What is Torment Nexus?

Torment Nexus is a catchphrase from a 2021 Alex Blechman tweet mocking tech companies that build the exact dystopian products cautionary sci-fi warned about.

Where did Torment Nexus come from?

Writer Alex Blechman posted the original tweet on November 8, 2021, imagining a tech firm inventing the Torment Nexus from a fictional novel called Don't Create the Torment Nexus. The post went viral through Reddit reposts in /r/ABoringDystopia and /r/Cyberpunk over the following weeks.

What does Torment Nexus mean?

The phrase names the ironic habit of inventing something a science fiction story explicitly warned against, using a cautionary tale as if it were a product manual.

How do you use Torment Nexus?

People reply to news about an invasive or dystopian product by posting Blechman's tweet or rewriting the headline as a chapter from the fictional Don't Create the Torment Nexus novel, as @ThomasPortz did with MoviePass eye tracking.

Is Torment Nexus still popular?

The catchphrase stayed in heavy use through 2022 as a quick reply to stories like MoviePass eye tracking and Netflix's Squid Game reality competition, and it is still cited in tech criticism.

Torment Nexus

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Published October 24, 2026

Torment Nexus is a catchphrase for the pattern of tech companies building the exact dystopian inventions science fiction warned them against, popularized by a November 2021 joke tweet from writer Alex Blechman. His post imagined an unnamed company reading a cautionary sci-fi novel titled Don't Create the Torment Nexus and using it as a product roadmap. By mid-2022, Twitter users were replying with the original tweet to news like MoviePass eye-tracking ad cameras and Netflix's real-life Squid Game competition show.

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Overview

The gag works as a quick template: name a real tech announcement, then quote the Blechman tweet or rewrite the news as if it were a chapter from the fictional novel1. Posts commonly include a screenshot of the original tweet alongside a headline about surveillance, invasive advertising, or exploitative gig work, lining up the two as cause and effect3.

Delivery stays dry, with the comedy coming from the gap between a corporate press release and the tone of the sci-fi it echoes. Writers often replace the words Torment Nexus with the specific invention being critiqued, as in 'they made the Torment Nexus from the one about ad-supported sleep.' This bit sits beside Man-Made Horrors Beyond My Comprehension in both mood and audience3.

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Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter (origin) / Reddit (viral spread)

Creator

Alex Blechman

Date

2021

On November 8, 2021, two weeks after Meta unveiled its metaverse pitch at Meta Connect 2021, writer Alex Blechman posted a four-line tweet imagining an unnamed tech company inventing the Torment Nexus from a classic sci-fi novel called Don't Create the Torment Nexus1. The post ran without an image and worked purely on the joke that executives had misread a warning as a spec document. Within seven months the tweet collected more than 35,000 retweets and 120,800 likes3.

How It Spread

Reposts carried the joke across platforms within weeks. On November 22, 2021, Redditor CalibanDrive shared a screenshot in /r/ABoringDystopia under the title 'They thought it was an instruction manual,' and the post gathered over 15,800 upvotes in seven months2. A January 22, 2022 crosspost to /r/Cyberpunk collected more than 10,300 upvotes in five months4.

Once the bit was established, people started quoting it as a reflex response to tech news. On February 13, 2022, Twitter user @ThomasPortz replied to a story about MoviePass planning to track viewers' eyes with cameras during ads by posting a screenshot of the Blechman tweet, drawing a direct line to a Black Mirror scene5. The reply picked up 360 retweets and 4,000 likes in four months.

On June 14, 2022, Netflix announced a real-life competition show based on Squid Game, the Korean drama originally made as a critique of capitalism and exploitation. Users @NerdyChineseBoy and @blockwonkel both quoted the Torment Nexus bit within hours, with NerdyChineseBoy's post reaching 10,400 retweets and 60,000 likes in under a day6, and blockwonkel's hitting 190 retweets and 1,000 likes in a similar window7.

Timeline

2021-11-08

Writer Alex Blechman posts the original Torment Nexus tweet on Twitter.

2021-11-22

Redditor CalibanDrive reposts a screenshot to /r/ABoringDystopia, where it gathers over 15,800 upvotes.

2022-01-22

A crosspost to /r/Cyberpunk picks up more than 10,300 upvotes in five months.

2022-02-13

@ThomasPortz replies to MoviePass eye-tracking news with the Blechman tweet, drawing a Black Mirror comparison.

2022-06-14

Netflix's Squid Game reality show announcement draws viral Torment Nexus replies, led by @NerdyChineseBoy's 60,000-like post.

How to Use This Meme

To use Torment Nexus, reply to news about an invasive or dystopian product by quoting Blechman's original tweet or rewriting the announcement as if it were a chapter title from the fictional Don't Create the Torment Nexus novel. Variations typically keep the 'blindly creating' framing of the original and substitute a company name and a specific invention.