Emma Stone Explains Why She Stays Off Instagram: ‘I’m Afraid for My Mental Health’

Emma Stone has shared a refreshingly honest reason for why she has never joined Instagram — and it all comes down to protecting her mental health.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Oscar-winning actress said she avoids social media because she worries about how it could affect her well-being.

“One hundred percent no. That’s why I don’t even have Instagram,” Stone said when asked if she would turn her newly purchased domain name into a lifestyle website. “I’m too afraid of my own mental health to be engaged in that way.”

Stone made the comments while promoting her upcoming Super Bowl commercial for Squarespace, which she created with longtime collaborator Yorgos Lanthimos. The black-and-white ad, airing between the first and second quarters of the game on Feb. 8, humorously shows Stone trying to buy her own domain name — something she admitted she had never actually done before filming the commercial.

“I don’t know why I never did that,” she said, joking that Squarespace had to work around her “lack of foresight” to make the ad work. “It would have been weird if you went to EmmaStone.com and something random was going on there.”

While she stays off Instagram, Stone says she still enjoys consuming content online — just quietly. She described herself as a “lurker” who loves following other people’s work without posting herself.

The actress also got nostalgic about her early days on the internet, revealing she used to build basic websites on platforms like Angelfire and GeoCities as a kid. She even created a school presentation that classmates had to view at the library.

“I was really proud of my drop-down menus,” she recalled.

These days, Stone spends much of her online time reading Substack newsletters, especially fashion writing, creative essays, and “a little bit of the gossipy stuff.” She laughed that she’s now “one of the Substack freaks” and spends “a lot of money” on subscriptions.

Stone, who shares 4-year-old daughter Louise with husband Dave McCary, is currently enjoying major awards-season buzz. She is nominated at the upcoming Academy Awards on March 15 for Best Actress for her role in Bugonia. She’s also nominated as a producer on the film, which is up for Best Picture.

Bugonia marks Stone’s fourth feature film collaboration with Lanthimos — and another example of her carefully chosen projects, both online and off.