On Wednesday, Time magazine launched their “Firsts” series, detailing women who’ve hit milestones in the past year. Included in the eclectic lineup are politicians like Hillary Clinton, Nikki Haley, Kellyanne Conway, and Minnesota legislator Ilhan Omar, sportswomen like Serena Williams, Gabby Douglas, and Danica Patrick, entertainers like Issa Rae, Shonda Rhimes, and Candis Cayne, and many more across the world of politics, business, and entertainment.
Included in the list: Selena Gomez, whose milestone 100 million-strong Instagram following landed her the title of The Tastemaker. Selena is known for being quite open on social media, but admits that her relationship with it hasn’t always been great, and also that Instagram and other services don’t only have uniformly positive impacts:
“I am glad I grew up in the time that I did. I think it’s really hard to be a kid now, especially with social media. I can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up with that. It’s already difficult to get up every day and just feel good about yourself without seeing the highlights of everyone else’s life.
At the same time, she touts social media’s ability to (if you choose to do so) share more deeply and authentically with her fans:
“That’s why I like being vulnerable with my fans on social media. I like that they’ve seen my mistakes. I try to use that as a way to connect with them. That’s all I can do. I hope that they know that strength doesn’t mean that you have to put on a facade. Strength is being vulnerable.”
Selena herself posted about the honor (and her solo Time cover) in a moving Instagram post:
“Sometimes it’s incredibly difficult to wake up every day knowing there is so much going on in the world. At times I feel selfish, I ask why, I ask how can this change? Will it actually ever change? I try to contribute my heart before anything because it can be so easy to lose the desire to have hope when sometimes all I want to be is angry.
When I read about the beautiful women who wake up consciously every day to make a change, it inspires me to want to do so much more. Not really sure how I got so lucky @time but thank you for highlighting the power of what we can and will always strive to be. I believe in the goodness in the land of the living. I hope this is just the beginning of more change.”
SOURCE: Cosmopolitan
