Photo Credit: Condé Nast via Vogue Taiwan / CC by 3.0
Doja Cat deactivates her Instagram account, telling her followers she’s ‘not really feeling this anymore,’ citing ‘f—ed up thoughts’ over the criticism she’s received on the platform.
Pop and rap star Doja Cat told her fans over the weekend that she would be deactivating her Instagram account in a now-deleted post describing “f—ed up thoughts” over “the way I’m spoken to on here and treated.” Her account, which boasted 28 million followers, is now deactivated.
“Hey I’m gonna deactivate because I’m not really feeling this anymore,” wrote Doja Cat on Saturday. “You guys take care of yourselves. I like coming here to find inspo and see people being creative but I just feel [like] this is getting [to] be too much. The way I’m spoken to on here and treated makes me have f—ed up thoughts. Please watch how you talk to and about people on the internet. Bye.”
The 28-year-old has seen an abnormal amount of contention with denizens of the internet, having used a slur in 2018 to refer to rapper Tyler the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt.
First, she defended her use of the slur before later apologizing. In 2020, she received criticism for saying COVID-19 was “only a flu.” Two years later, she had a dispute on social media with fans in Paraguay after she canceled a performance and a meet-and-greet, tweeting that she would quit music over the criticism.
Conversely, part of Doja Cat’s brand appeal comes from her often candid interactions with fans on social media, and only time will tell if her decision to leave Instagram is a lasting one. Still, the negativity she cites comes as little surprise — even without her history of social media drama.
According to the American Psychological Association, Instagram has been linked in studies to body image concerns, depression, self-esteem issues, social anxiety, and many other detrimental mental health effects. A former engineer at Instagram’s parent company Meta testified before Congress in 2021, claiming that executives were aware of the detrimental effects of Instagram, but “chose not to make any sort of meaningful changes.”
