While insisting she doesn't see any benefits of social media, the 'Only Murders in the Building' actress has TikTok on her phone because it's 'less hostile' than other platforms.
- Feb 17, 2023
AceShowbiz - Selena Gomez has labelled social media a "waste of time." The 30-year-old pop star - who was once the most followed person in the world on Instagram and stays in the top 10 with 378 million followers - was left in tears constantly when she used social media apps herself in the aftermath of her high-profile split from Justin Bieber and now that she employs an assistant to manage her various platforms while she doesn't even have access to Instagram on her personal phone.
"I never got the chance to go to an actual high school. The world was my high school for the longest time, and I started getting inundated with information that I didn't want," she said. "I went through a hard time in a break-up and I didn't want to see any of the [feedback] - not necessarily about the relationship, but the opinions of me versus [someone] else."
"There'd be thousands of really nice comments, but my mind goes straight to the mean one. People can call me ugly or stupid and I'm like, whatever. But these people get detailed. They write paragraphs that are so specific and mean. I would constantly be crying. I constantly had anxiety…I couldn't do it anymore. It was a waste of my time."
The "Only Murders in the Building" actress went on to admit that she does use viral video sharing app TikTok because she finds the enviroment on there to be "less hostile" than other brands such as Twitter and Facebook and now has a "system" in place so she can deal with social media in a healthy way.
She told Vanity Fair magazine, "The only thing I have on my phone is TikTok because I find it to be a little less hostile. There are wonderful things about social media - connecting with fans, seeing how happy and excited they are and their stories."
"But usually that's filtered through [for me now]. I created a system. Everything I do I send to my assistant who posts them. As far as comments, my team will put together a few things that are encouraging."
