Largely thanks to his time in the MCU, Tom Holland has become one of the biggest young stars in the entire movie industry. His latest appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home only took him to new highs, as that film became the highest-grossing non-Avengers movie in MCU history behind a masterful Holland performance.
Through his time in the MCU, Holland’s presence on social media became fairly regular, amassing nearly 75 million combined followers on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. He’s used that presence for far more than promoting his movies as well, also acting as a big part of The Brother’s Trust, a charity set up by Holland’s family that helps grant funds and support to other charities in need.
But now, after a noticeable decrease in posts from Holland following No Way Home’s release, the actor has shared a message updating fans about his future with social media.
Spider-Man Star Leaves Social Media
MCU star Tom Holland took to Instagram to share that he's leaving social media, having deleted the Instagram and Twitter applications from his devices.
Holland only temporarily came back to share this decision in a three-minute-long video, letting fans know that he's staying offline in order to take care of his own mental health. He also took time during the video to promote the Stem4 Teenage Mental Health Charity and The Brothers Trust, his own charity organization, in a stance to support mental health for all.
The Spider-Man star included the following caption:
"Hello and goodbye... I have been taking a break from social media for my mental health, but felt compelled to come on here to talk about Stem4. Stem4 is one of the many charities The Brothers Trust is extremely proud to support - and I’d like to take a moment to shine a light on their fantastic work. Please take the time to watch my video, and should you feel inclined to share it with anyone who it may resonate with - it would be greatly appreciated. There is a link in my bio to The Brothers Trust Shop, where you can buy a t-shirt, and help us continue to help these amazing charities thrive. Love to you all, and let’s get talking about mental health"
Holland opened up the video with the following message, noting how "overstimulating" and "overwhelming" both Twitter and Instagram can be for him, which led him to leave both of them for the foreseeable future:
"Hi guys. So I’ve been trying to make this video for about an hour now, and for someone that has spent that las 13, 14 years, however long I’ve been acting…I cannot seem to say what I need to say without ‘um-ing’ and ‘ah-ing’ every five minutes, so I’m gonna try again. I have taken a break from social media for my mental health, because I find Instagram and Twitter to be overstimulating, to be overwhelming, I get caught up and I spiral when I read things about me online, and ultimately, it’s very detrimental to my mental state, so I decided to take a step back and delete the app."
Holland's full video can be seen below:
Tom Holland Takes a Step Back from Spotlight
As of August 2022, Tom Holland has more followers on Instagram than any MCU star outside of Groot actor Vin Diesel, having skyrocketed in popularity over the past half-decade. After being the leading actor in the biggest pop culture movie since Avengers: Endgame, he's reached a level of fame that very few actors reach, and it appears to have taken a toll on him.
Being a Hollywood actor on any level in Hollywood can be mentally taxing and challenging due to both fans and media talking about the stars of their favorite movies, especially with the current 24/7 climate that today's social media brings. There's also a massive part of that discussion that can be negative, and no matter where it comes from, stars like Holland can't avoid taking in those comments every day.
Holland only recently reached his 26th birthday, which should remind fans of just how young he still is even after his six-year run within the MCU as Spider-Man. His public relationship with Spider-Man co-star Zendaya also regularly keeps him in the public eye, and he's discussed on numerous occasions how stressful that can be for both of them as they grow together.
Whether Holland will return to social media remains to be seen, but that decision will be for him to make when he feels the time is right to do so. With only a couple of projects on his resume in the near future before his likely return as Peter Parker in the undated Spider-Man 4, the MCU star will hopefully have the opportunity to make his own life as comfortable as he can as he promotes that same mental health for everybody.
