On Air Now
Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby 6am - 10am
8 Celebs Who Have Taken A Break From Social Media & How It Helped Them
3 February 2023, 14:58
An array of stars have spoken out about why they have taken time off of social media over the years.
We all know that social media has its pits and in more recent years, celebs have been sharing their experiences on why they’ve decided to take a step back from their apps.
A string of stars have decided to take a break from social media for various reasons to allow themselves to recalibrate and better their mental health.
Through that, many have gotten candid about their own reasonings, from Tom Holland and Justin Bieber to Lizzo, Selena Gomez and Stormzy.
Ed Sheeran
Let's take a look at the reasons behind some stars' decision to delete social media...
Tom Holland And Zendaya’s Complete Relationship Timeline
Selena Gomez's Career Evolution: From Disney Darling To Global Pop Star
Ed Sheeran
On 31st January 2023 Ed uploaded a video to Instagram explaining why he's been so absent from social media for the last couple of years, citing a 'turbulent' time recently.
“Hi guys, so I realize I haven’t been that engaged in my social media or my fan base online over the last couple of years,” Sheeran confessed in a selfie video directly before whispering. “And the things that have been posted on this account might have got a bit boring. And I’m sorry, it’s my fault.
“Umm, the reason I’m making this video is, just being totally honest, I’ve had some turbulent things been happening in my personal life, so I just didn’t really feel like being online and pretending to be something I’m not when I wasn’t feeling like that.”
Ed signed off by saying 'things are looking up' and that 'weird s***' would begin to be posted soon.
Tom Holland opens up about his mental health on Instagram
Tom Holland
Tom Holland is one of the most recent stars to share that he’s stepping back from social media as he explained he can find it ‘detrimental’ to his mental health.
The Spider-Man actor shared a video on Instagram explaining why he’d be taking time away from the platform, telling fans: “I find Instagram and Twitter to be overstimulating, to be overwhelming.
"I get caught up and I spiral when I read things about me online and ultimately it's very detrimental to my mental state. So I decided to take a step back and delete the app."
Many people have praised the British actor for being open about mental health, calling it a 'smart move’.
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber has always been open about his mental health and even came off of social media back in 2016 for a brief amount of time to avoid hurtful comments that were being shared on his Instagram account.
It all started when a surge of negative comments were shared under a photo he posted with his then-love interest, Sofia Ritchie.
Following the hateful comments, Biebs decided to delete his Instagram account for a short while.
Lizzo
In January 2020, Lizzo decided to leave Twitter for a little while.
Explaining why, the ‘Good As Hell’ star tweeted at the time: “Yeah I can’t do this Twitter s**t no more … too many trolls,” before adding she’ll be back ‘when I feel like it’.
She returned to Twitter over a year later just in time to tease some new music.
Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez first deleted her Instagram account in 2017 after hackers are said to have gained access to her account.
After it was restored, the ‘Lose You To Love Me’ singer admitted she deletes the app at least once a week ‘for mental health reasons’.
She told The New York Times back in 2017: “I delete the app from my phone at least once a week. You can't avoid it sometimes [reading hurtful remarks]. You fixate on the [negative] ones. They're not like, 'You're ugly.'
“It's like they want to cut to your soul. Imagine all the insecurities that you already feel about yourself and having someone write a paragraph pointing out every little thing — even if it's just physical."
Stormzy
In February 2020, Stormzy mysteriously deleted both his Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Soon after, the ‘Vossi Bop’ rapper revealed he decided to come off of social media for two reasons; to ‘kill his ego’ and to ‘feel normal’ and separate himself from ‘the noise’.
He still hasn't recovered his accounts.
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran first decided to go on a social media (and a work) break back in 2015.
He said at the time: “I’ve had such an amazing ride over the last five years but I find myself seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes so I'm taking this opportunity of me not having to be anywhere or do anything to travel the world and see everything I missed."
The ‘Bad Habits’ star later went on another social media cleanse in 2019, but has since returned.
Kendall Jenner
Kendall Jenner previously told Ellen DeGeneres that in 2017 she decided to delete Instagram on a whim.
"I just wanted a little bit of a break,” the Kardashian star told Ellen, “I would wake up in the morning and look at it first thing, I would go to bed and it would be the last thing I looked at. I felt a little too dependent on it so I wanted to take a minute."
