I was scrolling through my YouTube app as I normally did before sleep and stopped.

There it was again.

Shaded in an unnerving discolored green was the figure, terrifying in nature, intentionally designed to scare.

I closed the app immediately. This didn't mean resignation but rather just the time out. In the end, I always

came crawling back to my phone no matter what I saw. But that live stream was the bane of my online existence.

My parents used to tell me I spent too much time on the internet, a common thing for parents

to say.

To them, the hours spent was concerning, but compared to anyone else in my generation with

a computer and phone, it's seen as relatively normal. I mean, if spending several hours a day online is seen as an addiction, then most of the world would be diagnosed with that.

My personal vices were Reddit and YouTube. I'd subscribe to way too many channels and

Sub-Edits and scrolling through them daily would be an endless void of new

content to consume. After I'd rinse through Reddit and caught up on the many Sub-Edits I personally enjoyed,

I'd touch over to YouTube for hours of fresh content.

By the time I was finished there,

Reddit was already brimming with new things to explore.

And that doesn't even account for new Sub-Edits that were constantly recommended or new

YouTube channels that I was discovering on a near daily basis.

My days became bloated with a consumption of pure online dopamine.

However, in my repetitive grind of flicking my thumb up and up, looking something new to binge. That damn live stream would inevitably

pop up and sour my mood. When I wasn't on my phone, I'd be in my room, chilling on my PC, playing whatever game I felt

like in that moment.

The occasional tapping on my door, followed by voices, reminding me to eat or drink or bathe. An annoying pull back to reality, but a necessity

...