Katy Perry says she is a “victim” of social media because of society’s pressure to share every move online.
According to Refinery 29, the singer and American Idol judge said that Instagram and Twitter are proof of the “decline of civilisation” and encouraged fans to not care about social media and to instead live their lives.
Though Perry has over 68 million Instagram followers and 108 million Twitter followers, she says that she would rather not document her whole life online.
“It’s hard because I’d rather not care about that and just live my life,” she told Refinery29.
“We buy clothing and products or pose a certain way or go to an event to get a picture – it’s not good for us as a society. I think it’s actually the decline of civilisation if we’re going extreme about it.”
The 33-year-old says she is trying to find a balance in what she posts online because she is as susceptible to the pressure as everyone else.
Perry is not the first star to talk about the pressure and repercussions of having a social media account.
Selena Gomez said that she “freaked out” when she found out that she was the most followed person on Instagram.
“It had become so consuming to me. It’s what I woke up to and went to sleep to. I was an addict, and it felt like I was seeing things I didn’t want to see,” saying that that was the reason behind her regular breaks from social media.
Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley said becoming famous made her delete her social media. The 25-year-old quit Instagram last year. In an interview with Radio Times, she says she did it because of how bad it is for mental health. The more I read about teenage anxiety, the more I think it’s highly unhealthy for people’s mental health.
She added: “It’s such a weird thing for young people to look at distorted images of things they should be.”
Cinderella actress Lily James agreed with her comments saying, “I’m not on Twitter, I don’t want to always have something to say, I want to save that for my life. Also, I think, especially as a young person, you change your opinions every second, so [you shouldn’t] put something down in concrete that’s going to come back and haunt you.”
Ed Sheeran famously took a year-long break from social media in between his second and third albums as he said he was spending too much time on his phone.
“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,” he wrote in December 2016.
