Keep it sweet… when you tweet, says Shawn Mendes

SHAWN MENDES wants to Treat You Better — after outlining his fears about the dark side of social media. Indeed, the pop star reckons logging on to websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram could be bad for your health.

‘I had this conversation with my friend, and I started to ask, “What the hell is it doing to us? Is it good or bad?”’ Shawn told Guilty Pleasures.

‘When people started smoking cigarettes, they thought it was good for them and didn’t know that it caused cancer. People right now… I think social media is in a state like that.’

The Stitches singer, who has millions of followers online, argues social media is a double-edged sword that needs to be wielded with care.

‘It can take something like a charity, or something beautiful like a marriage proposal, and become the biggest thing on the net,’ Shawn explained. ‘But it can also take something bad and make it evil.

‘Somebody messed up. Somebody said something wrong that he shouldn’t have and it was an accident.

‘In any other world they would have apologised and learned from their mistakes, but that person now gets exiled.’

So don’t expect the 19-year-old Canadian to be found trolling anyone, anytime soon.

‘People should just post positive things… because there’s already enough negativity in the world,’ he added.

‘“Fix yourself before you try and fix other people”. That’s my thing.’

Shawn, rumoured to be dating US model Hailee Baldwin, 21, recently opened about his battle with anxiety.

And he praised his parents for helping him keep his feet on the ground.

‘They are really involved, but don’t try to manage my career… I owe my parents for how well I’m taking everything,’ he admitted.

Shawn recently performed at the BBC’s Biggest Weekend in Swansea.

His self-titled new album is out now.

Author: Tom Stichbury