Tom Hanks Shares Why He Stopped Tweeting

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Tom Hanks is one of the most beloved actors in history, which means his social media accounts have also attracted millions of followers. Despite that following, it's been more than two years since Hanks has tweeted, much to the disappointment of fans who looked forward to his charming posts, with the actor recently explaining that being trolled by followers insulting him made the whole experience feel relatively pointless, especially given he already has enough notoriety that he didn't need the platform to promote his messages. Hanks' posts on Instagram continued for months after his last tweets, though that account also dried up in the fall of 2020.

"I stopped posting because, number one, I thought it was an empty exercise. I have enough attention on me," Hanks shared with The New York Times Magazine. "But also I'd post something goofy like, 'Here's a pair of shoes I saw in the middle of the street,' and the third comment would be, '[Expletive] you, Hanks.' I don't know if I want to give that guy the forum. If the third comment is '[Expletive] you, you Obama-loving communist,' it's like, I don't need to do that."

Hanks still has more than 16 million followers on the platform, with social media being how he kept fans updated when he and wife Rita Wilson contracted COVID-19. For the more than a decade Hanks spent on Twitter, he largely posted humorous photos, often of items of clothing he happened to find in various public places. 

Even if Hanks isn't contributing to social media personally, that doesn't mean he hasn't been a hit on various platforms. Earlier this year, the actor found himself an impromptu part of a wedding party, where he surprised a bride-to-be and took part in the ceremony's photo shoot in Pittsburgh. His interactions with fans in the area didn't end there, as he would actually go on to officiate a wedding, with one fan taking a chance and sending the actor a letter with the request.

"I wrote a letter. I knew Tom Hanks was an ordained minister. I thought that may be the perfect opportunity to ask him," bride Krisna Poznik said.

Hanks can next be seen in Elvis, which hits theaters on June 24th.

Do you wish the actor would return to social media? Let us know in the comments!

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