Why Zooey Deschanel Took a Social Media Break

“New Girl” star Zooey Deschanel is gracing the cover of Cosmopolitan's November 2016 issue. In the issue, she opens up about taking a break from social media and her FOX show.

Over the past year, the world has been hit by numerous terrorist acts and shootings that killed many innocent victims. Those events influenced Zooey's decision to pull away from social media for a bit.

She explained, "A lot of very strange, tragic, sad, unfathomable things have happened… to the point where you're like, no amount of thoughts and prayers can make this better. It makes me more reflective. I took a social-media break because everyone feels the need to comment on everything immediately. Sometimes, we need to be thoughtful about what we say.”

The tragedies may not have completely tainted her view of humanity. She reflected, "When I was growing up, I always thought the world would get less bigoted, less racist, and people would be more open-minded. For a while, I thought that was happening, but it's been very scary the last few years.” She added, "I really, truly believe that people are basically good in nature, and in the end, that prevails.”

Aside from social media, Deschanel also took a few months off from filming “New Girl” after giving birth to baby daughter Elsie with husband Jacob Pechenik. She shared, "We live in a country that doesn't give paid maternity leave. I felt very lucky to have an employer who was understanding and let me have, like, four months with my baby before I had to go back to work.”