Selena Gomez may be the celebrity with most number of followers on social media but the 28-year-old has no ‘apps’ installed on her cellphone for the last two years because according to her, the usage of Internet and social platforms has adverse effects on mental health, to which I do agree as well. During an interview given to doctor on #WorldMentalHealthDay yesterday, she discussed her thoughts on mental health and why she prefers a life without social media as followed:
I’m very vocal about technology. I have not personally for two years had any social media on my phone – though I use the platform, I make sure I approve things I want to write – but I don’t look at it. It’s not on my phone, I believe heavily that there is something about social media and it’s technology being blamed for increases in loneliness and disconnection and I get pretty fired up about it. Every day I woke up and was like why am I doing this? If I constantly think I’m doing something wrong or they think I’m this sell out, they feel like I’m not authentic? Which is every part of my being. These words hurt and they add nothing to my life. The truth is, they’re lies. That was how I handled it by saying I’m going to step out. I noticed a change to the things with what I was posting. I was very on-trend with the whole ‘pretty stuff’ posts. I feel like I’ve become normalized in this situation which isn’t normal. My job is a lot of travel, connecting with people, making people happy — and that makes me happy and it has been a struggle.
The singer/songwriter, who hasn’t used social media for last two years, has more than 194 million followers on Instagram making her as one of the most ‘followed’ celebrities in the world on photo-sharing app.