Selena Gomez reclaims Instagram throne from Kylie Jenner

The ongoing battle between the ‘Good for You’ singer Selena Gomez and Kylie Jenner to claim the spot of the most followed female account on Instagram seems to have a winner, with Gomez now at 382 million followers and Jenner with 380 million.

The fight for the title began when Gomez returned to the social media platform in January, after having been away from the platform for four years, leaving an assistant to run her accounts.

But it seems that fans have been missing her, with her following account quickly rising and putting her at the top once more.

Gomez’s long claim as the most followed person on Instagram

Gomez’s Instagram following has been one of the highest on the platform since at least 2016, when the singer took the mantle from her best friend, Taylor Swift.

The singer can perhaps point to her active and passionate fanbase for keeping her at the top, and with keeping her account engagement high.

In 2018, her hold on the title was taken by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo shortly after she announced a social media break.

Kylie Jenner becomes the first woman with 300 million followers

By January 2022, Jenner became the first woman with 300 million followers, trailing Cristiano Ronaldo and the official Instagram account.

As of February 2023, Ronaldo still claims the second spot for most followers at 552 million, with the Instagram account at 608 million followers.

Why did Gomez leave social media?

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Gomez revealed that she had deleted her social media presence because she found social media to be a toxic environment.

“I never got the chance to go to an actual high school. The world was my high school for the longest time, and I started getting inundated with information that I didn’t want,” she said in the interview.

“People can call me ugly or stupid and I’m like, Whatever. But these people get detailed. They write paragraphs that are so specific and mean. I would constantly be crying. I constantly had anxiety…I couldn’t do it anymore. It was a waste of my time.”

Speaking on her absence from social media, Gomez says the decision is one of the best she’s ever made.

“It has changed my life completely. I am happier, I am more present, I connect more with people,” she told Good Morning America.

“I understand how powerful the internet is, and in so many ways it’s done the best things for the world. But for me, I get to my news that is actually important I get through people in my life.”

Since then, the singer has mostly been active on TikTok. But on January 10 of this year, the singer posted an Instagram selfie with the caption, “Wait can you tell I’m back on Instagram?” suggesting she has returned to posting on her own account again.