Emma Thompson: Social Media is Killing a Generation

Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson is making her views on social media very, very clear in a new interview with Vanity Fair.

"I'd rather have root canal treatment for the rest of my life than join Twitter," the 55-year-old "Saving Mr. Banks" star said. "I can't bear the thought of being connected all the time. God knows what it's all doing to us. I hope that everyone does realize that we are all just one giant human experiment at the moment. We are just a great big bunch of little gerbils on wheels."

Thompson - who can next be seen in "The Love Punch," opening Friday - doesn't stop there. She goes on to suggest that social media users have become a "lemming generation" whose online addiction could eventually contribute to their demise.

"In about 25 years time, maybe, a sudden generation will just drop dead," she says in the article, adding, "Everyone will just die on the same day. And I’ll say, 'Oh, what do these people have in common? Hang on.' They were connected every day 24/7, you know! And no one knew what it was going to do to them. No one knew! Because we didn’t bother to find out. Because we’re stupid! We invent stuff, we just fling it out there, we let anyone use it. A three-year-old could f------ be on Twitter. A three-year-old! And then they go on and on and on about everything that there is. And get reviewed every day by Facebook. And then we will wonder why, at the age of 60, an entire generation chucks itself off a cliff like a bunch of lemmings. Actually, that’s the most likely outcome, don’t you think? It’s like, 'I can’t take this anymore!' It’s the lemming generation, I’m telling you."

So Facebook and Twitter are definitely not her thing. How about Googling herself?

"Putting my head in the toilet and flushing it repeatedly would be a more cleansing experience," Thompson said of the idea of searching for herself on the Internet.

Point taken. 

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