It goes without saying that, in 2016, the majority of us spend a great deal of our time scrolling through our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds; we pore over our friends’ photo albums, we update our statuses, and get the majority of our news updates from these forums.

However, there’s no denying that having so much of your life on show can feel a little overwhelming at times – even for celebrities who are used to being in the spotlight. And now Gigi Hadid, who was recently named the International Model of 2016, has announced that she will be taking a step back from social media for at least a month.

“I'm taking a month off, actually, during the New Year,” she said, whilst hosting an empowerment panel with Lena Dunham, Ruby Rose, Aly Raisman, and Zoe Kravitz. “I'm not deleting my account, I'm just taking the apps off my phone.”

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Hadid continued: “It's empowering - not just for people in the spotlight, [but] for everyone. At the end of the day I'm choosing what I'm showing you.”

The fashion model went on to explain that she hopes the majority of her fans will support her decision to take a step back – but she also had a strong message to those who feel ‘upset’ by it.

“A lot of the world feels so entitled to other peoples' lives, which is so crazy,” she said. “I'm going to take a break when I feel like it, and when I come back and share it with you, if you want to be supportive and still follow me, that's great. But, if you're going to be upset that I need to be human for a month, than maybe I don't want your follow anyway.”

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Thankfully, however, the 21-year-old has found a wealth of support and inspiration in the form of her close friend – and Girls star – Dunham.

“You find your family in other places,” said Hadid, after admitting that she often finds herself screaming into a pillow as a means of handling stress. “We have a great friend group where we can all come to each other all the time, and just say, 'well, that was s**t.'”

Dunham agreed with Hadid, adding: “Gigi and I were on the phone for hours talking about a social media incident, and we were talking about the fact that sometimes you just have to shut the computer down.”

The 30-year-old finished by saying: “It's a literal nightmare, and you say 'it's okay, I can be tough’, but you shouldn't have to.”

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Hadid, in one of her final social media posts before her break, thanked her panellists for joining her via Twitter.

“Thank u @jessmendoza @Aly_Raisman @RubyRose@ZoeKravitz @lenadunham for being YOU [sic],” she wrote. “So grateful for this experience.”