AceShowbiz - Evangeline Lilly has developed an interesting relationship with social media, because engaging with fans online has given her confidence, even though she used to despise the apps.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies star previously hated the idea of being part of the social media network and avoided creating an account on any of the platforms for several years.

However, after agreeing to create online profiles to promote her work, she found that it actually had a positive affect on her way of thinking.

"I got coerced into doing so (using social media) for the sake of my career and also just so I could have my own voice in the world and not just have press speak for me all the time," she told U.S. chat show The Talk.

"What I found fascinating was that I was cynical about it and the more I did it and the more I actually looked at it and engaged with it, the more I started to accept my imperfections."

Evangeline explains seeing other users post pictures of themselves in a less-than-flattering light made her realise she didn't have to look red carpet-ready all the time.

"That is not necessarily a common thing that people talk about with social media, but what happened for me was I grew up in the '80s, where the only pictures you saw of celebrities were absolutely perfect," she continued. "So I thought if you were going to put a picture of yourself into the world, you had to present yourself as perfect and I also unconsciously thought I was supposed to be perfect."

"Then social media and these amazing millennials just sort of got so narcissistic that they even love the grossest pictures of themselves and I was like, 'You can be ugly and also lovable'," Evangeline added. "I can put up a picture where I have no makeup and hair and no light and it's just me and I feel good about that."