Shay Mitchell reveals fears about fans using social media to stalk her

“You don’t have to be a celebrity to get unwanted attention”

(Getty Images)

Shay Mitchell has opened up about the dark side of social media and how she takes precautions to protect herself from over-zealous fans.

In a new interview with Cosmopolitan UK, the Pretty Little Liars actor revealed: “When I go out, I don’t say where I am in that exact moment.

“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.”

The 31-year-old stars in the up-coming Netflix thriller, You, about an aspiring writer called Joe who becomes obsessed with a woman he meets in a bookshop and uses social media to get closer to her.

While she hasn’t experienced stalking herself, the star said she has had “really intense encounters with fans".

"Someone had a tattoo of my face on their leg, and it’s like, ‘Well thank you, but that’s permanent!’" she said. "It’s hard to know how to react."

Mitchell regularly documents her personal life on Instagram, sharing photos of her travels abroad, film projects, and fashion.

However, with over 21.5 million Instagram followers on the social media platform, the actor is wary of just how easy it is for users to find out information about a person.

“Everybody can be a detective these days – or a stalker,” she explained.

"So you're kind of choosing [to be] one or the other when it comes to using the internet for getting information. I’m fascinated by that – the issues in You are so relevant to how we use social media nowadays."

While she finds Joe’s character in You “too much”, the Canadian star said she is guilty of becoming overly engrossed with people’s lives on social media.

“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?’ 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!’.

"It can be scary. You have to be careful."

The actor’s comments come hours after YouTube star James Charles posted a plea for privacy from his fans on Twitter.

On Sunday, the 19-year-old – who has over 11 million subscribers to his eponymous YouTube channel – said it was “extremely disrespectful” for fans to show up at his house as it makes him feel unsafe in his own home.

Charles later tweeted he was finding it hard to concentrate and was upset by a recent privacy breech at his New York home.