Entertainment Music Selena Gomez Explains Why She 'Doesn't Do a Lot of Pointless Pictures' on Social Media Selena Gomez opened up at the Cannes Film Festival about the dangers of social media By Melody Chiu Melody Chiu Instagram Twitter Melody Chiu is a Senior Editor for PEOPLE. She has been with the brand since 2009, editing, writing and reporting across all entertainment verticals. She oversees PEOPLE's music and events coverage and has written cover stories on Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Melissa McCarthy, Blake Shelton and Sandra Oh. The Los Angeles native graduated from the University of Southern California and has appeared on Extra!, The Talk, Access Hollywood and Good Morning America. People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 15, 2019 02:00 PM Share Tweet Pin Email She’s one of the most-followed people on Instagram with more than 150 million followers, but Selena Gomez has a tricky relationship with social media. While promoting her new film The Dead Don’t Die at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, the singer and actress, 26, opened up about her fears about the impact social media has made on her generation. “I think our world is going through a lot. I would say for my generation, specifically, social media has really been terrible,” she said during a press conference on Wednesday, according to Variety. “It does scare me when you see how exposed these young boys and young girls are. They are not aware of the news. I think it’s dangerous for sure. I don’t think people are getting the right information sometimes.” George Pimentel/WireImage Over the last year, the “Back to You” singer has visibly taken a step back from Instagram, posting only sporadically or when she’s promoting a new project. Why Selena Gomez Is a ‘Believer’ in Therapy — and Thinks Social Media Breaks Are ‘Really Important’ “I’m grateful I have the platform. I don’t do a lot of pointless pictures. For me, I like to be intentional with it. It just scares me,” she explained. “I’ll see these young girls at meet-and-greets. They are devastated, dealing with bullying and not being able to have their own voice. It can be great in moments. I would be careful and allow yourself some time limits of when you should use it.” Last month, the star also spoke out about her usage of social media during an appearance on Coach’s new podcast series “Dream It Real.” Selena Gomez on Instagram. Selena Gomez/Instagram Speaking with Heben Nigatu on the debut episode, Gomez opened up about dealing with Instagram trolls and feeling misunderstood. “I don’t really think that people know my heart,” she said. “Sometimes people may think that I politically say the right thing or I’m safe or I’ve been trained to speak this way. I don’t know how to be trained — like how on Earth would somebody be training me to speak things?” “It is not that healthy to be on [social media] all the time,” she added. “I noticed with me, I got kind of depressed looking at these people who look beautiful and amazing, and it would just get me down a lot. Taking breaks is really important. Just know that most of it isn’t real. And I hate to say that, I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s very unrealistic in a lot of ways.”