Selena Gomez took 2 years off social media because it was tearing her apart

Selena Gomez took a two-year break from Instagram and Twitter in 2018 because she was tearing herself apart reading other people's opinions of her appearance, decisions in life, and vocal talent.

Speaking to Zane Lowe on New Music Daily on Apple Music's Beats 1, she said: "I didn't have social media for two years.You've just got to do it. I was driving myself crazy. First off, there were a million things that I didn't want to see. I would see them over and over and over again. 

"Then I'm comparing. Then I'm looking at these people, and I'm like, 'How do they' ... It's all the things that people say, right? It's nothing new. You sometimes feel like shit. You have FOMO [fear of missing out]. Everyone's life looks amazing, and that happens to me, too. 

"I'm like, 'Well, what am I? I'm missing the plot here. Right? How come it's so fun for everyone else?' Then it just started getting dark. There were accounts that were dissecting me, down to my body, to my face, my features, choices I've made, telling stories, and it drove me crazy, because I honestly just wanted to be like, 'None of you even know what you're talking about', and it just destroyed me. So I stopped, and I tell every single person everything changed.

"Also, I'm living in that time where there's a specific look that's going on within females. So that would get in my head as well. Yeah, I do look young, so there's nothing I can do about that. Of course, I am 27, but sometimes I'm like, 'Oh, I look like a baby', which is stupid. I don't fit into that look, which isn't a bad thing, and it's not bad that that's what people enjoy and like. It's whatever makes you feel comfortable, of course.

"But when I was out of social media, I was so much happier with just me, myself, how I looked, and that helped a lot. I just needed to let my old self go. I was purging multiple different things, but it was specifically who I was then."

The 27-year-old pop star has since returned to social media but feels strong enough to ignore the remarks since writing her new album Rare.

She explained: "I would like to say that this is a fresh start, and I started with this album, but I am going to continue to just do better and do everything I can to make it great."