A look at Hollywood stars who quit social media

Iggy Azalea, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Adele, Zelda Williams,

For celebrities, social media is a great tool to connect with fans and promote their films/albums. However, the flipside is that it can attract a lot of unwanted attention. A few days ago, musician Calvin Harris reportedly changed his Instagram account settings to private after "tiring of his fans getting critical of his relationship with pop star Taylor Swift". Harris has reportedly gotten weary of the all the negativity after a few of his fans said that they rather see Swift with ex-boyfriend Harry Styles. If rumours are to be believed, the celebrity is contemplating quitting social media altogether. Harris is not the first celebrity who has got unnecessary comments from his followers. Several celebrities in the past have, in fact, quit social media due to the negativity comments. We list a few:

Zayn Malik

In 2012, the former One Direction member announced his resignation from Twitter. He said, "The reason I don't tweet as much as I use to, is because I'm sick of all the useless opinions and hate that I get daily. Goodbye Twitter :)." Later, through his Keek account, he explained that he had to take this step because of all the hate he was getting. "I just deleted my account because of all the hate I was getting just by tweeting something simple. And all the rumours of me smoking weed and cheating. I don't need to read any of that negativity," he had said. The singer returned 48 hours later for his fans.

Iggy Azalea

The Aussie rapper abandoned social media in February this year after trolls criticised her bikini body. "Just got back from a great vacation, came online and saw apparently it's shocking and unheard of to be a woman and have cellulite. I just want to have peace and relaxation time without a [perv] with a long-distance lens hiding out taking pictures. Everyone deserves peace," she fumed. She continued to inform that her management will run the account before adding, "The Internet is the ugliest reflection of [mankind] there is." She returned shortly after to quit again in March when she called out paparazzi for invading her privacy at home. Needless to say, she is active on social media now.

Adele

Rumours have it that the Rolling In The Deep singer quit Twitter in 2012 after she received nasty death threats regarding her newborn son from trolls on the social networking site. "She couldn't believe people would be so awful about a baby," said a source. While she chose to not respond to the messages, the singer tweets sporadically since then and has managed to be a lot more discreet than her contemporaries.

Jennifer Love Hewitt

A number of actresses use social media to chronicle their pregnancy. However, Hewitt decided to stray clear and revealed that she was quitting social media in 2013 over "negativity" and "threats" she received on the platform. She said, "Unfortunately with all the negativity people choose to send on twitter as well as threats to there own well being. I'm sad to say twitter is no longer for me. I have enjoyed all the kindness and love that came my way, as well as support. But this break is needed," she wrote. "Life should be filled with positivity and holding each other up, not making threats and sending bad vibes. To those of you who made it a joy, thank you from the bottom of my heart," she added. Presently, she maintains a low profile on social media.

Zelda Williams

The American actress quit social media (Twitter and Instagram) days after her father Robin William's death in August last year as Internet trolls and insensitive posters added to her despair. Although countless fans took to the web to express their love for the late comedian, a few took the opportunity to post what looked like photoshopped images of her dad. Zelda decided that instead of deleting the posts, better to quit social media altogether. "I will be leaving this account for a bit while I heal and decide if I'll be deleting it or not," she wrote. "In this difficult time, please try to be respectful of the accounts of myself, my family and my friends. Mining our accounts for photos of dad, or judging me on the number of them is cruel and unnecessary… My favourite photos of family are framed in my house, not posted on social media, and they'll remain there… Thank you for your respect and understanding in this difficult time. Goodbye. Xo." The actress returned three weeks later to tweet about bullying. She took a hiatus from social media, yet again, in July this year to "escape the opinion or sentiments of others" as her father's death anniversary approached. Her social media accounts are active as of now.