Gigi Hadid’s Instagram Break Is One More Reason 2016 Was the Year of the Social Media Detox
Thanks to social media, we mere mortals have been able to get a glimpse into the personal lives of the rich and famous. This insider view of celebrity life was completely unprecedented before 2006, when Twitter first launched, and later Instagram in 2010, which started off the brand new decade with a brand new way to follow our favorite celebs. And with Snapchat coming onto the scene in 2011, we never felt more connected to people who we really don't know.
Ten years later, social media has redefined the way we see celebrities, not just on an individual scale, but the concept of "celebrity" as a whole. From Vine (R.I.P.) and YouTube stars, to bloggers and the invention of the foodstagram, no one could have predicted how these few apps would completely change our world.
VIDEO: Kendall Jenner Goes On Instagram Detox
Plenty of celebrities have voiced their issues with social media, and many have even decided to take hiatuses, with 2016 turning into the year of the Social Media Detox. From Selena Gomez's three-month-long break, to Gigi Hadid's impending detox, which she spoke about on Wednesday at Reebok’s #PerfectNever campaign launch event in N.Y.C., it's clear this isn't just a phase.
"I'm going to take a break when I feel like it and when I come back and share it with you," Hadid said at the event. "If you want to be supportive and still follow me I’m so grateful for that. But if you’re going to be negative or be upset that I had to be human for a month than maybe I don't want your follow anyway."
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Scroll down for a list of celebrities who took—or are still on—their social media detoxes, and those who went on hiatus, and returned feeling refreshed and renewed.
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Kim Kardashian West
Kardashian West famously abandoned all of her social media accounts after her scary robbery ordeal in Paris. She has yet to make her foray back onto Instagram and Snapchat, but she did recently follow a few people on Instagram and post an old photo on Facebook. But, most likely, that was the work of her publicity team, and not from the reality star herself. We're dying for her reappearance, if not only for nude selfies, but to see how she's changing her social media game, post-Paris robbery.
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Demi Lovato
After getting hate for making some less-than-positive comments about a certain celebrity squad back in June, Lovato Tweeted, ”Damn I gotta quit sayin sh—. Bye Twitter." The next day she was back, Tweeting, “F— this.. I'm back bitches. And I'm coming back more honest than ever," and a follow-up Tweet reading, "I love my Lovatics too much to leave them over some lame ass haters.. What was I thinking?!" It’s all about that fan love, Demi!
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Leslie Jones
After suffering some serious online hate and negative comments from trolls, Jones Tweeted out a goodbye to her fans in July, "I leave Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart.All this cause I did a movie.You can hate the movie but the sh— I got today... wrong." But after just a few days of silence, Jones was back, announcing her return with one hilarious Tweet: "Welp...a bitch thought she could stay away. But who else is gonna live tweet Game of Thrones!!"
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Justin Bieber
After taking some heat from fans (and a certain ex-girlfriend) for posting photos with his girl of the moment, Sofia Richie, The Biebs left Instagram, and has yet to make his return. He warned Beliebers of his impending deletion, captioning a photo, "I'm gonna make my Instagram private if you guys don't stop the hate. This is getting out of hand, if you guys are really fans you wouldn't be so mean to people that I like." Clearly, no one took the caption seriously, until he made good on his promise, and deprived us of Bieber Instas for the forseeable future.
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Taylor Swift
Although she never made her departure official by actually deleting any of her accounts, Swift definitely took a few months off of Instagram after all that Kimye, Tom Hiddleston drama. The account was very quiet at the end of the summer, until she reemerged with an Instagram story of her cat. Classic Taylor Swift.
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Gigi Hadid
Hadid announced in early December that she'll be taking a break from Twitter and Instagram over the holidays, for a much needed social media detox.
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Kendall Jenner
Fans woke up one morning in November to see that Jenner's Instagram was no more. During an appearance on The Ellen Show, days after the deletion, Jenner told the talk show host, "I just wanted to detox. I felt like, I just wanted a little bit of a break. I’m always on it. I would wake up in the morning and I would look at it first thing. I would go to bed and it was the last thing I would look at. I felt a little too dependent on it so I kind of wanted to take a minute to detox."
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Selena Gomez
The singer abruptly cancelled the remainder of her Revival tour in August in order to take some much-needed time to work on herself and her mental health. During her three-month hiatus, Gomez didn't have her phone on her and consequently stopped posting on Instagram and Twitter.