Awkwafina
Social media relationship status: Separated from Twitter
A few days ago, actress-rapper Awkwafina announced on Twitter: “I’ll see you in a few years, Twitter — per my therapist…. I am retiring from the ingrown toenail that is Twitter.” It’s her response to the criticism that she uses a fake “blaccent” or a manner of speaking that sounds like a caricature of a black person.
Ed Sheeran
Social media relationship status: Love-hate
He has had a love-hate relationship with social media platforms, announcing his first break in December 2015, then in July 2017 and though he is now on Twitter and Instagram, most of the posts are work-related. In a recent podcast interview on Hodinkee he said that he hasn’t had a smartphone for long (there have been pictures of him holding phones but those apparently are not in full-time use). “I got really, really overwhelmed and sad with a phone. I just spent my whole time just in a very low place. I got rid of it, and it was like a veil just lifted,” he said. Sheeran does check emails on his laptop once every few days while on other days it’s about “living life”.
Ariana Grande
Social media relationship status: No Twitter action
Without any warning, Ariana Grande took leave from Twitter starting December 24 and though she has been active on Instagram — posting behind-the-scenes videos and moments from her personal life — visiting her Twitter account simply shows the message: “This account doesn’t exist.” In 2018, she did take a break from Instagram but that was for a short period.
Lorde
Social media relationship status: Nowhere but everywhere
The accounts work but none of them are handled directly by her. At one point she was hooked to the Internet and the process of addressing the issue was inspired by books like Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing and Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. To keep her from doomscrolling, she has set the phone to greyscale, it apparently doesn’t have an Internet browser and is locked out of her social-media apps while others handle the passwords.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex
Social media relationship status: Disillusioned
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have millions of followers on their official royal Instagram account but it was reported that they had become disillusioned by the “hate” they encountered online. Their decision came soon after the criticism of social media companies for giving a platform to Donald Trump, who was suspended from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram after inciting a mob who raided the US Capitol in Washington DC. In a 2019 interview with Teenager Therapy podcast, Meghan had addressed the issue of getting trolled. “I’m told that in 2019 I was the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female. Now, eight months of that I wasn’t even visible, I was on maternity leave or with a baby.”
Daisy Ridley
Social media relationship status: Out of sight, out of mind
Actress Daisy Ridley, who essayed the character Rey in the popular Star Wars sequel trilogy, removed herself from social media after reading “terrifying” statistics linking social media to anxiety. In an interview last year, she said that social media can be useful for some people but “it’s just not for me”. She has told Spanish magazine S Moda: “I have managed to separate my personal life well from my professional life, partly probably because I’m not on social media.”
Aamir Khan
Social media relationship status: What’s the point?!
Aamir Khan decided to go off IG in March last year with a bit of sarcasm: “…In other news, this is going to be my last post on social media. Considering that I am SO active anyway I have decided to drop the pretence. We will continue to communicate as we did before.” Though Aamir Khan Productions has an active Instagram account, not the man himself. It’s been almost one year since detox started… fingers crossed!
