Taylor Swift Explains Why She’s Quiet About Her Personal Life

With 223 million followers on Instagram alone, Taylor Swift has plenty of people expressing interest in her life. And while many people are interested in her career and musical contributions, some are curious about going deeper. Many fans, and critics alike, have expressed interest in knowing all the details about her personal life. But it’s actually rare for Swift to share more than a tiny glimpse into her day-to-day experiences.

Taylor Swift used to share a lot more of her personal life on Instagram and Twitter

Swift has been in the limelight for the majority of her life. But she’s certainly changed tactics about sharing her personal life on social media. For example, prior to 2016, it wasn’t uncommon for Swift to give fans an in-depth look at some of her personal events. That year, she shared tons of photos from one of her famous 4th of July parties, packed full of celebrities. Not only did Swift share fun photos with her friends, but she also shared a picture of her sitting on her then-boyfriend (Tom Hiddleston’s) lap.

The ‘Midnights’ artist is more tight-lipped about her life and relationship with her current boyfriend, Joe Alwyn

These days, it’s a lot rarer that Swift shares photos from her personal events. Furthermore, she never posts her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, on any social media platforms. In fact, since the pair began dating in 2016, they have been particularly tight-lipped about their relationship. They’re rarely seen in public together and have both made a concerted effort to keep their relationship quiet.

But why has Swift made this shift? In an interview with Rolling Stone, she explained that her reaction to criticism led to her changing how much of herself she shared with the public. It seems to be a method of protection for the “All Too Well” singer.

Swift started shielding her personal life to protect herself

“Since I was 15 years old, if people criticized me for something, I changed it,” Swift explained. “So you realize you might be this amalgamation of criticisms that were hurled at you, and not an actual person who’s made any of these choices themselves. And so I decided I needed to live a quiet life, because a quiet personal life invites no discussion, dissection, and debate. I didn’t realize I was inviting people to feel they had the right to sort of play my life like a video game.”

Swift seemingly made this decision after the backlash she experienced in 2016 following her feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Fans of the folklore artist will recall that she went quiet for an extremely long time, and didn’t make any public appearances. That experience changed the way that Swift engaged with the public forevermore.

Swift explains that she now has more boundaries

“There’s a part of me that definitely is always going to be different,” Swift shared. “I needed to grow up in many ways. I needed to make boundaries, to figure out what was mine and what was the public’s. That old version of me that shares unfailingly and unblinkingly with a world that is probably not fit to be shared with? I think that’s gone.”

Clearly, Swift has found a balance and figured out what works for her and her relationship. It’ll be interesting to see if her strategy changes yet again in the years to come.