No other woman in the world boasts as many Instagram followers as Selena Gomez. The Disney child star-turned pop singer-turned Emmy nominee distributes her photos and videos to a cool 429 million fans each time she posts. That might make it strange, then, that nobody seems to appreciate a good social media break more than Gomez. In fact, she talked about the time she stepped away from the platform for multiple years, calling it “the most rewarding gift.”
The Only Murders in the Building star got real about her feelings about Instagram when she spoke at the 2024 TIME 100 Summit, where she revealed (via Deadline):
I took four years off of Instagram and I let my team post for me. I felt like it was the most rewarding gift I gave myself. I was more present. I was happier.
Somebody get that social media team a raise, am I right? Selena Gomez becomes the most followed woman on Instagram, and she wasn’t even the one posting for four whole years! It makes a lot of sense, though, since Instagram has become a job for many celebrities and influencers, rather than a place to actually keep up with what your friends and favorite celebs have going on in their personal lives.
In addition to what the break did for her mental health, Selena Gomez said she was also able to connect better with her friends, like longtime bestie Taylor Swift, over the phone anyway than looking at what they were posting to Instagram. Gomez said at the summit:
It’s more human. I think it’s important to take breaks.
The “Lose You to Love Me” singer has been open about the struggles with anxiety she’s faced because of social media haters, seemingly referring to her breakup with Justin Bieber and people pitting her against his now-wife Hailey Bieber as her reasons for quitting Instagram.
After talking about how the “paragraphs” of mean comments would have her crying constantly, Selena Gomez also temporarily deleted her TikTok account in February 2023, saying she was “too old for this” drama amid the so-called Eyebrowgate, during which fans thought Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber were making fun of Gomez’s eyebrows.
In addition to not wanting to “see what everyone was doing” in the wake of her infamous split from Justin Bieber, the Wizards of Waverly Place star also said Instagram had a tendency to fuel her insecurities with her body.
For the past few years, Selena Gomez been very open about her fluctuating weight due to battling lupus. However, she seems to be in a much better place with herself these days — possibly thanks to that blind eye she turns to social media — as she posted before-and-after swimsuit pics to acknowledge how her body has changed and that she will likely never look the way she did 10 or 15 years ago.
Social media can be a great thing for many reasons, but Selena Gomez seems to want people to stay aware of how Instagram and other platforms affect their mental health. If the most followed woman on Instagram is encouraging people to take breaks and connect with friends on a more personal level, that might be advice worth listening to.
Keep an eye on the 2024 TV schedule to see when Selena Gomez will return with Steve Martin and Martin Short to Only Murders in the Building this summer with your Hulu subscription.
