Taylor Swift - Language and Representations

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? 

She's re-recording her earlier albums to take control of her music and be in charge of her own narrative.

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

She made "All Too Well" as Taylor Swift has largely led a very public romantic life, and that has historically been the source of much of the criticism levelled at her: that she "goes on too many dates", and "can’t make ‘em stay". She made it to further take control of her narrative.

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

1989, Shake It Off, and Bad Blood


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?

Typography - primarily sans serif; modern conventions

Minimalistic page design - design primarily communicated through text and images; reinforces modernity

Images - primarily promoting her new album, showcases her talent

Links - promotes fan interaction through merchandise and convergence; more info about Swift available, builds relationship with fans

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

- Also very minimalistic

- Design is primarily communicated via image; the main central image signifies changing eras, as each image of the collage is from a different era of Taylor

- Top bar promotes more interaction via merch and links

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? 

They're primarily promoting her music/albums and tours, as there's promotional photography taken from her live shows and/or albums. A tweet that doesn't align with this though is the one of her fighting back against Donald Trump during the 2020 election.

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

The selection and construction of images, reels and posts are very promotional focused. They're primarily pictures of her new albums or photoshoots relating to said album. Her stories show the "eras" of her albums/songs.

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.  

She tends to be a lot more "corporate" on certain accounts like Instagram and Facebook whilst she can let herself be a little more free on others, like Twitter. There's definitely a difference.

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