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Selena Gomez releases video explaining social media absence: 'it felt a little insensitive to post things'

Gomez says learning will continue to be her priority 

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Thursday 30 July 2020 20:29 BST
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Selena Gomez explains why she hasn't been active on social media

Selena Gomez has returned to social media with a video explaining the reason behind her recent absence.

In the one-minute video uploaded to Instagram on Wednesday, the singer began: “I wanted to take some time to do a quick message for you guys because I haven’t been posting that much.

“I just wanted to let you know that I love you guys and I miss you and there’s so many exciting things coming up that I can’t wait to share with all of you.”

According to the 28-year-old, she decided to step away from posting on her social media accounts because she felt it would be “insensitive” in light of recent current events.

“I just think at the beginning of this year, with everything going on, it felt a little insensitive to post things that may be a little just joyful or celebratory,” she explained. “It was really hard for me and I’ve taken the time to learn, truly learn, about what’s going on and I continue to make that my priority.”

However, the singer said she now plans to post “more of my personal stuff” and share more frequently with her more than 184m followers.

“Thank you for being here and thank you for supporting me always, and I will talk to you soon,” the actress concluded.

Prior to the video, Gomez’s most-recent Instagram post, shared six days ago, marked her 28th birthday.

Sharing Polaroid photos of the celebrations, she captioned the post: “Left my phone for most of yesterday to be present in the moment, but have been reading all of your posts today. Just wanted to say thank you for every single message – I feel so much love from y’all. I love you guys so much and here’s to 28.”

In June, the pop star opened her Instagram account to black leaders, authors and activists, who used the platform to speak out against racism amid global protests that erupted following the death of George Floyd.

According to Gomez, she decided to offer her platform to a variety of influential people, including Black Lives Matter co-creator Alicia Garza, professor and New York Times best-selling author Ibram X Kendi, civil rights activist Brittany Packnett Cunnigham, and author and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, “after thinking about how best to use my social media”.

“I decided that we all need to hear more from black voices,” the singer wrote in the beginning of June. “Over the next few days I will be highlighting influential leaders and giving them a chance to take over my Instagram so that they can speak directly to all of us.”

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