He once was a YouTube sensation, and now he’s social media royalty. The twelve-year-old Justin Bieber that dominated YouTube a few years ago has remained the king of all things on the Internet. Whether you love him or hate him, you know that if you have a social media account, you can’t avoid him.

I succumbed to the pressure of getting a Twitter this year because Mr. Barr required it of newspaper students. I immediately followed my best friend who is a Justin Bieber fanatic.

Every tweet of hers was relating to Bieber.  I stupidly decided to follow Bieber, just to see what the big deal was about.

When he hashtagged “noon” 20 times in 20 different tweets, I’d had enough and decided to unfollow him.

I learned that I could never avoid everything Bieber-related. People who hate Bieber would tweet about him and in some strange way those tweets would reach me. Beliebers would tweet and retweet and pretty soon I’d be reading 10 tweets in a row about Bieber.

I decided not to go on Twitter for a few days, but word of mouth is inescapable. The recent Justin Bieber tour was all anyone, fanatics or not, could talk about.

The way most Beliebers stalk Justin Bieber is the same way I feel that Bieber is stalking me. I can’t escape him, not matter how hard I try.

His songs “Boyfriend” and “As Long as You Love Me” are endlessly being played on the radio, a staple I refuse to give up in my life, and many boys have gotten haircuts to resemble Bieber, intentionally or not.

My own brain gravitates toward Bieber related jokes if I happen to see anyone in a purple sweatshirt. Bieber’s publicists must be geniuses because everything Bieber wears, eats, does, or sings is ingrained in nearly everyone’s brains.

Bieber is no longer a teen sensation with an ex-Disney Channel girlfriend and a pouty mouth. He’s a factory, an enterprise, something to make money off of, and I am constantly surrounded by thousands of Bieber products whenever I go to the mall.

I cannot escape Bieber, making me feel creeped out and at the same time rather flattered that he cares enough to keep the entire world, fans or not, up to date on every aspect of his life.

Perhaps my situation is unique. A completely obsessed best friend and a Twitter account doesn’t necessarily allow me to protect myself from a full on Bieber attack every day of my life.

But I challenge you to try cutting yourself off from Bieber and see how easy it is to escape.