Scarlett Johansson Isn’t On Social Media So Now Her Best Images Are Out Of Her Control
A fan account posts pictures celebrating Scarlett Johansson, because the star doesn't have her own social media presence.
Scarlett Johansson spent about three days on Instagram before she decided that social media was not for her. Entertainment Weekly reported that Johansson avoids the addictive apps for the sake of her mental health. By not staking an official claim on social media, fans have created accounts like @scarlettjohanssonworld in her honor, opening a dangerous door.
This particular account is tasteful. In a loving and reverential manner, it posts the best portraits and red carpet photos ever taken of Scarlett Johansson. But it doesn’t have to.
The copyright law and individual policies of social media companies regarding fan accounts are murky. While one account posts flattering photos of Scarlett Johansson, there is nothing stopping another from doing the opposite. In either case, the accounts could impersonate the celebrity and dupe less vigilant users into believing they are following someone they are not.
Despite the risk posed by fan accounts, Scarlett Johansson opposes staking her claim on the most popular platforms for the sake of her mental health. She detailed her brief experience with Instagram to make her point.
Scarlett Johansson quickly fell down a rabbit hole, spending 20 minutes investigating the life of a stranger. By the end, her self-esteem had plummeted. “I felt so bad, like I was missing out on this random person’s life,” she recalled. “I can’t do this. I’m too fragile. I have too much anxiety about other things.”
Scarlett Johansson is not the only celebrity to abstain from social media. Emma Stone, Chris Pine, and Daniel Craig top the long list of celebrities absent from the online world. Multiple fan accounts are dedicated to all of them.
It is no secret that social media impacts users’ mental health. A breakdown from McLean Hospital details how social media affects the brain. Built to be addictive, the platforms are like slot machines for the brain, with the potential for reward in the forms of likes, comments, and messages.
Interactions on social media release the feel-good brain chemical dopamine, much the same way in-person interactions do. The trap Scarlett Johansson and so many others fall into is that of comparison. The structure of the platforms encourages people to measure their lives against the curated display of others, which often causes depression, anxiety, and other mental and physical maladies.
Social media is a powerful and dangerous tool. Using it can be harmful, but for celebrities, staying off of it can take power over their image out of their hands. Scarlett Johansson is lucky to have many loyal and venerable fans at the helm of her fan accounts, but not everyone has such respectful intentions with images of celebrities.
Even with an official account, nothing can stop the internet. People will do what they will with the content on the web, but an official account can go a long way in determining the legitimacy of certain words and images.
For now, Scarlett Johansson will limit her official social media activity to work done with her skin care brand, The Outset. Johansson will appear in theaters again this summer as part of the star-studded cast of Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, and will star alongside Channing Tatum in the Apple space race drama Project Artemis.
