Meghan Markle is on a journey, flying to Paris, followed by a visit to NYC, and now she’s in Washington, D.C.
It was quietly announced on October 9 that Meghan would be part of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit to talk about her lifestyle brand and TV series.
Fortune’s Alyson Shontell asked Meghan about her return to Instagram earlier this year, with the Duchess becoming squeamish, saying she has a “complicated relationship with social media.”
The Duchess approached the question with caution, easing into the answer, saying: “There are certain things I’ve done, just for my own self-preservation, but also that I’ve applied to the brand, and for the people who are incredibly supportive.”
She added, “So, not just protecting myself or the people who work with me, but also the supporters, so I don’t have the comments section on, that’s a choice.”
Meghan Markle popped up in Washington D.C. on Tuesday
Meghan would like to see Instagram users be able to engage with each other and create a community, but at the same time, having the comments section comes with a risk, which she addressed during the talk.
Meghan explained the thought-process that went into the decision, saying: “Part of that challenge, that I was trying to solve for was, then how do I create community, that is so key to this brand, and it’s so key to how I like to show up in the world, how do we actually connect, if you can’t have comments and exchange.”
The Duchess attempts to engage with her supporters through social media by including handwritten messages.
And while supporters may not be able to communicate with each other in the comments section, they can still find one another online and create their own chat groups.
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And while it may be disappointing for Meghan to have to close off part of the Instagram experience due to naysayers, she is appreciative of the support she’s been receiving.
She said: “I realise the question can be around naysayers, but if you really see the groundswell of support around the brand — and me — that’s what I feel the most, and that’s what I appreciate, but by design.”
“I also recognise that a lot of those people aren’t going to my page to see negativity.”