We come to the internet to be entertained. We come to be informed, inspired, or just distracted from whatever is going on in our day-to-day lives. But we don’t always leave our internet browsing sessions feeling entertained, inspired, or informed. Sometimes we leave feeling worse for the wear– more confused, more agitated, more despondent. Was it always this way? 

I remember logging on to my parent’s desktop when I was a kid with the widest eyes in the world ready to play whatever cool math games came my way. I never felt worse after those. I only felt better. Even when I would lose hours watching music videos on YouTube. It only brought me closer to culture and closer to my peers. The average experience of using Twitter is not quite as rosy. Maybe it’s because of the times we live in or maybe we’ve just grown up. But scrolling the Internet can feel like a risky idea.