IT was once seen as the perfect platform for celebrities to interact with their fans, a place where writers and thinkers could meet like-minded folk and share their ideas.

But now an increasing number of famous faces and once-happy users are turning their backs on social media and the constant spotlight it shines on their lives.

Reasons for quitting are plentiful, from online abuse to gaffes that went viral, but a "social media cleanse" is now a growing trend which shows no sign of abating.

Recent research found that usage of Twitter is down by 23.4 per cent in the UK, Snapchat 15.7 per cent and Facebook by 8 per cent.

A survey carried out by online company Bidvine at the end of 2016 also found that more people want to give up using social media than want to quit smoking in the new year.

Supermodel Gigi Hadid, girlfriend of former One Direction star Zayn Malik, is among the most recent high-profile users to switch off her online presence, telling her legion of fans she was tired of sharing so much of herself on the internet.

"I'm just taking the apps off my phone," she explained. "A lot of the world feels so entitled to other peoples' lives, which is so crazy."

It's not just the younger generation of stars who are reaching for the off switch. Last month Mötley Crüe’s bassist and songwriter Nikki Sixx also deactivated his social media presence, after a number of online spats with other celebrities. The musician said he wanted to "get back to what's real".

Tina Knowles Lawson, mother of pop stars Beyoncé and Solange, is someone who now knows all too well the pitfalls of a mistimed stroke.

She fled social media platforms at the end of last year after inadvertently 'liking' a post on Instagram which criticised the singer Jennifer Hudson.

Her online interaction was picked up by someone else on the internet, who took a screenshot which then went viral and led to Lawson receiving abuse online.

She ruefully admitted that her famous daughters had been concerned that something of this nature might happen, saying, "They always say that I am not that great on social media, I have to be careful. This is the bad side of it. There are people who make their living off of negativity.”

Others who have deleted their apps include singer Ed Sheeran, American Olympic gold-winning athlete Gabby Douglas, Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones and rapper Iggy Azalea, while pop idol Justin Bieber has an on-and-off-again relationship with his online presence.

Twitter expert Mark Shaw says that while celebrities are sometimes guilty of cynically milking a disappearance act from the internet, others are finding the burden to be constantly 'on' exhausting.

He said: "The thing with Twitter is that even if you delete your profile there's still 30 days until it's gone for good, so sometimes a celebrity will announce they are going, get a bit of publicity, and then, hey-presto, they are back again.

"However, there's no doubt that the online world is a more abusive and hostile environment, and we saw that with the rise of Donald Trump.

"Celebrities should remember that it's a public place and not be so quick to take offence. Not everyone who disagrees with them is out to insult them."

While the pressure to be in the spotlight has been too much for some, the abuse others have received online has been the catalyst for a break.

Writer and fat acceptance activist Lindy West is the most recent to switch off, after receiving threats of violence. She said: " I am micromanaged in real time by strangers, neo-Nazis mine my personal life for vulnerabilities to exploit, and men enjoy unfettered, direct access to my brain so they can inform me, for the thousandth time, that they would gladly rape me if I weren’t so fat."

Social media expert Jodie Cook, sales manager of JCsocialmedia.com, believes that the unfettered access social media provides to a celebrity's life comes with the threat of a "constant stream of negativity."

She said: "Previously, where a celebrity may only be performing or on show whilst acting, singing or presenting, now they must keep this up around the clock.

"As a celebrity in the public eye, for every action there is a reaction. It’s not as simple as putting a tweet out there and ignoring your phone for three hours. Whatever you say will be met with a barrage of responses, positive or negative, over the course of several hours. It’s difficult for anyone to switch off to that."