms, analyzed, and sold to predict and influence compulsive scrolling, at the cost of mental well-being through:
- Slot machine design
- Infinite scroll
- Digital rewards (likes, shares)
- AI-driven personalization to feed an endless loop of tailored content
The team was supported by dedicated faculty coaches from both the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Longo Faculty of Business throughout the Winter semester.
“Approaching the topic through a systems thinking framework, Igor & Vitor explored the strategic business mechanics behind capturing and retaining user attention. Their analysis covered the monetization of time-on-platform, the intentional design of infinite scroll, gamification, and dopamine-driven interface tactics — all components of a broader economic model that powers the modern attention economy. At its core, the project revealed how users themselves become the product, transformed into transactions within a highly engineered digital marketplace.”
Steven Lorini,
MTS Coach & Program Coordinator of the Business Management Diploma
Congratulations to Igor and Vitor on your thoughtful and deeply relevant work. We look forward to having you continue this meaningful work throughout your future courses in the Digital Business Management BComm program.
Looking forward to Map The Systems 2026!
Hanadi Alnawab 