I have a confession to make. This isn’t easy for me to say, but I am putting this out there in hopes that my story will inspire others to seek help and get clean.

I suppose we should begin at the beginning—my addiction to lying on the internet all started back in 2016, when me and my friends would reply to celebrities’ tweets claiming they were part of the Illuminati. This may seem crazy to you now, but it was all the rage back in the day. Youtube channels like Top Ten and WatchMojo would glamorize lying on the internet, pretending it was the chic-er, safer alternative to lying in person. See, outside of the internet I’m as truthful as they come: if a pair of jeans make your behind look flat or your baby is ugly, trust, I’ll let you know. I guess I just viewed this as an outlet for all of my repressed deception. 

At one particular low, I edited the Wikipedia page of every single species of spider to say that the average American swallows 8-10 of them in their sleep. And people believed it! There was even a time that I messaged old people on facebook telling them I was Queen Elizabeth and demanding their credit card information. The craziest thing is, I didn’t even want their money—it was the thrill I was after. 

I’m thankful to say that I’m recovering, though I know now is a hard time for many addicts. With the new Twitter updates making it so easy to impersonate people, I see so many stumbling. And I understand—sometimes my fingers just itch to pay Elon Musk $8 and tell people Michael Jackson’s still alive, and that he’s responsible for vaccines and January 6th. But now I’m able to take a deep breath and step away from the computer. And that’s progress.