If you’re famous, you’re under a microscope. If you’re famous and on social media, you’re definitely under a microscope. Anything you do, whether that’s online or offline, is coming back to you from hundreds of people. Drop a pass or cause someone to lose a bet or fantasy football game, people are going to be on you.
Many people, whether they’re famous or not, try to distance themselves from social media due to how toxic and how mentally and emotionally damaging it can be. Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown cut back on his social media usage by deleting it from his phone but he had a vastly different reason why he did that. Instead of leaving because of the bad, Brown revealed to reporters that he didn’t like the positivity and being told how good he played.
AJ Brown says he got off his social media from his phone, even though it was highly positive, because “I don’t believe my own hype.” #Eagles
— Martin Frank (@Mfranknfl) September 16, 2022
A.J. Brown said he deleted social media off his phone because he didn’t want to hear people telling him how good he played.
— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) September 16, 2022
Brown is still on social media and he still posts but deleting social media apps off your phone really keeps you from being on throughout the day.
In a way, this makes sense. Just like how it’s not healthy to solely focus on the bad things people tell you, it’s also not great to solely focus on the good because it can give you a false sense of reality and you deny yourself an opportunity to improve if you’re just reading great things about yourself. And for someone like Brown, maybe he plays better when he has a chip on his shoulder and that’s not going to happen if he’s constantly being told he played well. Especially if he didn’t have a good game.
That being said, given how social media is, it’s strange to see someone leave because they were getting so many positive messages.

About Phillip Bupp
Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @phillipbupp
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