Hailey Bieber is opening up about her decision to leave Twitter – and how she’s working on creating a healthier relationship with social media.
The 24-year-old model recently launched her YouTube channel, and in a new vlog with psychiatrist Dr. Jessica Clemons, she got candid about the “effects of social media and online bullying.”
She’s had a complicated relationship with social media, especially with the amount of trolling she received in the two and a half years since she and husband Justin Bieber tied the knot in 2018. Hailey reveals that one of the hardest issues she’s struggled with “was the comparison aspect of body comparison and looks comparison and behavior comparison.”
“I think when you’re going through a situation where you just have so many people hounding you with the same thing over and over and over again, it starts to mess with your mind and then you start to question everything and you’re like, “Is there something that I’m not seeing that they see? Maybe they’re right,” she noted. “It got to such a low point to me that I was honestly like ‘maybe I’m delusional!’”
She says her experience on Twitter got to the point where it was so “toxic,” just the thought of opening the app was enough to give her anxiety.
“I don’t even have a Twitter anymore because there was never really a time where I would go on there and it didn’t feel like it was a very toxic environment,” she stated. “The thought of even opening the app gives me such bad anxiety that I feel like I’m gonna throw up.”
Hailey hasn’t totally quit social media though – she’s still active on Instagram. However, she makes it practice self-care on the platform, which includes only browsing IG on the weekends.
“I want everyone to like me, it’s like my downfall at time and I’m working through it,” she said. “I think one thing I’ve had to come to the conclusion of is trying not to feel like I owe everybody an explanation or owe anybody anything, and really just try to correct what I need to correct personally behind closed doors.”
She also credits Justin for helping her “so much” in her journey.
“I really have to give him credit for it because he’s been doing this so much longer at this really massive level,” she said. “Life is way better this way.”
Hailey and Justin tied the knot in a New York City courthouse in September 2018, and said “I do” again in front of family and friends a year later. More recently, they got matching tattoos of a peach (yes, the fruit) in honor of Justin’s new song “Peaches” from his recently released album Justice.
