Entertainment

Huge Instagram following is 'a big responsibility'

September 21, 2023 6:20 pm

[Source: BBC Entertainment]

Selena Gomez has said being the most-followed woman on Instagram is “a big responsibility”.

The actress and singer says she’s “never really cared” about numbers but that “it can be a little heavy”.

Selena made the comments, reported in The Hollywood Reporter, at Universal Music Group and Thrive Global’s Music and Health Conference.

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Last year, she released a documentary about her health and mental wellbeing after being diagnosed with lupus.

Selena has 429 million followers on Instagram – more than her bestie Taylor Swift who has 272 million and Kylie Jenner, the previous title holder, who is followed by 399 million people.

The 31-year-old says fans have reached out to her about their own struggles to tell her how her music has helped them through difficult times.

While grateful to feel she can help people, she added “It can be a little heavy”.

Selena has become well known for speaking about mental well-being since the release of her documentary.

My Mind and Me, made by Apple TV, follows Selena dealing with the impact of her childhood fame, her kidney transplant in 2017 and a high-profile break-up with Justin Bieber.

She revealed that she was initially “very against” the documentary.

Tanvi Shah is a content creator, who can relate to what Selena says about the pressure of having a significant social media following.

Sharon Gaffka is a former Love Island contestant, who has nearly 350,000 followers on Instagram – she says “Having a following on social media is actually really nice, because it’s provided a liberating new way to form a career”.

But she says she feels a lot of responsibility, as most of her audience are young women.