I Acted Like Selena Gomez On Instagram And This Is What Happened

    Call me SelNINA.

    Nina Mohan
    by Nina Mohan

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Hey guys, Nina here. This is me on Instagram. I will fully admit to being vain AF, and I've tried to cultivate a ~cute and cool~ aesthetic. But if I want to play in the big leagues, I figured I'd have to take cues from the most followed person on Instagram: Selena Gomez!

    Selena's Instagram aesthetic is actually kind of hard to pin down. She has cute photos, artsy photos, low-quality pics, high-quality ads, videos...everything! So I decided to take some well-liked pictures and re-create them!

    1. The "#Ad That's So Freakin' Glam You Forget It's an #Ad" shot.

    My re-creation:

    instagram.com / Via ninamohan

    FYI, this is the most liked photo on Instagram. It actually turned out better than I thought it would. It's kind of a cool beauty shot. I'm not fancy enough to drink Coke out of a glass bottle, so I went with a more accessible can of Coke Zero. I did have a really hard time re-creating what her mouth is doing though, because despite the fact it's open, the straw isn't actually inside it. It's some weird optical illusion shit. People responded very well to this picture, so perhaps taking a step outside my Instacomfort zone was worth it.

    The "Looking Flawless While Perfectly Balancing on a Shopping Cart and Sucking a Popsicle" shot.

    My re-creation:

    ninamohan / Via instagram.com

    I am not nearly rich or famous enough to open a popsicle in the grocery store before buying it. So I went with a different delicious, vaguely phallic item: a wine bottle. Also, Ralph's didn't have the half carts like the one Selena is sitting on, so I had to load up a regular cart with lots of beer to stop it from tipping it over. It definitely felt weird to pose in a Ralph's. I went at like 11 p.m. on a Sunday and I still had to pause for people to walk through. Someone did tell me they hoped I got a good shot, though. This is such a departure from my normal Instagram aesthetic, and I was kind of upset about having to post a picture where I couldn't control my best angles.

    My boyfriend had to take about a thousand shots to get just the right one. For every one decent picture, there were three of me awkwardly adjusting myself.

    Chris Kapica / BuzzFeed

    The "Casually Playing a Piano in a Bikini as if It Were Normal" shot.

    My re-creation:

    ninamohan / Via instagram.com

    I had to go to a friend's house to take this picture because I don't own a piano. Thankfully, he was out of town. I am wearing a bikini, but it's not cute and matching, so lots of people told me they thought I was just in my underwear. THIS PICTURE IS RIDICULOUS. When I wear a bikini, I feel the urge to swim and be self-conscious, not play the piano and look pensive. Again, this picture is so different from my regular, straight-on #OOTD shots. One friend even commented that it was an "evolution for the brand." I felt really insecure about posting it because I'm so exposed, but friends and commenters said I looked good, so I guess I'll own it.

    The "Legs for Days but Also Be Careful Not to Show My Underwear" shot.

    My re-creation:

    ninamohan / Via instagram.com

    Unfortunately, I did not have the budget to go to Paris, like Selena. I am in Koreatown, Los Angeles, standing on the front stairs of my apartment. My face is also barely in it, which was hard for me because I feel like my face is a strong selling point in a lot of my Instagrams. So I really had to work the body. This pose might make it look like she's just standing there, but I had to position my back carefully to hide my boobs and tuck my butt and squeeze my legs and I'm ashamed to say I broke a sweat. I am convinced that Instagrams are how she stays fit.

    I don't think this picture is very iconic, but to my surprise, SOMEONE CAUGHT ME!

    The "I Don't Give a Fuck if There's a Trash Can and Water Bottles in This Pic, I Look Good" shot.

    My re-creation:

    ninamohan / Via instagram.com

    This is the foyer of my apartment, so I prayed very hard that no one would walk by while I was taking bikini selfies. Only one person did and he ignored me, so thanks, neighbor! I've never posted a photo on Instagram that shows off this much of my body. I think when you're a celeb on Selena's level, part of the job is having a good body and so of course you'd want to snap a pic of it at any moment. But I'm not at that level and felt really grossed out when someone commented on how having "jiggle" is a good thing. Ugh. I did notice I lost about 10 followers after I posted this.

    The "Tugging on Your Hair While Also Not Wearing a Shirt or Bra" shot.

    My re-creation:

    ninamohan / Via instagram.com

    This shot is where I discovered I don't know how to be sexy. My hair looks sad instead of chic, my lips look chapped instead of pouty, and my background is toilet seat covers instead of ethereal white fabric. I was anxious about exposing so much of my chest because my boobs aren't perky like Selena's. A friend confirmed my fears and told me to watch how "the girls are sitting." Blech. I also had to do this across the street from a school as it was being let out. I'm sure the parents were judging me. This shot cost me about dozen followers. How does Selena hold on to her massive following? Probably by staying true to herself and not being a budget version of another celebrity.

    My mother was not pleased with my new aesthetic.

    Nina Mohan / BuzzFeed

    The "Blurry Closeup Because Fuck It" shot.

    My re-creation:

    ninamohan / Via instagram.com

    Only a celeb like Selena could get away with posting a low-quality, zoomed-in pic like this. What's even funnier to me is that she posted this Instagram to thank her fans for helping her reach 60 million followers. When you're a celeb of Selena's magnitude, I guess you can do the least. Perhaps I should've put less effort in, but I was definitely wary of posting such a closeup of my face, particularly because I had a very noticeable zit above my lip and I haven't shaved my mustache in a while. I assume Selena was thinking of a hot celebrity dude to get that sultry expression. I was thinking about fries, which is probably why I fell short.

    Things I learned:

    1. Selena is confident and famous enough to not need an Instagram aesthetic.

    2. I am not.

    3. It takes roughly 3,498,204 tries to re-create her ~casual~-looking pics.

    4. Selena and I have different "good" angles.

    5. Imitating Selena will not get me 99.5 million followers.

    6. Being regular, try-hard me is better than being a budget Selena.

    7. My boyfriend is a hero for taking most of these pics.