Hailey Baldwin Calls Social Media a ‘Breeding Ground for Cruelty’: ‘It Hurts to Be Torn Apart by the Internet’

Rising above the hate. Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) called social media platforms, such as Instagram and Twitter, “a breeding ground for cruelty” in an emotional Instagram post on Friday, January 3.

“I would say my most favorite part of existing is human connection,” the 23-year-old model began her post. “I absolutely love connecting with other people, I love finding common interests between me and others, hearing people’s story, I love laughing with others, and I love crying with others. I feel so very very deeply.”

She continued on that being a sensitive person makes it harder to brush off social media negativity.

“Instagram, Twitter etc is SUCH a breeding ground for cruelty towards each other, and because people don’t take the time to connect with each other on an honest level before they resort to hatred, it starts to damage what could be really beautiful human interaction and connection,” Bieber wrote. “I could sit here all day and say the hate doesn’t bug me, that the words that are said don’t affect me. But NEWS FLASH: it hurts to be torn apart on the internet!!!”

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I would say my most favorite part of existing is human connection. I absolutely love connecting with other people, I love finding common interests between me and others, hearing people’s story, I love laughing with others, and I love crying with others. I feel so very very deeply. My heart explodes with happiness when my friends and family are happy and my heart feels crushed when they are hurting and sad. The reason I say all of this is: because I love to connect, I do my best to expose my heart which means I love freely and I empathize deeply, and because of that I also hurt very easily when I feel like people don’t see my heart and see me for who I am and the reason I’m even sharing this, is because Instagram, Twitter etc is SUCH a breeding ground for cruelty towards each other, and because people don’t take the time to connect with each other on an honest level before they resort to hatred, it starts to damage what could be really beautiful human interaction and connection. I could sit here all day and say the hate doesn’t bug me, that the words that are said don’t affect me. But NEWS FLASH: it hurts to be torn apart on the internet!!! It hurts to be compared to other human beings every single day, it hurts for people to jump to conclusions and make assumptions. It hurts to be called names, and to feel like you don’t measure up to a certain standard.. the list goes on and on. I share this only because it weighs often on my heart and because it’s important to be honest about how these things affect us mentally and emotionally. Hopefully it speaks to someone struggling with the same. with that being said Happy New Year. Let’s connect more in 2020 🙂

A post shared by Hailey Baldwin Bieber (@haileybieber) on Jan 3, 2020 at 4:01pm PST

Bieber signed off the post with a positive 2020 New Year’s resolution. “Hopefully it speaks to someone struggling with the same,” she penned. “With that being said Happy New Year. Let’s connect more in 2020.”

The Drop the Mic cohost faced backlash on social media after people thought she was shading  husband Justin Bieber‘s ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez after the release of her single “Lose You to Love Me.” The song was partly inspired by the 27-year-old singer’s relationship with Justin, 25. A source told Us Weekly in November that Hailey didn’t have any bad blood with Gomez and, instead, hoped to subtly support Justin’s ex through likes on Instagram.

“Hailey wasn’t mad about ‘Lose You to Love Me’ at all,” the insider revealed. “Hailey thinks Selena is talented. By liking photos of Selena, whether it be a glam shot or ones that her friends post on Instagram, Hailey wants to show that there are no hard feelings. It’s her way of trying to make peace and show her support for Selena in a low-key way, yet public way.”

Hailey spoke out about her feelings toward social media in an interview with British Vogue earlier this month.

“I think social media is a breeding ground for toxicity and people creating false drama between women and trying to put women up against each other and create these narratives that are just … toxic,” Bieber said. “I think that has to change and that has to stop.”

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Hailey Bieber