Shay Mitchell keeps herself safe by withholding her location on her social media posts.
The actress is wary of the dangers that come with sharing too much information online, even more so after bagging a role in psychological television series You, which sees Penn Badgley play a man who uses social media to mold himself into the perfect guy for a girl he’s been stalking.
In order to prevent any “unwanted attention,” Shay will never tell her followers where she is.
“When I go out, I don’t say where I am in that exact moment,” the Pretty Little Liars star told Cosmopolitan U.K. “I won’t post about where I am until I leave. I’d advise the same for everyone – you don’t have to be a celebrity to get unwanted attention.”
While Shay hasn’t been a victim of stalking, she has experienced some “really intense encounters with fans,” and recalled an incident where somebody unveiled a tattoo of her face on their leg.
“It’s like, ‘Well thank you, but that’s permanent!’ It’s hard to know how to react,” she cringed.
Nevertheless, she conceded that there is also a positive side to social media and won’t stop using it altogether, finding it fascinating that anybody can use such platforms to “be a detective these days – or a stalker.”
“The way that Joe (Penn’s character) is using it in the show is too much, but Joe is relatable to me because there have been moments where I’ve been with a friend (talking about a boy), and I’ve been like, ‘How do you know what his mum’s sister’s cousin does?’” the 31-year-old reminisced. “And she says, ‘Oh, I found it on Facebook, and then I looked at them on Instagram…’ or they’ve Google searched the company. And you’re like ‘Woah!’”
