Anti-Social...Media, That Is! 15 Celebrities Who Have Deleted Or Avoid Social Media
Mar. 23 2020, Updated 3:17 p.m. ET
Most celebrities have some kind of social media they use to promote new projects and/or give fans small glimpses of their lives. There are even those, like the Kardashians and Jenners, who have taken their social media game and turned it into an art form. But sometimes stars just want to be a little less social – and that's okay, too.
MORE: Emily Blunt on Selfies and Why She's Anti Social Media
Some Hollywood A-listers don't much like social media and therefore have mostly stayed away. Stars like Scarlett Johansson and Emma Stone aren't into sharing every moment of their lives with the Internet, while others like Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie feel kind of stupid even trying to tweet.
Then there are celebrities like Kristen Stewart and Jake Gyllenhaal who see social media--and smartphones in general--as a way of losing personal connectivity with others, while celeb parents like Kate Winslet and Sandra Bullock ban social media from their homes because of its potential negative impact on their kids' self-worth.
MORE: Learn How To Become An Influencer With These Pro-Social Media Skills
Here are 15 stars who don't use social media and some lessons you can learn from their decisions to stay away.
1. GEORGE CLOONEY
The handsome movie star isn't at all interested in being on social media, partly because he's afraid what might happen if he gets inebriated and lets loose on Twitter.
Why he's anti-social media: Clooney explained to Esquire magazine, “I don’t understand why any famous person would ever be on Twitter. Why on God’s green earth would you be on Twitter? Because first of all, the worst thing you can do is make yourself more available, right? Because you’re going to be available to everybody. But also Twitter. So one drunken night, you come home and you’ve had two too many drinks and you’re watching TV and somebody pisses you off, and you go ‘Ehhhhh’ and fight back. And you go to sleep, and you wake up in the morning and your career is over... Or all the things you might think in the quiet of your drunken evening are suddenly blasted around the entire world before you wake up.”
Lesson learned: That's simple. Don't drunk tweet (but it would be kinda awesome to see Clooney's drunk tweets).
2. KEIRA KNIGHTLEY
The lovely British actress once had a Twitter account but deleted it because it legit "freaked" her out. We feel you, Keira.
Why she's anti-social media: "I did actually join Twitter for about 12 hours because I tried to be down with the kids and it just creeped me out," Knightley said on The Jonathan Ross Show. "I didn't post anything and I was under a false name... I just got completely freaked out." Knightley also once told Harper’s Bazaar UK “It made me feel a little bit like being in a school playground and not being popular and standing on the sidelines kind of going, ‘Argh.'”
Lesson learned: Social media most definitely can be competitive–how many followers you have, how many likes –and can leave you feeling dejected. But don't let it. If you have fun with your social media, that's all that counts.
3. JAKE GYLLENHAAL
The Hollywood A-lister is another who has shunned social media and is very glad iPhones weren't around when he was a teenager, and he thinks it's “scary” how teenagers are addicted to their smartphones.
Why he's anti-social media: Gyllenhaal told USA Today, “To me, this is a product of us all having smartphones and being consumed by that -- we're looking down. No one is looking up. I take that seriously, even in the midst of being funny. I think it's saying something really important and a little scary.”
Lesson learned: Attention spans are growing shorter and shorter, so put the smartphone down every once in awhile and look around.
4. SANDRA BULLOCK
The actress, who is starring in the upcoming heist film Ocean's 8, doesn't believe in social media, especially when it comes to those ever-present selfies.
Why she's anti-social media: “I hate taking selfies,” Bullock told U.K.’s The Times. “I will not take a selfie that I can’t erase. I don’t post or do any of that stuff.”
Lesson learned: Bullock believes selfies are "not representing our lives truthfully. Like when you’re yelling at your child, you’re not taking a selfie of you being a horrible parent. No, you’re waiting for the perfect selfie. ‘Do I look thinner now?’ ‘Do I look great?’ It’s this false projection of one’s life." True dat.
5. AMY POEHLER
Although you might wish Amy Poehler were on Twitter, just to read all the hilarious things she might tweet about today's world, it's not going to happen.
Why she's anti-social media: Of course, how Poehler explains why she isn't on social media is hysterical enough. She told Paper magazine, “The amount of Instagram selfies seems crazy out-of-control … The idea of, ‘This is my face and everyone needs to see it all the time,’ is so far from the privacy that people used to seek. Now everyone acts the way '80s performance artists used to act. Everybody’s Karen Finley. Everybody’s like, ‘This is my vagina! I’m gonna put s*** all over me and take pictures!’”
Lesson learned: Certainly the whole “here's-my-vagina!” selfie thing will never apply to the likes of Kim Kardashian, but on a normal basis, be selective on how many selfies you post.
6. BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH
Even though he is definitely one of the best celebrity photo-bombers of all time, Cumberbatch feels he'd be a “disaster” at tweeting.
Why he's anti-social media: “I can’t get involved in social media because as they know, it’d be a disaster,” the Dr. Strange star told People. “I can’t tweet to save my life. I’d go over my character limits and never make any sense. It would just consume me and I find that whole thing ultimately very toxic. I’d much rather spend my energy doing what brought me to their attention in the first place, which is my work.”
Lesson learned: Obsessing over just the right thing to say in 280 characters can be daunting. Don't try to force it if you're not feeling it.
7. ANGELINA JOLIE
Fans definitely want Angelina Jolie to join social media club, but she's just not that inclined to learn about it.
Why she's anti-social media: Jolie admitted to People she just didn't understand it all that well. “It’s so beyond what we understand. We wouldn’t even know what to look for.” Jolie also wants to protect her six children from any scrutiny that might occur from having social media.
Lesson learned: Jolie is definitely happy there were no smartphones when she was young and wild. “I got in enough trouble. It just would have been very documented.” This is definitely something young Hollywood starlets have to contend with these days.
8. KRISTEN STEWART
The eccentric actress really doesn't think social media is at all useful for her. She'd rather have that more personal connection.
Why she's anti-social media: Stewart told V magazine, “When you speak to someone on the phone, that is a decipherable, understandable exchange. But with text and social media, it’s essentially a dialogue with yourself and your interpretation of a shadow. It’s not invalid; it’s a new language...But you also become addicted to that hit by yourself and with yourself, every seven minutes or so, and you end up wasting so much time just validating something very superficial in yourself. It has definitely changed us.”
Lesson learned: Social media can be an enormous time suck, no question. “I know I sound ridiculous and really obvious,” Stewart once said to Harper’s Bazaar, “... but we could be doing way cooler s***. It’s so time consuming.”
9. EMMA STONE
The La La Land star has stayed off social media, though once toyed with the idea of having a Twitter account. Ultimately, she didn't need the validation.
Why she's anti-social media: “It’s that need to be liked,” she explained during a chat for the Los Angeles Times and EPIX's five-part TV series Hollywood Sessions. “That need to be seen, that need to be validated, in a way, through no one that you know...It's this very modern 'keeping up with the Joneses.' It's almost impossible to find someone that's not, in some way, on the Internet...Every time I talk about social media, I forget where I'm going. I go into a rabbit hole."
Lesson learned: Fame isn't always glamorous. Stone added, “It seems like everybody knows what that feels like. It seems like everyone’s cultivating their lives on Instagram or on different forms of social media, and what pictures looks best of their day.”
10. KATE WINSLET
The lovely Brit swears off social media, and she makes sure her kids don't use it either because of the way it might affect their self-worth.
Why she's anti-social media: “It has a huge impact on young women's self-esteem because all they ever do is design themselves for people to like them," Winslet once told The Sunday Times. "And what comes along with that? Eating disorders. And that makes my blood boil. And is the reason we don't have any social media in our house.”
Lesson learned: It is important for kids to do more than just be on their phones. As Winslet added, “Let your kids climb trees. Take the device out of their hand. Play Monopoly!" She's right. Where's that game board?
11. MILA KUNIS
For the Bad Moms actress, privacy is a big priority, especially as a mom of two, so social media can't be a part of her routine. She does, however, from time to time pop up looking fab on husband Ashton Kutcher's Instagram account. #RelationshipGoals.
Why she's anti-social media: “What I do and who I am are two different things,” she once explained to The Daily Telegraph, “and to me, it was always really important to keep those things separate. I don’t want people thinking they know me to the point where they feel comfortable coming in my house without being invited. For security reasons, it just wasn’t worth it. I’d rather have my privacy over anything.”
Lesson learned: Sure, there's a certain intimacy a fan may get when they follow their favorite celebrities on social media, but they really aren't your friend, so be respectful.
12. SCARLETT JOHANSSON
Johansson, whose latest Marvel movie Avengers: Infinity War is a smash hit at the box office, doesn't really see the benefits of sharing her precious moments online.
Why she's anti-social media: “I don’t have a Facebook or a Twitter account,” she once told Interview magazine. “And I don’t know how I feel about this idea of, ‘Now, I’m eating dinner, and I want everyone to know that I’m having dinner at this time,’ or ‘I just mailed a letter and dropped off my kids.’ That, to me, is a very strange phenomenon. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do less than have to continuously share details of my everyday life.”
Lesson learned: Oversharing can be a big turn off, so watch for that.
13. BRADLEY COOPER
The actor, who marks his directorial debut with a remake of A Star Is Born (in which he also stars with Lady Gaga), feels like social media can take away from the joys of being an actor and playing different characters.
Why he's anti-social media: “I see the benefit of it social networking for sure,” he once explained on British OK! TV. “It’s a great way to promote ideas and projects. For me, maybe I’m old fashioned, if I know so much about you and you’re playing a character in a movie then that’s a lot of work I’m gonna have to do to forget who you are so that I can believe the character and therefore enjoy the movie.”
Lesson learned: Keep a little mystery about yourself.
14. DAISY RIDLEY
The Star Wars actress was active on her Instagram and Twitter but deleted her accounts in 2017 after receiving backlash for sharing a post about victims of gun violence.
Why she's anti-social media: Ridley described social media as damaging to mental health, especially for teenagers. “It’s such a weird thing for young people to look at distorted images of things they should be,” she said to Radio Times. “Life suddenly got a bit different. I’m definitely recognize more, but I find the whole taking pictures thing weird. I’d prefer to have a conversation than someone asking for a picture, but I guess people feel the need to prove they’ve had the interaction through social media.”
Lesson learned: The actress does bring up a good point about being famous. While some celebrities don't mind when you ask for a selfie, others might so be respectful.
15. JENNIFER LAWRENCE
The Oscar winner has never really like the social media platform. She'll appear in other people's Instagram posts, like when doing press with pal Chris Pratt, but when it comes to her own accounts, nope, not happening.
Why she's anti-social media: Lawrence once told BBC Radio, “I will never get Twitter. I’m not very good on the phone or technology. I cannot really keep up with emails so the idea of Twitter is so unthinkable to me … If you ever see a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter that says it’s me, it most certainly is not … I had the answer to that question locked and loaded … Because the Internet has scorned me so much. And I feel like I’m that girl in high school like, ‘You wanna talk about her? Yeah, I’ll do that!’ Take my hoops off, I’m ready to go.”
Lesson learned: The actress feels like she gets enough flak from haters on the Internet, so why open herself up even more? Being popular on social media can get ugly sometimes.
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