Selena Gomez has been in the limelight for as long as everyone can remember. After all, Gomez has been working nearly all her life, getting her start at Barney & Friends before signing up with Disney and starring in various tv shows and films.
Over the years, Gomez also made a name for herself as a music artist (alongside former lover Justin Bieber). And while she’s battled several health issues and even courted controversy in the past, the young actress and singer is currently experiencing a resurgence. With a new show on Hulu (Only in Murders in the Building) and several business ventures, Gomez is doing better than she’s ever been. It also seems that she’s got a new perspective on public life, thanks to her nasty experience with internet trolls in the past.
She Has Been In The Spotlight For Most Of Her Life
The moment Gomez became a Disney star, she was launched into stardom almost overnight. That also came with a lot of pressure and expectations. “That was my job in a way—to be perfect,” she recalled during an interview with Vogue. “You’re considered a figure kids look up to, and they take that seriously there.”
At the same time, Gomez realized that she also had something else to deal with – the paparazzi. They started hounding her when was just 15, showing up everywhere to snap photos of her. “I remember going to the beach with some family members who were visiting, and we saw, far away, grown men with cameras—taking pictures of a 15-year-old in her swimsuit,” she revealed. “That is a violating feeing.”
As she got older, the attention around Gomez intensified. And just like other women her age, she also took to social media to communicate directly with her fanbase. In fact, Gomez did more than just share her work. She bared her soul as she just got candid about he struggles with her physical and mental health. “The reason why I've become so vocal about the trials and tribulations of my life is because people were already going to narrate that for me,” Gomez told NPR. “I wasn't going to have a choice because of how fast everything moves now.” Unfortunately, her direct social media presence also made Gomez an easy target for trolls.
She Admits Internet Trolls ‘Messed Me Up For A Bit’
As Gomez dealt with health issues (she suffers from Lupus and she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2018), fans rallied around her as much as they could. However, that didn’t stop trolls from attacking her on social media, criticizing her for the way she looked as her weight fluctuated due to her medication.
And while Gomez was used to being the subject of scrutiny around this time, the singer admits that it still affected her. “I really noticed when people started attacking me for that,” she admitted while speaking on Giving Back Generation video podcast with friend Raquelle Stevens. “That got to me big time ... that really messed me up for a bit.”
Eventually, Gomez pushed back. She also learned the importance of loving herself inside and out. “I’m very happy with living my life...being in the present, because that’s it.” At the same time, Gomez also learned the best way to handle social media (and future trolls) moving forward.
Here’s How Selena Gomez Is Dealing With That Now
For Gomez, the best way to deal with social media was to let go of it altogether. The epiphany came to her rather unexpectedly. “I woke up one morning and looked at Instagram, like every other person, and I was done,” she recalled. “I was tired of reading horrible things. I was tired of seeing other people’s lives.” When she decided to do this, Gomez started to feel better almost immediately. “After that decision, it was instant freedom,” she shared. “My life in front of me was my life, and I was present, and I could not have been more happy [sic] about it.”
That said, Gomez didn’t exactly give up on social media completely. Instead, the actress/singer decided to hand over her accounts to a professional. In fact, her assistant has been managing her social media since 2017, although Gomez herself gives photos and quotes for the posts. This way, she can still be involved without becoming engrossed at any time. “I suddenly had to learn how to be with myself. That was annoying, because in the past, I could spend hours looking at other people’s lives,” Gomez confessed while speaking with Elle. “I would find myself down nearly two years in someone’s feed, and then I’d realize, ‘I don’t even know this person!’” Nowadays too, Gomez also prefers to catch up the old-fashioned way. “When my friends have something to talk about, they call me and say, ‘Oh, I did this.’ They don’t say, ‘Wait, did you see my post?’”
Even today, Gomez continues to stay out of her own social media accounts, and she couldn’t be more pleased. “That was such a relief for me,” she even remarked.