I also engage in this behavior, and in my case, I think escapism is the leading cause.
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I also engage in this behavior, and in my case, I think escapism is the leading cause. We don't want to experience the unpleasant feeling that is currently present. Anything like a sense of inadequateness, embarrassment, or fear. These can be challenging to pinpoint, and I've spent years in therapy trying to analyze mine, and I've seen NLOsmm.com being at the root of it. We engage in any addictive escapist behavior to block out that emotion. While I still struggle with this, I try to notice the impulse before I pick up my phone or any of these other things and sit with it for a while.
I do find myself aimlessly scrolling sometimes and feel like some sites are damaging for my mental health. I find Instagram ok because I only follow accounts that make me happy, have great content or motivate me. I had to come off Facebook a few months ago because I find that when I see a sad story, involving murder/children etc, my brain will think about it for days/weeks on end and just won't shut off. I find Facebook really negative in general, lots of ads, posts I don't want to see, arguments or negative upsetting posts.