Social Media

Hailey Baldwin Says Social Media Is ‘Breeding Ground for Cruelty'

"It hurts to be called names, and to feel like you don’t measure up to a certain standard," the model posted

In this Nov. 20, 2019, file photo, Hailey Bieber attends the Calvin Klein "A Night of Music, Discovery and Celebration" event in Berlin, Germany.
Sebastian Reuter/Getty Images for Calvin Klein

Hailey Baldwin opened up in a lengthy Instagram post over the weekend about how the hate she receives online affects her, calling social media a "breeding ground for cruelty," NBC News reports.

"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," she wrote on Friday.

The model, who goes by the last name Baldwin Bieber on Instagram after marrying pop star Justin Bieber in 2018, said she always tries to "expose my heart" but finds it hurtful when she's attacked online, compared to others and called names.

View this post on Instagram

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

"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," the post read.

Get more from NBC News

Contact Us