Selena Gomez Thinks Instagram Is ‘Destroying’ Some of Her Generation

Selena Gomez took celebrity and fan questions for her first big 2020 interview with Dazed magazine, and she gave one of her most forceful responses yet on why she sees Instagram as toxic to young people. Gomez used to be the most followed person on the platform; she is now the fourth most followed person with 167 million followers and the second most followed woman. (Ariana Grande is the first.)

Photographer Brianna Capozzi asked, “If you could hit a button today and get rid of Instagram entirely, would you?”

Gomez essentially answered yes, but…

“Oh gosh! I think I’d have a lot of people not liking me for saying yes,” Gomez started with a laugh. “If I could find a balanced, happy medium that would be great, but I would be lying if I said that it isn’t destroying some of my generation, their identity. It’s a huge part of why I named my album Rare—because there’s so much pressure to look the same as everyone else. It was scary going back on—the first four days I was like, ‘No, there’s no way I can do this.’ What I do now is to only go on it when I feel like I need to, and then I’ll just log off, I won’t take time to explore or look at anything else.”

Gomez later explained that she protects herself from losing sight of what’s important by not reading what’s written about her online. “Well, I don’t read anything, I don’t read any single thing,” Gomez said. “That’s been kind of hard, ’cause I was used to reading everything for so long. But I don’t, and I mean that. You know, when I found out that [Rare] was getting great reviews I appreciated hearing it but I just can’t pay attention: the moment I do I start getting insecure and I just feel empty. It’s so much nicer not to know sometimes.”

Director Anna Chai asked Gomez if she had any regrets. In her response, Gomez touched on her feelings about her on-off (and now permanently off) relationship with Justin Bieber (their breakup inspired “Lose You to Love Me”) and her experiences with depression and anxiety. It all led her to where she is now, so she has no regrets.

“No, no,” Gomez said. “I mean, there are certain things which I wish hadn’t happened to me. But without them I wouldn’t have been the voice I am for people who have gone through the same thing. You know, going through the lupus thing and the kidney transplant, I was dealing with fame and with being run-down, dealing with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues that I had. It was all a bit confusing. When ‘Lose You to Love Me’ came out, I stood back and had this moment, like, ‘Oh… this is a huge reason why I’ve pushed myself through this. This is why.’ I was able to release a song that hopefully helps to heal some people, or just lets them know they are not alone. I was actually letting it go personally and when that happened something inside of me just left. And that’s why I am grateful for the chapters of my life. I’m not saying that it’s gonna be easy from now on, but I have a lot more strength and a lot more courage and a bigger voice to stand up for what I deserve.”

As for what she’s taking away from 2010, she said she’s “just leaving behind that girl who was just, you know, very timid, weak, abused and silent. And now I’m stepping into who I’m meant to be; I’m leaving that girl behind. I’m giving her a hug. I am who I am.”

From: ELLE US

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