For today’s most successful celebrities, there’s an undeniable grey area that confuses the differences between privacy and transparency on social media.

While an average person with two-hundred followers could post pictures of their frequently-visited vacation destinations, that would create a never-ending issue for A-listers, such as Kim Kardashian or Pete Davidson. While walking a tightrope of revealing too much and too little, some household names have better balance than others. 

A strong argument could state that an influencer’s main job is to post on Instagram, gain a following, and keep these people wanting more. But, at the end of the day, how many celebrities have felt backlash from how personal their posts became? 

Since starting to date rapper and actor Colson Baker (Machine Gun Kelly), actress Megan Fox has received a lot of hate simply because they’re happy together. These two have been extremely public, especially on Instagram. Almost every event that they attend together is posted on their own personal accounts. 

Just a few days ago, these two became happily engaged, but unfortunately, haters had some things to say to bring down the paramount event in their relationship. Commented under Baker’s engagement post, some people said things such as, “Your eventual divorce is going to be epic,” or, “Who will cheat first?”

Their transparency within their family has been such a positive thing for their fans, but it’s also an instant gateway for negative forces to try their best to ruin something so positive. 

Not only does this bring down these real people if they happen to see these comments, it can also change your mindset. Reading something obstructive can send us down a spiral of negativity that isn’t social media’s intent.

Along with that, there are celebrities who stray away from intoxicating and seemingly negative activity online, but this gives their fans a harder time to keep up on important events, such as the Golden Globes. 

British-American actor, Andrew Garfield, has been nominated for and received a multitude of awards that have, unfortunately, been kept unwrapped due to the fact that Garfield doesn’t publicly take part in social media.

I’m not one of Garfield’s super-fans, but it still would have been nice to be able to know his thoughts on his nominations and his accumulation of awards. Most of his fans completely respect Garfield’s need to unplug from the world, but at the same time, it would be nice to feel connected to the important parts of his life.

While Garfield’s personal business has almost always been in front of everyone to see, social media is one aspect of his life that he can control. Garfield takes initiative and puts his health first, he said to Fox News, “I don’t think using social media would be beneficial to my mental health. I think I’m too sensitive and permeable, and I want to stay that way.”

Along with Garfield, actress Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t currently have public accounts on Instagram or Twitter. Lawrence is single-handedly one of the funniest household names, so why doesn’t she share that comedy with the world on a daily basis?

Lawrence told women’s fashion magazine, InStyle, “I watch, I don’t speak. There is always so much backlash. So many people are listening and paying attention, and they have so many opinions about absolutely everything. I really don’t want to welcome that unless it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t want to put myself out there for no reason.”

Because of the negativity circling every type of social media, even some celebrities show self-control and keep people’s hurtful comments out of sight and out of mind. Others will keep their life for all to see. While one side of the argument isn’t right and the other isn’t wrong, these A-listers know what’s best for themselves.

In our modern society today, a lot of high school students gravitate towards social media and the small rushes of serotonin given through looking through Instagram. More often than not, young men and women have trouble with self-confidence after comparing their genuine selves to altered pictures of their favorite celebrities. 

Unfortunately, there isn’t a full-proof plan in which social media is still enjoyable without the negative sides. Besides just following perfectly-curved women and defined men, the best way to make your phone a place for positivity is in who you follow. 

Personally, I follow a lot of mental health accounts run by people who look to spread peace and love on the internet. While not everyone agrees with a spiritual lifestyle, a lot of what makes my social media feed better is the serene posts that I see on a daily basis. 

Creators such as @thirdeyekingdom post about positive coping mechanisms to inspire those who are struggling, such as “Accept how you feel, and then move through it.” Following an anxiety reducing theme, @thestarryeyedmystic posted, “If it won’t matter in a year, don’t worry about it for more than minutes.”

It is still inspiring to follow celebrities who are making an impact in the world but also in your life. As long as you click off of Instagram with some positive thought or a new, creative idea, you know your social media has served its purpose. 

Influencers and celebrities are meant to inspire us, so while a lot of teens idolize these people, let’s not forget to take everything they say with a grain of salt and still figure out what makes us happy. Let’s all take initiative and do what’s in the best interest of our mental health, whether that be following select people or deleting the apps altogether.