While many of her peers across languages constantly try to improve their social media presence and expand their follower base, Malayalam actor Aishwarya Lekshmi quit social media in 2025. Even after one year, she hasn’t felt the need to reconsider her decision or mull a comeback. In fact, she recently admitted that life without it has been quite rewarding.

Aishwarya Lekshmi on life without social media

“Life without social media is peaceful. I feel like I have lived. Earlier, I was always — and I still am to an extent — watching and judging everything I did. I was constantly thinking, ‘How would this and that look on Instagram?’ If I was on vacation, I would be thinking about which outfit to wear and which picture to post. That’s expected of me, and it’s nice for my social media presence. If I saw a sunset, instead of sitting and enjoying it, I would want to take pictures first and then enjoy,” she shared during a conversation with Sudhir Srinivasan.

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However, now that she has quit social media, Aishwarya Lekshmi said she has been able to soak in moments as they are. “So, if I’m going on vacation now, I throw in a few things that I need, and that’s it. I still have an Instagram account, so I consume what’s there, but I don’t add to the chaos of the platform.”

She continued, “When I decided to quit, my intention was that I no longer wanted to perform for social media. There is a personality one must don to be in it. A perception about you is created by users based on what you post, and then you end up living up to it.”

On facing online negativity and protecting privacy

Aishwarya further maintained that her managers are worried about her and keep requesting her to return to social media. She recalled, “In the last few months before quitting, there was pressure on me to post and talk more on social media. But sometimes I don’t want to post or talk. I’m not saying that others pressured me; in my head, I was telling myself that if I didn’t post often, the numbers wouldn’t go up and the engagement would drop. Honestly, I am not good at the social media game.”

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“I want to be myself, and that’s not always accepted on social media. Besides, there were a lot of comments that hurt me. I was very ruffled. I am a very private person. After a point, I felt very exposed to the viciousness and evil on social media,” she added.

She was most recently seen in debutant director Safar Sanal’s Aasha, starring Urvashi and Joju George in the lead roles.