“Everybody’s cutthroat in the comments/Every single hot take is cold as ice.” These lyrics are featured on one of the world-renowned singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s new songs, “Eldest Daughter.” This song, released on Oct. 3 as part of Swift’s 12th original studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” addresses many aspects of the singer’s life, ranging from her relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce to her journey to stardom. To nobody’s surprise, that journey, one to becoming arguably the most powerful woman in the pop-culture space, has come with its fair share of challenges.

The Life of a Showgirl contains 12 songs all detailing a variety of Swift’s personal life. The third track on the album, “Opalite”, details the feeling of a real relationship while the sixth track, “Ruin the Friendship”, is an ode to a high-school friend who passed away. “Wi$h Li$t” details the willingness to reject materialistic tendencies and allow your happiness to come from other means. This song contains the lyrics “I just want you, have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you,” a seemingly harmless lyric declaring her love and desire to start a family with Kelce. However, this lyric received instant backlash across social media, claiming this had racist and anti-feminist undertones. Aside from this, the album as a whole brought a plethora of criticism, many with misogynistic implications. Some critics claimed Swift’s lyricism has decreased significantly, with some social media users going as far as to say the ex-boyfriend, Joe Alwyn must have “played a major role” in the writing of Swift’s albums Folklore and Evermore. Other critics blamed her relationship with Kelce distracted from or diminished her songwriting. Criticism alluding to the idea that Swift’s abilities depend on a man, reflects a tired sexist take. 

Swift’s new album isn’t the first object of criticism, in the two decades since she first stepped into the public eye, Swift has been involved in many public scandals, including her feud with disgraced rapper Kanye West, also known as Ye. In 2016, West released a song featuring explicit lyrics regarding Swift without her direct approval. West and his now ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, claimed Swift had full knowledge and approval of the lyrics and the accompanying graphic music video. In hope of defending West, Kardashian released a doctored clip of West on a phone call with Swift discussing the lyrics. Despite the edited nature of this video, the internet was eager to blindly follow Kardashian in calling Swift a ‘liar’ and a ‘snake’. 

As a result of the massive amounts of hate she received from both celebrities and faceless social media users, Swift disappeared from public view and social media for nearly a year. Finally, leaning into the viral Kardashian-manufactured image of a metaphorical snake, Swift announced her sixth studio album “Reputation” in 2016, returning to Instagram with a series of cryptic snake-themed videos. During her disappearance from the spotlight, Swift moved to London and stayed with her then-boyfriend, Alwyn. In her 2020 documentary “Miss Americana”, Swift briefly touched on the experience of exiling herself to a different country, stating she thought it was ‘what the public wanted.’ If the majority of the general public were to come face-to-face with the billionaire music-icon, there would be no negative words exchanged. So what gave millions of people the confidence to attack the character of a young singer they’d never met? Social media.

It’s no secret that these platforms have brought controversy, even in relation to the average user, for a long time. Likewise, social media has brought severe positive and negative aspects to the price of fame. Social media has allowed celebrities to promote their work and connect with their fans in a new way. On the other hand, social media has allowed gossip and hate culture to grow exponentially, bringing detrimental mental health effects as a result.     

“[Social] media has become a space where everybody is suddenly an expert on everything [without] the qualifications or the research or the background knowledge. When [people] can rally up a social media response [by] putting someone else down, it makes them feel like they’re somehow slightly better than the person they put down, and it gives them a little dopamine rush to feel better about their misery,” English teacher Michelle Kerpash said. 

The data lines up; since stepping into the music industry and signing her first record deal in 2005, the presence of internet usage has skyrocketed. Spotify, the top-ranked app for music streaming, was released just months prior to Swift’s first album release in 2006. With nearly 700 million current users, Spotify allows listeners globally to hear and react to new releases within seconds. This, plus the rise of digital communication platforms has augmented ruthless criticism. From the launch of X (formerly Twitter) in 2006 to TikTok in 2016, online media usage has grown exponentially, with over half the global population using social media in some form. Being a celebrity has always come with high levels of scrutiny, dating back to when scandalous photos of celebrities were developed and published in print days after a scandal had occurred. However, the rise of social media has allowed every detail of celebrities’ lives to become public almost instantly and invites billions of users to comment on people they have never met. Swift is a prime example, who couldn’t even seem to post about her engagement without receiving critiques. 

Moreover, social media allows users to share their opinions seemingly without fear of consequences via anonymous accounts. The majority of the population wouldn’t dare comment on any person’s sexuality, political affiliation, or any other private matter in a face-to-face interaction. However, social media has given a minority a platform to attack the character of users, especially Swift. During her lengthy career, Swift has been accused of lying and having relationships with anyone she came in contact with. These criticisms reflect the double standard women in the public eye often face, especially relating to their dating life. In the prologue of her 2023 re-recorded album titled “1989”, Swift addresses these misogynistic accusations and how nearly impossible it is to prove people wrong; when people are convinced they are correct, even solid evidence can fail to change their mind. 

Now, in 2025, Swift has received baseless claims dissecting her political views and morals. Despite endorsing former vice president Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, Swift has been accused of lying about these principles simply for the sake of appeasing followers. Most recently, these claims have extended to include Kelce, dubbed jokingly as “Mr Pfizer”, for his needlessly politicized role in the promotion of the COVID-19 vaccine.  Despite both Swift and Kelce being vocal about their democratic beliefs, social media users from both sides of the aisle have been quick to jump on Swift and Kelce for their values. Some users criticise Swift because she hasn’t spoken out about every global issue they deem important, some state she should just stay out of politics all together, and yet still others claim that the people she surrounds herself with are enough of a political statement. 

Swift has frequently received backlash due to her close relationship with Kelce’s teammate, Patrick Mahomes, and his wife, Brittany Mahomes, both who allegedly share opposing views as Swift. It’s impossible, and unhealthy, to completely remove those with differing opinions from your life. However, reducing friendships to a political test misses the mark. Criticizing Swift based on others’ opinions overlooks the importance of empathy and understanding in a polarized world. In a time when friendships are often divided by ideology, Swift consistently displays that coexistence and compassion can transcend party lines. Because of her proficiency in this skill, Swift’s beliefs are not always reflected by those around her and therefore she can not be criticized simply based on their beliefs.   

“If you’re a celebrity and you want to use that platform as a way to draw attention to an issue, I think that’s very powerful. [However], if you’re a celebrity I don’t think that you have to speak on every issue, you should choose what is most important to you. You should not [dislike] Taylor Swift’s music because you don’t agree [with] one of her opinions. No one is going to believe every single thing that you believe as strongly as you believe it. We have to know how to like people and be kind to them even when we disagree,” Kerpash said. 

While the rise of online hate Swift gets in comparison to her peers is excessive, all public figures experience some sort of hate, typically from anonymous social media users. This increase of scrutiny and negative attention showcases the inability that the average person has to see celebrities for real people and not just characters on a screen. 

“Celebrities are usually the people that we aspire to be like, so if we absolutely destroy people who are successful, we’re rooting against our own success. Because [celebrities] have a very public life, [social media] does compromise [their] safety. Unfortunately, it’s part of fame in our country right now. We should look at how we treat each other. It’s a symptom of a bigger social problem,” Kerpash said.

Being able to share your work and your perspective with millions of individuals across the globe is the dream of countless young people around the world, but is it worth it? There should not have to be a trade-off between fame and privacy, yet, with the help of social media, the privacy and safety concerns celebrities face has grown exponentially. Until society learns to balance empathy and entertainment, fame of any level, but especially those at Swift’s level of global relevance will continue to come with an invasion of privacy.