The Unintended Consequences of Growing Up Online

At the time we published this, Eve Peyser had more than 81,000 followers on Twitter—a number that has continued to grow since she posted her first viral tweet in 2015. At times, being on Twitter made her feel funny, relevant, and powerful—she fed off the energy from the reactions to her particular brand of comedy and assertive political tweets. And her popularity helped her land her current job here at VICE.

But on the other side of her public persona there was a whole different story. Peyser would feel lonely and empty. She felt panicked about her need to feed the Twitter machine, and hyperaware of who she needed to be to produce that volume of content. As she writes in the Power and Privilege issue of VICE Magazine, It took a toll on her, but she wasn't sure how to escape.

These days, Peyser has started to find some balance. She publishes a fraction of the tweets she used to just a year ago, and finds support and validation in her personal life instead of her public one. And while she isn't quite immune to the ups and downs of it (no one really is), she talked to us about turning over a new leaf.

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