At the end of May, Iggy Azalea deleted her social media accounts for about a month following a leak of topless photos that were outtakes from a 2016 GQ photoshoot. At the beginning of August, Dave Annabelle unfollowed everyone (except his wife) on Instagram, writing, “Instagram can cause depression and anxiety.” Two more celebrities who have followed the trend of drastically changing their social media habits are Channing Tatum and Jessie J. The couple announced (separately) that they are taking a break from social media.
Here’s what Channing had to say:
If anyone is using a screen reader, Just Jared transcribed his message in their report, which Channing typed in Notes on his iPhone and posted to Instagram:
“I’m gonna take a break and come off socials for a minute. I’ve been trying to get inspired and create again. And to be honest I don’t really feel, or at least I haven’t felt very creative on social in the last couple years now. I’m gonna go and be just in the real world for a while and off my phone. I’ll probably come back at some point. But if I do I want to have a direction or a clear point of view of why I’m on here and what I’m putting out there[.] . . . Love ya! See ya after a while!”
[From Instagram, via Just Jared]
Jessie posted an image of the text: “Done it before. Doing it again. Having a break from the gram. To get out my phone and into REAL LIFE. I spend way too much time scrolling through some BS,” followed by a series of emojis. She wrote a longer explanation in her caption saying she’s doing great and wants to get back into nature.
Both Channing and Jessie mention wanting to spend more time in the “real world” and “real life” and wanting to refocus their creative energy. Good for them. Jessie’s right that taking a break from Instagram (or social media more generally) doesn’t do anybody any “harm,” and can help make life slightly more peaceful as one less source of anxiety and frustration. The break I took from Facebook several years ago was great. I knew that I had made the right decision when it occurred to me on the first day that there was something else I “needed to do,” but couldn’t remember what it was. I realized that I had been thinking about “needing” to be on Facebook. Checking it had become a chore, rather than something fun. I wonder whether Channing’s decision spurred Jessie’s, or maybe they’d both been talking about it and decided to do it. Either way, I hope that they enjoy the break. I’ll be curious to see how long it lasts.
photos credit: Getty and WENN
The need to go on social media to announce that you want a break from social media because you need to be a real world puts a smile on my face. Every freaking time. Like: I don’t need you. But in case no one us asking, I will make an effort and declare that I don’t need you by actively seeking you out.
It’s an ego/attention thing. If they wanted to simply back away from it, they could, but they want the people going , “oh no, hope you’re ok!” “oh no, don’t go, we’ll miss you!”. Same with a lot of those who say they’re quitting acting, quitting touring, etc, etc, etc.
I see regular people do it too, and I’m like ok…bye? No one cares. Do what you want.
I have others, but I really only use FB. It’s great for organizing events and get togethers and community stuff, but some people are on it ALL DAY posting nonsense.
THANK YOU!!! If you would be missed ppl would seek you out and ask but no ppl insist on making a big deal of it! It’s the biggest sign you want attention and then they return a week later declaring how refreshed/renewed they feel…blah blah blah. I’m rolling my eyes at both and expect them to roll out something before the end of the year and back to social media they will go.
So is there about to be something coming out about them? Photos of one of them leaking with someone other than their SO or something?
It seems weird for them to both to suddenly take a break at the same time. I also understand WHY sometimes it’s a necessary thing for people, but I find it so obnoxious when adults have to write up some kind of note justifying why they want to take a break. Just stop posting. Stop posting, delete the app temporarily and move on with your life. Anyone who NEEDS to get ahold of you probably has another way to do so, so it just comes off as incredibly performative / codependent / attention seeking to make some sort of dramatic post about why you’re leaving.
I think it might be because, if they hadn’t, lots of people might’ve said, “omg, are they breaking up?” Maybe they just didn’t want to deal with that, and writing a simple post was the quickest and easiest way of addressing that. I think their case is a little different from non-celebrities, because they pretty much depend on their public image being good. No harm done if they both announce it and remind people that taking a little break from social media can be healthy.
I deleted my Facebook app so I won’t be checking in as much (I have to be on it for work events)…the other day I sent a friend request to a former friend who hasn’t responded. I obsessed over it all weekend. This is no way to live, ugh.
I had taken a social media break…well, more like I had gotten a new phone a forgot all of my passwords for a good 2 months, and the email in which they were created under was an email I hadn’t used in years so was removed from the system. But it was actually kind of nice not obsessing over who posted what (it’s never as good as you think) and when. I need to do that again. Good on them
Instagram was not good for my self esteem so I took a break too. It reminded me why I stopped reading women’s mags in my teens. Maybe their PR told them to still put out a statement.
I was on insta as a poster for 4 days and it was horrible for my self esteem. And that was a private account! I found myself taking offence if friends didn’t leave feedback on my pictures, self conscious if people wouldnt friend me , bummed if I went to an activity and didn’t get a good picture. 4 days and I cancelled the account. It was so weirdly awful, I wondered how celebrities do it without going insane. It’s the ultimate reality distortion
…its the bs ads on social media we all need a break from….I used to scroll thru my ig feed & every other entry was an ad about some junk that was irrelevant to the subject of the feed…enuf…I deleted the app…
I used to hate that too, and took the fun out of it! IG is now gone, quite happy!
Channing’s stage musical prequel to Magic Mike was supposed to open in Boston for a pre-Broadway run in November but the writers and much of the production staff quit on him over creative differences and the play was cancelled. So, he has been having some business problems lately.
I deleted my IG account in April and that was my last surviving account.
It was preceded by Facebook and Twitter.
4 months later I am really glad I did that as my quality of ‘real life’ has really improved, including my marriage, my husband never had any social media account to start with and now half of the rows we used to have… have clearly disappeared.
Win-win all around.
I have a fb that I’ve only had for about 4 years. I was pressured by family to get one. I deleted it quickly but was pressured by them to get one again…which I did. It sucks that fb is the only way I know about engagements, babies, and even deaths in the family. NO ONE calls you anymore. It’s all on social media. I hate it.
…they had a fight about someone’s DMs….the end
+1
Exactly what I was thinking. Lol
I take breaks all the time. I would say I’m NOT on social media 90% of the time.
I didn’t even know these two were a couple? 🤷🏻♀️