John Bain, the videogame YouTuber also known as TotalBiscuit has announced he’s going to be quitting social media, and it’s hard to argue with his reasoning.
Bain, who has long been an established and popular YouTuber among the gaming community, revealed his struggle with cancer back in 2014. By October 2015, he announced that the cancer was inoperable.
He’s openly admitted that he struggles with criticism, and the internet isn’t exactly always home to the most constructive, friendly kind. So it seems pretty simple really; he doesn’t want to spend however long he has left alive worrying about what other people think of him over social media.
Bain said:
“I can’t take criticism. I’m dying of terminal cancer. I don’t think I need to read your Internet criticism of me. I think I’ll live longer if I don’t. And you know what? That should be the priority. I don’t want to leave my wife and son behind. I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to leave my friends behind. I don’t want to leave my job behind. I don’t want to leave my pets behind. I don’t want to leave my family behind. No. If that’s the price—that I don’t read your feedback? Or I don’t take your criticism into account? I’m going to pay that price. I will happily pay that price.”
His comments come from a statement on SoundCloud, where Bain discussed his reasons in depth, and his plans for the coming months. While he’s contractually obliged to keep his Twitter up, he won’t be posting anything on there. He has instead told his assistant not to post anything, despite any requests he might make.
At the end of the day, Bain wants to enjoy the remainder of his life with friends and family, away from an atmosphere that makes him unhappy. And who can fault him for that?
Our thoughts are with John and his family.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.