Slipknot’s Corey Taylor: I’ve been away from social media for six months… and it’s brilliant

Corey Taylor (Image credit: Ollie Millington/Redferns via Getty)

Corey Taylor reports he’s been away from social media for six months and says the experience has been “brilliant.”

The Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman was speaking with the Irish Times when he was asked why he decided to move away from his accounts, with the vocalist saying that someone else now runs his online presence for him.

Taylor says: “I have been off social media for six months. It’s been brilliant. I don’t miss it at all. 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.

“Now I’m getting the story itself and I can form my own opinion. I can talk to people face-to-face about it. I can’t tell you how tired I am of people being incensed about something. That’s all news stories are now. It’s everyone looking for a reason to be mad. I’m tired of people being mad.”

Asked whether his mental health has improved after removing himself from the constant social media chatter, Taylor replies: “Absolutely. There was a few years when I was dealing with some shit right around the end of my last marriage.

It brings out the worst in people. It is social mania. It’s ridiculous
Corey Taylor

“The fallout from that marriage had forced me into social media, burrowing into a place where people wanted to make me feel better about things because it was bad in my house. I was really ensconced in social media for a while to the point where, when I came up for air, I had gotten to the point where the people on social media were my real friends and my real friends weren’t.

“It was because my real life had become so unhappy. When I got out of that situation, I took a long look at where I had gone to. It took me a long time to extricate myself from it and now, a year ago, I made the change.”

Taylor adds: “I have somebody who runs my social media for me and that’s all it should be.

“From social media, from my point of view, you don’t know who is trying to talk to you, who they are and what they want from you. When you don’t give them attention, they turn on you.

“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. It’s really got to the point that it is a dogpile. 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.

“That to me is enough not to ever go on social media again. It brings out the worst in people. It is social mania. It’s ridiculous.”

Slipknot are currently on the road across the UK – part of the band’s European tour in support of their 2019 album We Are Not Your Kind.

Last week, the Iowa heavyweights released a short film titled Pollution which was based around the video for Nero Forte and directed by Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan.

Slipknot: 2020 UK and European tour
Jan 20: Sheffield Flydsa Arena, UK
Jan 21: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena, UK
Jan 22: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, UK
Jan 24: Birmingham Arena, UK
Jan 25: London The O2, UK
Jan 28: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Jan 29: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany
Jan 30: Paris AccorHotels Arena, France
Feb 01: Luxembourg Rockhal, Luxembourg
Feb 02: Lyon Halle Tony Garnier, France
Feb 04: Budapest Sportarena, Hungary
Feb 06: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland
Feb 08: Stuttgart Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle, Germany
Feb 09: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Feb 11: Milan Mediolanum Forum, Italy
Feb 12: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland
Feb 14: Vienna Stadthalle, Austria
Feb 16: Hamburg Barclaycard Arena, Germany
Feb 17: Berlin Mercedes-Benz Arena, Germany
Feb 18: Dortmund Westfalenhalle, Germany
Feb 20: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Feb 21: Stockholm Ericsson Globe, Sweden
Feb 22: Oslo Telenor Arena, Norway
Feb 24: Helsinki Hartwall Arena, Finland

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Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.