Ed Sheeran doesn't think he appeals to ''the youth'' any more.

The 'Thinking Out Loud' hitmaker - who turns 30 next February - doesn't feel the need to use social media much any more because he doesn't need to understand a teenage audience as they can't ''relate'' to his lyrics.

He said: ''I'm probably over an age where I don't think I'm going to get the youth back.

''I'm getting into my thirties and it's not like 16 year olds are going to relate to me next time I release an album. So it's not like I need to be on it any more. I can just have someone [else] post it.''

Ed also warned that social media is ''dangerous'' to young people and he deliberately disconnects from apps and email when he's working on new music or it sucks away his creativity.

According to The Sun newspaper, he told a US self-help writer: ''I know friends who have eight year olds that have an iPhone 11 and they're just constantly on social media.

''Kids stop being creative. I stopped being creative when I'm on my phone so when I come in the studio I completely get rid of any laptop or email or anything so you can focus.

''There's an eight-year-old kid that in their spare moments wants to go on TikTok and not paint a macaroni glue picture.''

Meanwhile, the 'A Team' singer believes he's learned more from his failures than success.

He said: ''I don't think anyone that wants to be famous ends up being famous. And when they do, they're like, 'This isn't as fun as I thought it would be'.

''You get to Wembley and do it because it's what you aim for. And then you finish it and you're like, 'What do I do now?' You'd think it would be 'Aha, this is it. I've made it. Oh my God'.

''You don't learn anything from your achievements. You learn everything from your failures.

''I learned more playing to one person in Exeter when no one else came to my gig in 2009 than I did playing Wembley Stadium for four nights.''