Selena Gomez: Huge Instagram following is 'a big responsibility'

Selena Gomez became the most-followed woman on Instagram earlier this year

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.

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".

"I feel for people, and I think that's what kind of keeps me in check, to be honest," she said.

"I think I can be a little reckless with my emotions and having conversations with young people, women who are going through divorces or going through chemo - it's not just about me, and I'm fully aware of that.

"I will just always cherish it. It's a big responsibility, though. It's a little scary."

'A huge weight was lifted'

Selena has become well known for speaking about mental wellbeing 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.

"I felt like I got to say things that I've been keeping in for years," she told her hosts Sir Lucian Grainge and Arianna Huffington about the documentary at the event on Tuesday.

"It's very hard for me to watch. I will never watch it again, but I'm very proud of it."

She revealed that she was initially "very against" the documentary.

"I didn't know if it would jeopardise things in my life," she said.

"And then the moment it was released… I had no choice at that point. And I was relieved. I felt like a huge weight was lifted."

'Influence people in the right way'

Tanvi says there are positives and negatives to having a big following on social media

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

"It can definitely be a positive and a negative thing - you can have such a widespread impact on everything you say, everything you do, the things you talk about, the clothes you wear," she tells BBC Newsbeat.

"I think we sometimes overlook how every little thing we do has an impact on whoever's watching that content or whoever's listening to it.

"While that is a great thing, if we're talking about things that can have a really positive impact, it can be really scary and overwhelming.

"Sometimes you're worried about saying the wrong thing, or you're talking about maybe controversial topics.

"And I feel like I do have a huge responsibility to influence people in the right way, but quite often, there isn't a right and wrong if it's things that are subjective."

Sharon says social media has "opened a lot of opportunities" for her

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.

"At such an influential age, when you are 13 to 25, everything you do [as an influencer] can either upset somebody or change the way people think about themselves," she says.

"And that's quite a scary power to have. I don't have anywhere near as much following as Selena Gomez. I feel that way so I can't even imagine how she feels."

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