Even Selena Gomez isn't immune to the consequences of social media.
If you're one of the 253 million people who keep up with Selena on Instagram today — she's still one of the platform's most-followed public figures — then you already know the singer, actor, rising pro chef, and mental health advocate operates a fairly active account.
She manages to maintain a comfortable distance from it though. In a new interview for the cover of Elle's first-ever Latinx issue, Selena explained that she creates the content we see on her various social media pages, but doesn't have access to any of the account passwords.
In 2017, Selena said that she gave password privileges to an assistant, who now acts as a liaison between her and the social platforms themselves. The decision, as she explained, was part of a push to prioritize her mental wellbeing and focus on herself, without feeling tempted to fixate on others instead.
"I don't have it [social media] on my phone, so there's no temptation. I suddenly had to learn how to be with myself," Selena recalled. "That was annoying, because in the past, I could spend hours looking at other people's lives. I would find myself down nearly two years in someone's feed, and then I'd realize, 'I don't even know this person!'"
"Now I get information the proper way," she continued. "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?'"
