Plot Synopsis

Using first-person interviews with the victims, their friends and family, along with reenactments of their experiences, each half-hour episode of THE INTERNET RUINED MY LIFE explores what happens to a person when a single tweet, post, or status update backfires and spirals out of control, revealing how people inadvertently ruined their lives in one key stroke. Knowledgeable experts, including a former NYPD Lieutenant and a criminal justice professor and one of the country's leading advocates for victims of cyberbullying and online crime, offer new insights into these cases as well as information on how to navigate the unregulated world of the internet. The following stories are chronicled: Suey Park (Chicago, IL), who posted #CancelColbert on Twitter in response to a perceived racist joke on THE COLBERT REPORT, leading to death threats and eventually a sniper outside her window threatening to pull the trigger; Leigh Van Bryan (Coventry, UK), who tweeted "Free this week, for a quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?" about his upcoming Los Angeles vacation, leading the Department of Homeland Security to detain and deport him as a suspected terrorist because of a misunderstanding of British slang; Brianna Wu (Boston, MA), who sent a tweet supporting women's rights in the gaming industry and woke up to thousands of gamers calling for her death; celebrated chef Mark (Los Angeles, CA), who defended a fellow chef and Facebook, costing him his career when he retaliates against a woman who threatened his daughter's life; Cameron Jakowski (Fort Wayne, IN), who participated in the #pissolympics and submitted a photo to the online contest, finding himself at the mercy of a SWAT team and the suspect of a federal crime facing up to 20 years in prison; Allyson Pereira (Franklin, NJ), who succumbed to her ex-boyfriend's requests for a topless photo, but tried to take her own life after he shared the photo with her entire social network; Ashley Vanpevenage (Tacoma, WA), whose make-up artist posted "Before" and "After" images on Instagram, which turned into a hateful meme shared millions of times sending her into hiding; Nicole Crowther (Fort Meyers, FL), an extra on GLEE, who tweeted a rumor overhear at a dinner party, causing the Gleeks to hunt her down online and blacklist her from the acting world; Sierra McCurdy (Laurel, MS), who commented on her Facebook feed about a sensitive news story about two police officers, but typed the wrong emoji, causing online violence that spiraled into the real world when she is run off the road; AnnMarie Chiarini (Baltimore, MD), whose boyfriend convinced her to take nude photos for his eyes only, until he auctioned them off to the highest bidder online after their breakup; Jennifer Box (Dallas, TX), whose prank video "Drunk Girl in Public," went viral with the world misinterpreting it, resulting in death and rape threats that land Jennifer in the hospital; and Christopher Hermelin (Los Angeles, CA), who was shocked to discover a photo of him taken while out in public, without his knowledge, landed on front page of Reddit and later turned into a cruel meme.
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On Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 10pm ET/PT, Syfy premiered the season finale of THE INTERNET RUINED MY LIFE. In the season ender, "Video Villain," a viral video star's fame comes at a terrible price, and a struggling writer receives death threats after a photo of him becomes a meme.