This week, Demi Lovato announced that in 2017 she was taking a break, declaring that she’s not cut out for the celebrity life and would rather do charity work instead.

“So excited for 2017,” she tweeted. “Taking a break from music and the spotlight. I am not meant for this business and the media.”

Lovato seems to have been pondering a hiatus over the past few months. Back in June, she quit Instagram and Snapchat for 24 hours in the wake of her split with longtime partner Wilmer Valderrama. Her latest declaration comes in the wake of comments she made about Taylor Swift – specifically that Bad Blood was antifeminist because it attacked Katy Perry, and because nobody in the video boasts a “normal” body. (Cue: grimacing emoji face.)

Understandably, her fans are more than a little rattled, but should the rest of us be surprised? Considering that most of us get a few years to figure our lives out, why shouldn’t young stars bow out of the spotlight for a while?

It’s a question they themselves seem to be asking. Recently, Chloe Grace Moretz pulled out of The Little Mermaid and announced she intended to be “picky” with future roles. In February, Emma Watson revealed plans to spend a year free of acting projects, opting to brush up on feminism instead. And last month, Selena Gomez chose to put her mental and physical health first, taking time off to deal with lupus and anxiety.

Which, admittedly, is a lot different from Lovato’s Swift-inspired flounce. But at the same time, Lovato’s break indicates a shift in the cultural landscape. While previously the only reason to leave the spotlight was to study (like Natalie Portman, James Franco and Anna Chlumsky) or abandon showbusiness altogether (Macaulay Culkin), social media has given young actors and musicians a means of seizing control of their lives’ narrative and dictating the terms of their own well-being. In short: we won’t forget about them provided we can still see what they’re up to, and because of this connection, they can get up to whatever they please.

A “break” isn’t the same as it was pre-Twitter or Instagram. When child stars of the 90s took time off to emerge as bankable adult actors (Devon Sawa, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gaby Hoffmann), writers (Mara Wilson), or to simply revel in normalcy (I miss you, Jonathan Taylor Thomas), they just bowed it, and it was easy for us to focus less on their absence and more on the incoming crop of newly appointed it-stars. But now, to take time off tends to be accompanied by an announcement, therefore piquing our interest and garnering a response. That means it’s only a break for as long as the artist chooses to be on one, and it’s only news if they decide to make it so.

Because lest we forget how little we saw of Harry Styles when he was filming Dunkirk (or before or immediately following). Or how Justin Bieber’s life pre-Apology tour was marked not by his music or social media presence and far more by his tendency to act out. Also, Solange Knowles took four years between this year’s A Seat at the Table and 2012’s True, and Frank Ocean also waited four years between Channel Orange and Blonde. And while none of the above announced a break for school or reprieve a la Watson and friends, their absences were noted and when they surfaced with new music, apologies or magazine spreads, we lapped their returns up happily.

So announcing a break may seem to defeat the purpose of a break at all, but it actually also helps cultivate a world in which celebrity isn’t the ultimate end game. (Not to mention inciting communication about one’s goals, problems, trials and tribulations.) And while it may seem like young stars – and particularly young women – are succumbing to industry pressures, they’re actually just putting the industry in perspective. Time off is sending the message that acting, singing and being generally adored pales in comparison to education, self-care and self-awareness. And that tells younger followers particularly that the world is a multidimensional place with many more options than just fame.

Because even though Lovato’s break seems to come from defensiveness – like she’s peacing out in the wake of Swifterati fury – it’s still a bold move. She could choose to fuel a feud or compromise her thoughts for the sake of appealing to Taylor’s posse. Instead, she chose to acknowledge that the place she’s in isn’t where she wants to be. And if that isn’t control over one’s own creative narrative; to prioritize happiness or fulfillment or even take one’s self out of the line of fire, then I don’t know what is. Take all the breaks in the world.