If you once religiously followed Lorde's personal and professional updates on social media, or scoured the Internet for her accounts in the months leading up to Solar Power's release last week, then I don't need to tell you that her digital footprint is nearly nonexistent these days.
The 24-year-old musician stepped away from social media a few years ago — and, outside of posting sparingly on Instagram every now and then — hasn't returned since.
She spoke about what motivated her to go offline indefinitely during an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden last night, echoing some of her previous comments about how stressful and time-consuming social media can be.
"I did it because I felt like my brain wasn't working very well anymore," she recalled, adding that leaving Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook behind "was horribly difficult," possibly "the hardest thing [she's] ever done."
Lorde explained that, while she was never one to scroll through negative comments that other people shared about her on social media, removing herself from the platforms offered other opportunities to gain clarity.
Even though she said the decision to abstain from social networking platforms came with its own withdrawal period, where she felt "crabby" and "disconnected," the singer shared another digital space that now provides her with a different sort of online community.
"I will say, the brain will make anything into a social network," she told James. "Now, my social network is the New York Times Cooking app. So, I go on the New York Times Cooking app, and I look at the comments, and I'm like, 'Oh what's this person saying?'"
"That's become a source of community for me," she added.
Lorde's shift away from Instagram and Twitter, and toward NYT-approved cuisine, sounds healthy in every possible way. Brb, going to unplug now!
