Selena Gomez Will Tweet You Now

All week long Gomez had talked about her 18th-birthday plans on network television, and, finally, that weekend she celebrated at home—with a karaoke barbecue. Among the 250 guests were family, friends, assorted Disney execs, and the casts of Wizards, Ramona, and Monte Carlo. One cake re-created her first album cover; another was crowned with edible icons of the past year: a driver’s license, a cap and gown, her two movies, and the new CD and clothing line. Plugging them all, however, had taken a toll on Gomez’s voice. Though she went ahead and appeared on George Lopez’s talk show, using a speech synthesizer à la Stephen Haw­king, Gomez reluctantly canceled a slate of concert dates. She hit Facebook to explain why, supplying the kind of intimate detail once reserved for bedside diaries. Stars have always been just like us, but these days they’re eager to show and tell us firsthand just how real they really are:

Hey guys, by now I’m sure most of you know that my voice is gone and that I had to cancel some of my upcoming shows. After my 2 week promo tour with Joey [King] I started to feel pain in my throat from talking too much. As soon as I came home I went to see my doctor and he said that I had damaged my vocal chords and that I had acid reflex (probably from pickles). He put me on medication and wanted to see me in a few days. When I went back my voice had gotten much worse. He then told me that I had to cancel my shows and be on vocal rest for a week. I felt so horrible that I couldn’t perform. I begged the doctor to give me more medication to last me through these shows, he said if I went I could lose my voice completely and have permanent damage. I had to give up and agree to not go but I WILL make it up. We are doing the best we can to reschedule all of the shows and I will do a 2 hour meet and greet in each city that I missed when I come back into town. We are also trying to see who was planning on coming to the shows so we can give you all tickets to the rescheduled shows. I am SO sorry about all of this and really hope I can see you all when I’m better….

I love you all so much and can’t wait to see you. Thank you for understanding. It means so much.

While all this connectivity allows cyberstars like Gomez to be everywhere at once—on our phones and laptops, in our living rooms and multiplexes—it can also bite back. “I’ve learned that I need to have a tougher skin,” Gomez told me, acknowledging that there always seems to be someone around with a camera phone ready to instantly upload her mistakes to the world, something celebs of an earlier generation never had to contend with. “It makes you really paranoid. It’s not like ‘Cut—that’s a wrap!’ and you can continue to be a normal person. You have to continue to be on. It’s scary that you constantly have to be looking around. My mom always reminds me,” she added, suddenly sounding like a kid again, “that if this isn’t fun anymore, then I shouldn’t do it.”