Entertainment

Aubrey Plaza: social media can warp minds

The Parks And Recreation star warned that it can be “very toxic” to stare at other people’s photos too much.
The Parks And Recreation star warned that it can be “very toxic” to stare at other people’s photos too much. The Parks And Recreation star warned that it can be “very toxic” to stare at other people’s photos too much.

Parks And Recreation’s Aubrey Plaza has warned that social media can be “very toxic” as she stars as an online stalker in her latest film.

Plaza, who played April Ludgate in the lauded TV series, said that staring at pictures of other people’s lives can do “weird stuff” to users’ minds.

She spoke to the Press Association on Thursday ahead of Ingrid Goes West’s screening on the final night of the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Plaza, 32, said: “I try my best to have fun with (social media) but I am pretty wary of it.

“I feel like it can be a very toxic thing in someone’s life to spend all that time looking at other people’s pictures. I think it kind of does some weird stuff to your brain.”

Plaza, who is also a producer of the film, plays Ingrid, a woman who becomes obsessed with Instagram-star Taylor Sloane, portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen.

Director and co-writer Matt Spicer said he hopes the film will start a conversation about our relationship with social media.

“I think we wanted to show what’s great about social media and also what’s not great about it and leave people to start a conversation about it,” he said.

:: Ingrid Goes West is released in UK cinemas on November 17.