At a Golden Globes-watching party in the Hollywood Hills, Donald Glover — actor, producer, writer, DJ and Grammy award-winning rapper under the stage name Childish Gambino — got into a heated argument with Atlanta writer Stefani Robinson about the digital world’s overwhelming influence on our lives, Tad Friend writes in The New Yorker.
Glover called the internet “horrible in every way,” Friend writes. He disappeared from social media in 2014, a year after the release of his album, Because The Internet. Explaining why he deleted his accounts, Glover said he “felt like social media was making me less human, and I already didn’t feel that human.”
He told Esquire that he realized the connection through social media was “too powerful” for someone like him. “I just would get hurt,” he explained. Now when he goes online, he seeks out subcultures and communities where he can “talk to people as a regular person.”
“It’s the only place you can be anonymous,” he said.
Despite his lack of social media presence, Glover has become one of the most respected and admired artists today. As Esquire put it: “Right now everyone in Hollywood wants to be Donald Glover.” His prolific career suggests you don’t have to be all over social media to do good work and achieve success — in fact, setting boundaries with technology is one of the most effective steps you can take to focus on meaningful work.
Glover joins a slew of other celebrities who’ve decided to embrace a digital detox. Demi Lovato frequently takes social media breaks to escape the constant public commentary on her appearance, and Ed Sheeran has been phone-free for over two years now to help him rediscover balance in his life.
Read more at The New Yorker.