Slipknot’s Corey Taylor Quit Social Media Largely Because of Internet Trolls
Corey Taylor says he's "been off social media for six months" since the musician handed off his promotional Internet duties to a professional. And the reasons behind the Slipknot and Stone Sour singer's social media sabbatical mainly have to do with Internet trolls and "people being mad" online.
That's how the rocker put it to The Irish Times last week (Jan. 15) in an interview surrounding Slipknot's 2020 European tour kick-off in Dublin. Explaining that, for him, trolling proved to be "enough not to ever go on social media again," Taylor outlined his thoughts on the Internet's hostile side.
"When you don't give them attention, they turn on you," the singer said. "I have had to deal with some serious shit because of that. It's called cybertrolling. In a lot of ways it really is stalking. It's the darker side of fame that people don't want to talk about. It's everybody from me to Chrissy Teigen."
Taylor continued, "If you don't give them the right kind of response, they will come after you in the dirtiest ways creating different accounts under different names. … It is social mania. It's ridiculous."
More generally, the musician admitted that staying away from social media has given him a better overview of world events. These days, he said he gets his news without the obtuse public commentary that often accompanies it.
"I don't miss it at all," Taylor explained. "Here's the thing. It made me go back and read the news again. I read the news every day. It's not like I'm not up to speed with everything, but now I'm not getting shitty reactions to news stories. I'm not barraged by a bunch of memes in reaction to a news story here or there."
The Slipknot figurehead previously tackled social media addiction and its fallout in his book America 51. In the recent interview with The Irish Times, Taylor also broached subjects such as music streaming's pay disparity for artists and the physical cost of performing with Slipknot for so many years. In addition, he plugged the upcoming "Knotfest at Sea" rock cruise. Get Slipknot concert tickets here.
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