The Click of A Button

The sun shines sharply through the windowpanes as another day dawns open in Phoenix, Arizona. The cars passed by, and kids climbed onto the school buses. A light breeze flutters through the air, and then the weather is all hot and sunny once again. This eight a.m. is just like any other Phoenix morning.

Joshua Johnson’s iPhone, with its shattered screen reflecting the sharp sunlight, buzzes before heading to an unpleasant beep. His hands search through the screen before hitting “snooze”. His eyes are droopy, his hair an entangled mess. Stomping and huffing, he steps ahead in the direction of the bathroom.

He picks up the toothbrush, almost involuntarily, and exerts a great amount of force on the toothpaste tube, and it squirts out on the toothbrush. He rubs the toothbrush in uneven motions across his teeth for a while before barging into the shower. He turns on the cold water, which drizzles down over his body. He comes out of the shower, unamused, and rushes across to his bedroom to pick his outfit for his day.

Of course, he won’t actually pick his outfit, it will just be another shuffle through the wardrobe, and the lucky shirt gets put on. Today, that’s a red flannel. He grabs a pair of pants, gets dressed, and picks his iPhone up, so he can call his friend, Leo, and carpool (and maybe grab an iced latte at the Starbucks on his way to work.) However, the Twitter and Instagram icons grab his attention.

’There’s no escape. I’ll just check out what’s happening for a second,” he thinks.

He opens Instagram. Derek is vacationing in the Bahamas with his wife and kids. He posts a photo with the dolphins. Michael is out there living the hustle, posting a photo posing with his new, shiny $10,000 setup, with the caption ‘GRIND’ with a bicep emoji. And the second he’d decided to spend on Instagram had devolved into twenty minutes.

’I should head to work now. I’ll just call up Leo, and get moving..”

He closes Instagram, but then, Twitter stands out to him. He taps on the blue bird,

He sees the first tweet appear.

“KYLIAN RODRIGUES SHOULD HAVE NOT WON THE TIMS!!”

He swipes open the tweet, revealing 205 likes and 36 retweets. He grows frustrated at these strangers talking about this actor living in a mansion in Beverly Hills totally oblivious to whatever he believes as he reads the comments.

‘He should be burnt at stake,’ one angry commenter, JamesXD19 says.

‘Catch this ratio,’ another commenter, with the profile picture of Kylian Rodrigues receiving a Tim award says.

This dogfight slowly but surely boils Joshua’s blood. He can’t tolerate this “slander” of his idol. He breaks out on Twitter. And then he sees the absolute peak of them all —

’0 Golden Spheres

0 UKAFTA Awards

0 1 bn film

Rodrigues is not even top 500 actors of the decade in my book,’

‘You are so annoying, I sometimes think you should not exist,’ He typed out.

He was about to click ‘Post’, which would fire out this message to basically the entire world. It was him, just a press of a button away. He chewed on this for a moment. Should he post this?

He decided no, and continued on with his day.

You, as well, should choose the NO over the YES. Cyberbullying is not okay. If you are being cyberbullied, you should stand up for yourself, and seek contact at the following channels:

+1-800-273-8255 (USA)

+44-0800-1111 (UK)

Internet addiction is also a common phenomenon, and it is necessary to avoid it. Take breaks regularly and actively. If you don’t feel like using your phone or the internet, don’t use it for some time. Contact your nearest mental health professional if you or somebody you know is experiencing internet addiction, and is unable to cope with such an addiction.