Selena Gomez Says Disconnecting from Social Media ‘Saved My Life’
Selena Gomez isn’t much for keeping up on social media these days after finding that stepping away from it was a lifesaver for her mental health. Gomez does still like to be connected to her fans through social media platforms, but says she has her assistant update her accounts.
Selena Gomez explained why she needed a break from social media
Gomez decided to step back from social media a few years ago after realizing how unhealthy it was becoming for her, she revealed in an interview for WWD’s Beauty Inc. issue. “To be honest, I was just, like, ‘This is too much information.’ This is too much of my personal life spread out everywhere, and it just felt uncontrollable,” she said.
Gomez continued, “I felt like my thoughts and everything I was consuming revolved around a million different other people in the world saying good things and bad things.”
The singer/actor eventually hit her limit with the overwhelming nature of social media and identified that stepping away was the best move. “And I just thought, ‘Why would I — I don’t get anything from it. Nothing is giving me life,’” Gomez explained. “And I just snapped, and I was over it.”
She still has social media profiles but has an assistant post for her
Gomez continues to have social media accounts to maintain a connection with her fans, but she doesn’t personally post anything. “I do all of my posts through texting my assistant and the caption that I want,” she explained.
“I’m happy I didn’t [delete the profiles], because it is such a wonderful way to stay connected, and when I do go on, it makes me happy to know that I’m just being completely honest and being true to who I am,” Gomez said.
Distancing herself in this way has been a “healthy” change for her. “I say that because that’s a huge, significant part of why I feel like I’ve been as healthy as I have been,” Gomez shared. “I’m completely unaware of actually what’s going on in pop culture, and that makes me really happy. And maybe that doesn’t make everybody else happy, but for me, it’s really saved my life.”
Gomez shared how she experienced ‘immense’ pressure growing up in the spotlight
Gomez also explained her experience growing up in the spotlight and the pressure to be “a good role model.”
“There was this immense amount of pressure I had growing up that I felt like I needed to be a good role model,” the actor shared. “And then I felt like maybe that was just unrealistic, and my life became very public really quickly, and I didn’t know that I was going through my own journey with mental health at the time.”
She called it “confusing” because “people created this narrative of my life.” Gomez knew that she had to take control and share the reality of her journey with the world. “I have to just address what needs to be addressed, and that’s me reclaiming my story, which is, ‘OK, yeah, I was definitely going through a hard time, and this is why, and this is what I deal with,'” she explained.
