Sheeran latest star to quit Twitter over online abuse
● Singer warns network is being ruined by ‘mean’ and insulting comments
The multi-platinum selling singer songwriter Ed Sheeran has become the latest celebrity to turn his back on Twitter, claiming that the social network has become a “platform” for abusive behaviour.
The 26-year-old said he has stopped engaging with genuine fans on the site for fear of having his day “ruined” by people intent on insulting him.
The singer has retained his account on the site, but now uses it only to announce tour dates and relay automatic updates from the photo-sharing site, Instagram.
Sheeran is one of several A-list stars who have stopped using Twitter, at least temporarily, due to online abuse, a list which includes the likes of Stephen Fry, Adele, Kanye West and Sam Smith.
He said he had found some remarks so hurtful that he could not face reading and replying to well-wishers.
He explained yesterday: “I’ve actually come off Twitter completely, I can’t read it. I go on it and there’s nothing but people saying mean things – Twitter’s a platform for that. One comment ruins your day, but that’s why I’ve come off it.
“The head-f*** for me has been trying to work out why people dislike me so much.”
Sheeran said that he relied
0 Sheeran said one abusive online comment could ‘ruin’ his day on his family and friends to keep him grounded, adding: “I have people like my dad who will have a conversation with me. I don’t have to have someone calling me a whatever.” Sheeran said one low point had come after a misunderstanding involving the fans of the US singer, Lady Gaga, who thought that he had criticised her in an interview.
He said: “Lady Gaga’s fanbase read an interview in which they assumed I was talking about her and they all f***ing hate me. And it wasn’t anything to do with that at all.
“So I think Twitter gets on a massive steam roll of assuming things and then you get in the shit.”
Last month, the singer played a headline slot at Glastonbury. But the occasion was soured by commentators who accused of him of performing to a backing track. In return, Sheeran wrote on Twitter: “Never thought I’d have to explain it, but everything I do in my live show is live, it’s a loop station, not a backing track. Please google x.”
A spokesman for Twitter said it did not comment on individual accounts for “privacy and security reasons,” but cited “major changes” to the platform to improve safety.
They include limiting the functionality of users who engage in abusive behaviour, new filtering options which helps prevent users from seeing offensive content, and increased transparency about Twitter’s reporting process for harassment.