Katie Thurston had no patience for an Instagram comment poking fun at the former Bachelorette for losing Instagram followers.
Katie hit back at the comment by saying she refused to censor herself and her views to keep other people from unfollowing her.
Katie Thurston refuses to censor herself
The Bachelorette alum shared her response to a comment on one of her Instagram posts laughing at the fact that she had dropped from one million followers to below 900,000.
Katie revealed that she had gotten several similar comments to this one all attempting to put her down and make her feel bad about herself.
“I find it so odd when non-followers go out of their way to come here and state the obvious,” Katie commented back. “It’s a good thing I find validation in things that matter in my real life.”
She went on to expand her response to the message on her Instagram story. Katie revealed that she loses followers every time she talks about sex, nipples, politics, women’s rights, and even when posting a picture or story.
“I lose followers when I’m being true to myself. And my life. And my beliefs. And my heart. And my mistakes. And that’s fine with me,” she wrote. “This text alone will have people unfollow. I won’t curate my identity to meet the criteria of complete strangers.”
Katie Thurston opened up about the harmful impact of social media
Katie said hyper-focusing on the number of followers or likes on each picture contributes to an unhealthy mindset on social media. She also called out Instagram’s recent option to hide likes as a step in the right direction.
“Remember who matters. Real people. In your real life. Who really know you. Stay true to you, always,” Katie ended the message.
This is not the first time the star has gotten real with her fans about struggling with backlash through social media. Katie revealed that another reason for the lower following amount is that she began blocking and unfollowing negative accounts after her season began airing.
She also recently embarked on a 31-day video diary experiment to try to regain her confidence on social media after feeling pressured to hold back following the show.
It appears that despite the criticism, Katie is still dedicated to finding and presenting her “truest self” with her fans on social media.
The Bachelorette is currently on hiatus on ABC.