Social media began as a way, just like the name suggests, to be social.
Back in the early days, getting 10 likes on Instagram felt like a huge achievement, because that was the moment your like count switched from listing out names to just showing numbers.
It was fun, light-hearted, and a way to keep up with friends by posting silly or interesting snapshots of daily life.
Fast forward to today, and social media has become something completely different. Facebook now has over three billion monthly active users, and Instagram clocks in at around two billion.
These platforms are global business tools, news outlets, and promotional spaces. For many people, scrolling through feeds has replaced turning on the evening news.
Celebrities are just as tied to these platforms as the rest of us, sometimes even more so.
For some, it’s an essential part of their career, a place to promote projects and connect with fans. For others, it’s simply about showing support for their friends or dropping a quick comment.
And in many cases, they use their massive platforms for good causes.
Take Selena Gomez, for example. She has encouraged her 417 million followers—yes, that’s more than the entire population of the United States—to donate to the Rare Impact Fund, which helps provide mental health services to those in need.
Similarly, Ariana Grande has used Instagram to encourage vaccination and even partnered with BetterHelp to give away $1 million in free therapy, reminding fans it’s okay to ask for help. These are moments when social media truly shines.
But there’s another side to it too, the darker, more overwhelming one. Even celebrities, who seem to thrive online, admit the downsides. Selena Gomez told Vogue that being the most followed person on Instagram actually “freaked her out.”
“It had become so consuming to me. It’s what I woke up to and went to sleep to. I was an addict, and it felt like I was seeing things I didn’t want to see, like it was putting things in my head that I didn’t want to care about,” she said.
Other stars avoid the spotlight altogether.
Kristen Stewart keeps a private Instagram just to stay in touch with friends. As she put it: “That’s not social media. We have a shared photo stream.”
And as for Twitter (now X), she once joked: “What would I tweet about? Who to? What are you saying? Imagine sitting here right now and thinking, ‘That’s a good thing to say to the world?’ I can't even understand it.”
