Khoobi Gangdev Shah, a freelance editor and content writer, has over 300 tabs open in her browser. She can't remember the last time she felt in control of her digital life.
Khoobi admitted she rarely revisited the content she saved online. But that didn't stop her from saving it anyway. "Instagram is my biggest trap," she said. "I have private lists for music, recipes, travel tips, and fitness routines. My Safari browser has 325 tabs open. Some of them are from years ago. I know most are outdated or useless, but I just can't close them."
She's not alone. Across India, a quiet crisis is unfolding behind the screens of young people like Khoobi – a compulsive, often invisible habit of bookmarking, screenshotting, and "saving for later" that never really arrives.
It's called digital hoarding, and experts now warn it could be shaping not only how we remember things, but how we think, feel, and even make decisions.
What began as a convenience, the ability to digitally store a memory, idea, or aspiration with a single tap, is now emerging as a powerful form of clutter, anxiety, and mental fatigue, especially for Gen Z users growing up with algorithm-driven information overload.
Sagar, a 26-year-old advertising professional in Delhi, described his browser bookmarks as an "endless to-do list I never get to." What he's describing is common and increasingly overwhelming.
"Some of my bookmarks are three years old. I don't even remember what they are anymore. I open them and feel paralysed. There's just too much."
Psychologists say that feeling is more than just digital disorganisation. It's a symptom of emotional and cognitive overload. For younger users, it's showing up in unexpected ways.
Warning From China
In Being Digital (1995), Nicholas Negroponte, computer scientist and founder of the MIT Media Lab, predicted that “whatever can be digital, will be digital.” He argued that information and media, once bound to physical form, would soon transition into digital bits, reshaping how we create, store, and share content.
While his vision has become largely true, our digital worlds have become increasingly overcrowded, packing our devices with unread articles, thousands of screenshots, bookmarks, and ‘saves’ across social media platforms, and multiple unopened tabs.
Two researchers in China recently conducted a study on Chinese college students, and found a significant correlation between digital hoarding and cognitive failures such as forgetfulness, mental fatigue, and impaired focus. Strikingly, it also notes a 21.5% prevalence rate of pathological digital hoarding among younger Chinese individuals, far exceeding the general population’s 3.7-6%.
These findings are particularly alarming because China has one of the highest internet penetration rates—76.6% as of 2024—per Statista, with over a billion internet users.
India's internet penetration stood at 58% in 2024, according to the 'Internet in India Report 2024' by IAMAI and Kantar, with nearly 886 million active internet users. By 2025, this number is expected to shoot up to 900 million. And while there is a lack of research on digital hoarding in the country, anecdotal evidence suggests it may not be that different from China.
FOMO Culture, By Design
The ‘Internet in India 2024’ report highlights how deeply digital habits are ingrained in daily life. Indians now spend an average of 91 minutes daily on their smartphones, with 94 minutes in urban areas and 89 minutes in rural regions. The top online activities include streaming videos and music by 83% of these users, messaging and calls (75%), and social media (74%). Even newer habits like using voice commands (15%) and browsing news (66%) are gaining traction.
"We live in a culture that celebrates being busy," explained Dr Era Dutta, consultant psychiatrist and founder of Mind Wellness. This cultural backdrop makes digital hoarding particularly insidious. "People save tasks, videos, or links intending to get to them later but never do, leading to feelings of guilt and unfulfilled intentions."
The behaviour stems from what Dr Dutta identifies as a fundamental fear: "There's a deep-seated fear that if I don't save this now, I'll never find it again." The act of saving provides a brief dopamine boost, reinforcing the hoarding cycle, but the long-term consequences are profound.
While digital hoarding might feel like a personal failing, the behaviour is actively encouraged by platform design. Rijul Arora, a digital wellness expert, points to tech companies' deliberate use of habit-forming frameworks that promote digital accumulation.
Instagram's "Save" button, introduced in December 2016, exemplified this shift. What began as a simple bookmarking feature evolved into something more psychologically complex. "The trigger to hoard is instilled when creators across social media platforms prompt us with a 'Save this for later!' call-to-action," Arora explained. "Not necessarily because they think you will revisit it, but because it apparently boosts their reach and tricks you into an unnecessary FOMO-driven hoarding spree."
Yet this widespread creator behaviour rests on a fundamental misunderstanding, according to Aryan Anurag, co-founder of BingeLabs, a social media growth company. His team, which produces nearly 10,000 videos annually, has consistently analysed engagement metrics. "Saves don't even make it to the top three in terms of correlations with reach," he stated.
"Sharing causes an immediate network effect. Likes and comments have visible ripple effects. But saving is a private action. It doesn't prompt any wider visibility, and the correlation with reach is extremely weak." The persistent "save this post" prompts, Anurag suggested, stem from "herd mentality" rather than data-driven strategy.
The security implications are equally concerning. Anurag explained that saved content on platforms like Instagram and Facebook allows companies to build detailed user profiles. "When you save content, the platform infers your professional and personal inclinations, which you may not necessarily want to be public."
This aligns with a 2016 ProPublica investigation revealing Facebook maintains over 52,000 unique attributes to label users, creating detailed profiles that enable hyper-targeted advertising but also pose significant privacy risks in case of data breaches.
The Hidden Mental Health Toll
The mental health implications extend far beyond productivity concerns. US-based psychologist Tanya Vasunia describes how digital hoarding often lurks beneath broader anxiety and procrastination issues in therapy sessions.
She recalls treating a new mother overwhelmed by saved parenting content. "She had been saving numerous videos filled with parenting tips and advice, thinking she might need them later. But she never actually went back to look at them, and that started contributing to her sense of inadequacy."
The client felt compelled to use the content to improve her parenting but lacked the mental bandwidth to process it. "She felt overwhelmed by all of it, and it led to a lot of mom guilt – because here was all this advice she thought she needed, but she wasn't doing anything with it." The contradictory nature of much saved content compounded the problem, leaving the mother "frozen, unsure of what was right for her or her child."
For teenagers, the stakes can be even higher. Cyber psychologist Nirali Bhatia, founder of CyberBAAP, observes concerning patterns among young users. "These save buttons or bookmarking or 'create your own collection' – these are all very psychologically engineered tools to create a sense of ownership in this whole big world of digital content."
The tragic case of 14-year-old Molly Russell in the UK illustrates the extreme consequences. Before her suicide, Molly had interacted with over 16,300 posts on Instagram – including 5,000 saves – with 2,100 directly related to depression, self-harm, or suicide. The algorithmic prompts she received on Pinterest, including "10 depression pins you might like," highlight how saving behaviours can create dangerous feedback loops.
Beyond mental health, digital hoarding carries hidden environmental and security costs. According to research cited by Arora, storing just 1GB of data in the cloud generates 40kg of CO₂ emissions annually in US data centres. "Global data storage now generates more carbon emissions than the entire airline industry," he noted.
Despite the challenges, experts offered hope through practical interventions. Arora emphasises awareness as the crucial first step: "If you don't measure it, you don't treasure it." He recommended shifting from a hoarder to a minimalist mindset, focusing on intentionality over accumulation.
Practical strategies include regular digital decluttering sessions – setting aside time monthly to "unfollow 10 accounts or delete 100 files" from one platform at a time. Technology tools like OneTab for browser management and Pocket for content organisation can help, alongside email filters and notification management.
Dr Dutta suggested applying Marie Kondo's principle to digital spaces: "If an item has not been used in the last six months, delete it." The key is evaluating intentions before saving: "Why did I save this? Is this adding value or stress?"
For parents and educators, Bhatia recommended the "three-question rule" before saving content: Is this truly useful or joyful? Will I need it in a specific timeframe? Can I easily find it again if I delete it now?
However, not everyone views digital accumulation negatively. Bharati Manchanda, founder of Embellished Truth, has developed an organised approach to digital content. "For me, saved content is like a digital mood board – whether it's a colour I like, a styling detail, or a place I want to visit; all of this is there as a starting point if I need it."
Her success lies in systematic organisation – categorising images into albums and collections that make retrieval practical rather than overwhelming.
Yet for most users, the challenge remains overwhelming. Marketing coordinator Chris compared his excessive browser tabs to physical hoarding. "It's brochures and programmes from events and magazines I pick up to read and then don't instantly throw away. There's nostalgia at play, too."
As India's digital ecosystem continues expanding, with data consumption per smartphone user expected to more than double from 29GB to 68GB monthly by 2029, the digital hoarding crisis seems likely to intensify without intervention.
The solution, experts agreed, lies not in abandoning digital tools but in approaching them with greater intentionality. As Arora suggested: "Instead of endlessly scrolling, consider creating. A producer mindset not only reduces digital clutter but also adds value."