CHERRIES midfielder Ben Pearson lifted the lid on why he does not use social media and added: “It’s probably worked out better for me, not having that distraction.”

The 26-year-old joined Cherries from Preston North End in January, and played 20 times in all competitions during the second half of the campaign.

Having come through the youth ranks at Manchester United, Pearson revealed how he was banned from using the online platforms by the Red Devils.

Asked why he was not on social media now, the Cherries star told the From the Finney podcast: “When I was at United, I think probably when I was 17 or 18, we used to have a lot of meetings about social media and stuff like that.

“We also got banned off all social media when I was 17 or 18 at the time.

“We all made Facebooks but with false names, so we did that for a few years. When I left, I just never made one because I was fine without it.

“I never really bothered about looking at stuff after the game anyway. I see a lot of people who read it.”

Pearson also revealed he had witnessed first-hand what damage the online platforms could do for players, as recently as Cherries’ latest contest.

The Dorset club were beaten 3-1 away at Brentford in the Championship play-off semi-final, a result which left them pondering a 3-2 aggregate defeat.

Centre-back Chris Mepham was sent off during the first half of the second leg for hauling down Bryan Mbeumo.

Midfielder Pearson, who played 90 minutes of that contest, added: “After the play-off game just gone, I was on the coach with Chris Mepham after the game, who got sent off.

“He just deleted his Instagram on the coach and I just thought, ‘that’s not what you need, that’.

“It’s probably worked out better for me, not having that distraction.”