Alexander Broad once controlled the hottest thing online. Six weeks ago, the Twitter account he started, called @SochiProblems, aggregated the seemingly endless stream of photos showing shoddy infrastructure in the the 2014 Olympics' host city despite the games' enormous $51 billion budget.
With each new photo upload — dysfunctional toilets, putrid-looking tap water, hotel rooms still being built as guests moved in — @SochiProblems drew new followers like a magnet. Before long, Broad's creation had a larger audience than @Sochi2014, the game's official Twitter account. Interview requests poured in from outlets all around the world, as did vague work offers for the 20-year-old Canadian journalism major.
See also: What Will Happen to All Those Sochi Problems Now?
That was early February. Fast forward to mid-March and, Broad tells Mashable, "I've returned to the good ol' life of a college student." No more manic media crush. No more being the center of a global conversation.
But if you think Broad longs for another taste of his short-lived fame, think again. In fact, judging from our phone conversation Tuesday night, Broad sounded relieved more than anything that the whole thing is over.
Broad tells Mashable he had high hopes for the account after firing off its first couple of tweets in the first week of February, just before the Olympics began. Tweets and photos from journalists and athletes had already exposed Sochi's lack of readiness, but no one had pulled them all together in one place.
"My brain was like, 'Oh yeah, totally, Alex, this is totally gonna happen,'" he says of his outlook after initially hatching the idea. After a few hours passed with little followers or interaction, "it kind of became, 'whatever."
But later the same night, Broad checked the account again and found it had accumulated more than 10,000 followers. And they kept on coming, eventually totaling more than 350,000.

Alexander Broad, the college kid who started the wildly popular @SochiProblems Twitter account, hopes to work in sports broadcasting.
Video: YouTube, Alex Broad
His school paper broke the story of who was behind the account and, before long, international media followed up in droves. That was fun, Broad says, but he also felt "completely overwhelmed" some days. Coffee became his lifeblood, and his phone charger became virtually attached to his person since the device would not cease to buzz. His racing mind hardly let him sleep.
"My phone was ringing so much I actually contemplated throwing it in the toilet," says Broad, who attends Centennial College in Toronto. "I just wanted it to stop some nights."
He was hailed as a "mastermind." Some media outlets mentioned internships or guest columns, though none has yet panned out.
Then the Olympics started and the actual games — Dutch speed-skating dominance, a rare gold-medal tie and a controversial figure skating final, for starters — demanded the web's attention. @SochiProblems was still a thing, but one whose time had passed. Asked to describe the whirlwind in as few words as possible now, Broad goes with "gong show" and "unbelievable."
The day after the games' closing ceremony, Broad changed course. "Sochi Problems" became "Canuck Problems," aimed at taking lighthearted jabs at his home country of Canada and its residents. If you used to follow @SochiProblems but wonder why tweets like this have popped up in your timeline over the past month, wonder no more.
"I just figured, 'You know what, let's take a rip at my own country here,'" Broad says. "I feel like I tend to do that anyways, and I feel like Canadians as a whole like to do that. So it's basically turned into one of those joke accounts where I just sort of post something here and there."
The account still has more than 250,000 followers, but Broad says his life offline has returned to a more bearable form of busy. Class takes up most of his time — he's taking a range of journalism courses and does his best to avoid math and science. He hopes to work in sports broadcasting one day.
On the weekends he tends to watch "way too many sports" until his "eyes bleed out," preferring to take it easy than go out and party a lot. But Broad says his own brief brush with viral notoriety has lent him a newfound respect for many of the famous athletes he sees on TV.
"I don't know how celebrities and other people who are in the spotlight all the time do it," Broad tells Mashable. "If this had gone on for a month or something, I don't think I could have handled it."
Petushkov celebrates his gold medal in the men's cross country 1km sprint, sitting, event on March 12 -- one of six gold medals he has won at the games.
Gallagher, right, and her guide Charlotte Evans race to win the alpine skiing, ladies Super-G, visually impaired, event at the 2014 Winter Paralympics on March 10.
Strong, who won the Paralympics' first-ever snowboard cross event, celebrates during a medal ceremony on March 14.
The 16-year-old Bugaev races to gold in the mens' slalom, standing, race on March 13.
Suzuki navigates a turn on the way to winning the men's slalom, sitting, on March 13.
Wicker won gold in the women's 10km biathlon, sitting, event on March 11. Here, she competes in the 12km cross-country, sitting, event on March 9.
Rothfuss won gold in the women's slalom, standing, event on March 12. Here, she races in the women's downhill, standing, event on March 8.
Marthinsen, right, celebrates her gold medal as Tatyana Mcfadden of United States, left, reacts to her 2nd place finish in final of the women's cross country 1km sprint, sitting, on March 12.
Schaffelhuber races to win the women's downhill, sitting, on March 8 -- one of four Paralympic gold medals she won in Sochi.
Mentel-Spee maintains her balance on the way to winning gold in the first-ever Paralympic women's snowboarding event on March 14.
Maiztegui, right, and his guide Miguel Galindo Garces on their way to a gold medal during the men's slalom, visually impaired, event on March 13.
McKeever, left, celebrates his gold medal in the men's cross country 1km sprint, visually impaired, event on March 12.
Pavlenko races to win the ladies 12km cross-country, sitting, event on March 9.
Bochet races to win the women's downhill, standing, event on March 8.
Mikhaylov, center, celebrates his gold medal in men's cross country 1km sprint, standing, event on March 12.
Dueck won gold in the men's super combined, sitting, event on March 14. Here, he races to win his silver medal in the men's downhill, sitting, event on March 8.
Salcher won gold in the men's downhill, standing, and men's super G, standing, events in Sochi. He's shown here competing on March 8.
Konovalova won gold in the women's 15km biathlon, sitting, event on March 14. She's shown here on her way to the bronze medal in the women's 12km cross country, sitting, event on March 9.
Redkozubov won gold in the men's slalom, visually impaired, event on March 13. He also won the men's super combined, visually impaired, on March 14. He's shown here with guide Evgeny Geroev on March 11.
Milenina finishes to win the women's cross country 1km sprint, standing, event on March 12.