Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Actress Daisy Ridley Reveals Why She Doesn’t Use Social Media

When a beloved celebrity leaves social media permanently and without much warning, their thousands of fans and followers are left to conjure theories about what inspired the exit, and while Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley‘s departure from the service ignited a number of theories, the actress herself largely claims it was due to not really wanting to be on it in the first place. While the timing of Ridley’s exit from various platforms coincided with becoming the target of harassment back in 2016, it would appear that those attacks were merely more evidence of why she had no interest in the services prior to joining the galaxy far, far away.

“I think everybody tried to mold that into something else. It really wasn’t a story,” RIdley shared with DragCast. “I was asked to go on it, and, at the time, I was like, ‘Okay,’ and then it got to the point where I didn’t want to be on it and I was at my friend’s house in L.A., and I remember being like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to be on Instagram,’ and they were like, ‘Well, why don’t you come off?’ and I was like, ‘Oh.’ And it was really a nice, autonomous decision. Because I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t actually have to be on it. This is nice.’ And I always had a limit to what I shared anyway and, honestly, my life isn’t that exciting. So there were a lot of separate things.”

Ridley’s exit from social media coincided with posting a message about stopping gun violence, only to be attacked and criticized for starring in sci-fi films featuring guns. It’s easy to see why fans would assume the two events were linked to one another, but Ridley expressed that it was more out of character for her to be on any social media in the first place.

“I think people do it really, really well and it’s an amazing way for a lot of people to reach other people, but I think maybe, as well, the position I was in, I just felt like … I don’t know. A lot of what I believe in is about communication and less distractions or whatever,” the actress confessed. “I don’t like phones at tables, that sort of stuff. And I also think it’s that thing of … people need to be more connected and I think people think they’re more connected on their phones but I don’t believe that, so it’s also a secondary thing of, it’s a good way to get a message out but then we’ll all just be looking at our phones instead of talking to each other and letting life slip by while we’re scrolling.”

She added, “I do feel more connected but it’s also that tricky thing of I notice other people being way less connected, so then it’s also like trying not to be judgmental, really, of that. I’ve seen it. I have friends who are obsessed with their phones and it becomes a weird thing where people start living through their … I don’t know, it’s just such a strange thing, and I think I’m more connected and I would hope that I am. I think my concentration levels are better when I’m not on my phone a lot. I just see good things from it, honestly, and I know, and I imagine, you reach so many people in such an amazing way, but also, what you have to say is so important.”

Ridley was last seen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which is out now on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD.

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