And the gap was widening. Teenagers in Kansas were now spending 70% of their screen time on "Soothing Scroll," a Harmony Sphere app that showed only videos of calligraphy, bamboo forests, and ASMR noodle-pulling.

And for the first time in a decade, the world couldn't wait to watch.

Kids in Seoul started broadcasting static. Teens in London livestreamed themselves forgetting their lines on purpose. A billionaire in Dubai paid $4 million for a single, unedited minute of Cassie’s father coughing into a landline phone.