Tina O’Brien, who plays Sarah Platt in Coronation Street, has quit Instagram to give herself “a cleansing break”.
The actress who has been on the soap from 1999 to 2007, before reprising the role in 2015, has hit out at the way social media leads people to compare themselves to “highlight reels” and “filtered” realities.
In a lengthy post, she wrote: “Goodbye you wonderful Instagram using humans and my lovely friends.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8qgML_FNBc/
“I’m taking a break from social media, I’m sure it won’t be forever but I need a cleansing break.
“I don’t want to scroll through people’s highlight reels and compare myself unfavourably. Wonder do I need to post something to validate who I am and what I stand for? Give everyone a filtered version of my best bits (I feel a bit of a fraud).”
The 36-year-old soap star admitted even taking to the social media platform to announce she’s stepping away feels “absolutely ludicrous”.
She continued: “I’m so much more than the image I portray, warts and all. On social media I tend to be what I think people want to see a filtered version of my life…
“Even writing this down seems absolutely ludicrous, What am I playing at? I’m detoxing from this toxic relationship, goodbye Insta, See you all in the real world.”
Alongside her post, Tina shared a quote focusing on the “true importance” of connecting with other people away from technology.
The image read: “In a world of algorithms and hashtags and followers, know the true importance of human connection.”
The news of Tina quitting the social media platform comes after the death of Love Island presenter Caroline Flack.
It was confirmed in a statement from Caroline’s family that she passed away on February 15.
A spokesperson for the Flack family confirmed that the 40-year-old had taken her own life.
The statement said: “We can confirm that our Caroline passed away today on the 15th February.
Read More: Caroline Flack death: date of inquest confirmed for February 19
“We would ask that the press respect the privacy of the family at this difficult time.”
The TV presenter has faced a difficult time over the past couple of months after she was charged with the assault of her boyfriend Lewis Burton.
Lewis denied that she had attacked him with a lamp at her flat in North London.
The couple were banned from contacting each other, but remained together.
She stood down from the 2020 series of Love Island and was replaced by her friend Laura Whitmore.
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