Selena Gomez launched her “close friends” Instagram story on Tuesday, giving her followers additional content that not everyone on the social media platform can access.
“Welcome to my secret friends page,” the Only Murders in the Building actor said in a video announcing the new segment of her social media page.
Instagram allows people to use their “Close Friends” story to narrow who can see specific content. The list can be as large or as small as a user wants, and not all of Gomez’s followers could see the “close friends” content, although the list of people that could access it seemed pretty extensive.
Newsweek reached out to representatives for Gomez via email for comment.
It’s possible that the “Same Old Love” singer just wants to give her fans a little extra content that not everyone can access—or is she gearing up to introduce something new? In 2024, singer Billie Eilish added her entire Instagram following to her “Close Friends” story as part of a marketing plan to promote her upcoming album.
Instagram’s Close Friends feature is designed to signal intimacy and exclusivity, typically reserved for private updates shared with a small circle. By suddenly placing everyone inside that circle, Eilish created a moment of collective surprise. Fans logged in to see the telltale green ring around her Story and, briefly, believed they had been singled out. Screenshots and reactions spread rapidly across X, TikTok, and Reddit, amplifying the moment far beyond Instagram itself.
Eilish gained about 7 million new followers in the two days after she created her “Close Friends” list, according to Billboard.
Gomez currently has an estimated 415 million followers on Instagram.
While Eilish posted cryptic, minimal visuals to her story, Gomez has opted to give viewers a clearer look at her content.
Gomez launched the close friends story with a video of her doing her makeup with products from her line Rare Beauty. She also posted photos of herself on vacation with friends, hanging out with singer Taylor Swift, and photos from her wedding and dress fittings.
Gomez also shared a few photos and clips of her hanging out with her husband, Benny Blanco, whom she married last year. Gomez also promoted Blanco’s new podcast on her public story and recently confirmed a Swift fan theory while visiting his show.
“‘Dorothea’ is about me,” Gomez said. “I feel like a lot of huge moments that were self-defining—from relationships to family to love to hate, all of it, in between—we were figuring it out because I was 15 and she was 18. And we didn’t really know what was going on, and so we’ve never seen each other any differently.”
Gomez said that she was “so impressed” with how eloquently Swift described the situation at the time. Gomez also shared that Swift gave her a handmade painting for her 30th birthday that had a “beautiful lake” and the two women’s star signs.
Blanco said it’s “one of the best paintings” he’s ever seen.
