Taylor Swift: Language and Representations blog tasks

 Narrative

Go to our Media Magazine archive (issue MM79) and read the feature All Too Well on Taylor Swift and how she controls her own narrative. Answer the following questions: 

1) Why is Taylor Swift re-recording her earlier albums? 

Taylor Swift has re-recorded her earlier albums as they were sold to Shamrock Holdings for $300m by Scooter Braun. She wanted full ownership of her records so she re-recorded her albums which would nullify Braun’s involvement.

2) Why did Taylor Swift choose to make the short film 'All Too Well'? 

Taylor Swift chose to make the short film “All Too Well’ to push her professional creative boundaries but to also communicate Swift’s relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhaal.

3) What other examples are provided in the article of Taylor Swift using media to construct her own image? 

We see how Swift constructs her own image as she released her album 1819 (2014) as a direct response to criticisms about her private life. The music video for “Bad Blood” features a plot where she addresses her previous dramas such as her fall out with Katy Perry. The fact she is free to communicate this in her own way shows how she has no one else controlling her image apart from herself. 

Taylor Swift textual analysis

Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of Taylor Swift's website and social media. 

1) Go to Taylor Swift's website. What do you notice about the media language choices - text, font, images, page design, links?

Text - glitter like colour on the text connotes that she is glamorous and lives a wealthy life style. Her backstory in relation to this represents that she has worked hard to be where she is now.

Font - The font on the website is primarily sans serif which connoted modernity showing how she is a modern woman who works in a professional industry

Central Image - The central image is of Swift where she is sitting on the floor, almost laying down, which presents her as vunerable. However, the direct eye contact and her finger touching the wine represents her as independent as the wine may be symbolic of blood which illustrates her as someone mysterious but also sly. 

Links - The links promote Swift and present her as someone who controls her image. For example, one link is to her directed projects where we can see the productions that she has directed. 

2) Now visit her Eras tour microsite. What do you notice about the construction of this site in terms of images and website conventions? 

The gritty, vintage like filter added onto each image of her "eras" gives a nostalgic feel and allows audience to feel as if they have grown along side her. The different panels of her eras show how powerful she is in her industry as she has control on how she presents her self and how she is allowed to reconstruct her identity multiple times. Furthermore, if you scroll down, a link is provided to direct the viewers to where they can buy official merch relating to her eras which shows how cultural industries prioritise profit.

3) Visit Taylor Swift's Twitter feed. Analyse her use of tweets/posts - are they promoting her music, her tour, or something else? Can you find any that are socially or politically oriented? 

On her Twitter page, she uses the same picture for her profile as the website which creates synergy between her online presence. Swift's tweets feature her promoting her new music as well as showing that she has creative direction for her projects. Furthermore, she uses Twitter as a way to promote her ideologies which resulted in some people believing that she is "woke".

4) Look at Taylor Swift's Instagram account. What do you notice about the selection and construction of images, reels and posts?  

Again her profile picture is the same as her X one which creates synergy. Her Instagram highlights have a cover which states each of her eras which acts as a place to access her previous work in snippets. Furthermore, her bio features a link to a website which has links to streaming platforms to listen to her music (e.g. spotify, iTunes, YouTube Music.) 

5) Research Taylor Swift across any other social media accounts - e.g. Facebook. Do you notice any differences in how she represents herself on different platforms? Comment on text, images or tone/content.  

On her YouTube and TikTok she focuses on promoting her music videos as well as following trends to promote herself as relatable. However on Instagram and X, she focuses on her political views as well as other things she takes part in. For example, on her Instagram she has posted a reel about a podcast she took part in which she has done to promote her new music and releases.