Selena Gomez "connects" with her fans through her mistakes.

The 25-year-old singer-and-actress - who was the first person to reach over 100 million followers on social media - can understand why social media makes people feel insecure, so is happy to be honest and show her "vulnerable" side online.

She said: "It's already difficult to get up every day and just feel good about yourself without seeing the highlights of everyone else.

"Strength doesn't mean that you have to put on a façade. I think strength is being vulnerable. I hope my fans learn that who they are is beautiful [and] how they can connect with people by sharing what they're feeling."

The 'Come and Get It' hitmaker is very close to her mother, Mandy Teefey, and thinks that's partly because her mom was just 16 when she gave birth to her.

She told TIME magazine's Firsts issue: "We kind of grew up together. When I started working, my mom was the person in my life that helped guide me through most of that. Everything that I am has become a little bit of what my mom's gone through."

And Selena, who co-produced '13 Reasons Why' with Mandy, credits her mom for her success.

She said: "She had the ability to make me feel like I was still capable of doing anything I wanted."

The 'Bad Liar' singer began her career with a role on children's show 'Barney and Friends' when she was just 10 years old, but she can't remember exactly when she realised she wanted to be an entertainer.

She said: "I think it just kind of was instinctual for me. I loved being able to make people laugh."