Olly Alexander suffered "anxiety" over Twitter.
The Years and Years frontman is known for speaking out on issues that are important to him but he’s learned to refer to his own experiences and being able to "back up" what he’s saying in order to avoid online commentators calling him out.
Asked about the pressure of being under scrutiny by social media users, he admitted: "I had a lot of anxiety over that for a while.
"But I always knew that was the case. And I knew that if I said something, I needed to be able to back it up.
"That’s why I always speak on my own experiences – because I know what they felt like.
"At the same time, I’m always trying to acknowledge other experiences and other systems of oppression, and juggle all those things. It can be a bit, like, ‘oh God’.
"But at the same time, I wanted to do it so much that it felt like the benefits outweighed the negatives."
However, the 28-year-old singer doesn’t consider him an "activist" because he only gets involved in causes that have meaning to him, though he also worries he isn’t doing enough and is coming at things from a very privileged position.
He told NME.com: "I genuinely do want the world to change in a positive way, but I wouldn’t call myself an activist, you know? I’m an entertainer who engages with activism because it feels really meaningful for me.
"But sometimes I look at what you could call my ‘personal activism’ and think, ‘Is it just giving speeches at awards shows?’ And then I think, ‘That’s not enough, that’s f**ked up’.
"And it opens up this weird conflict in my brain because I want to help, but at the same time I worry that I’m also perpetuating something, because I’m this white cisgender gay guy that’s ticking all these privilege boxes.
"I’m trying to dismantle a system that I’m benefiting from, which is inherently problematic and a bit difficult. But I wouldn’t change my advocacy. I don’t always get it right, but I’ve met so many amazing people who’ve taught me so much about advocating for various kinds of rights."
Olly Alexander’s speaking out fear
