Taylor Swift's social media overhaul is leaving people puzzled. Photo / Getty
By Emily Yahr
Taylor Swift is planning something.
Yes, we know we said that a few months ago. But this time, that something appears imminent. On Friday afternoon, the pop megastar's Internet presence mysteriously vanished.
Instagram photos? Gone.
Twitter account? No profile photo, following zero people, and tweets are being deleted by the minute.
Facebook page? Zapped.
Tumblr? Nothing.
Her web site? A literal blank space.
What does this mean? The social media wipeout, along with a recent trail of Swift "insiders" teasing that the singer is hard at work on an upcoming album, indicates that Swift's sixth album - or even a new single - could be on its way shortly.
Swift is one of the few stars on the planet who could still sell a million albums in a week, so the music industry is very, very eager to see what #TS6 will bring. Breaking with her strict two-year album cycle schedule, she hasn't released a new record since "1989" in October 2014.
She's also stayed mostly out of the spotlight all year, save for one concert in February to promote a new deal with DirecTV, and contributing a song to the "50 Shades Darker" soundtrack. She was back in the news last week when she won her lawsuit against a country radio DJ who said she got him fired after falsely alleging he groped her. The jury sided with Swift, and many applauded her sharp comebacks on the stand as she defended herself.
If you believe the Internet - which is to say, take this with a grain of salt - there's even more evidence that we can expect new music any day now, maybe even in the next week. Here are some (totally uncorroborated) clues uncovered by Taylor Swift Twitter, which is a force to be reckoned with:
- Friday marks the three-year anniversary of when Swift announced her last album, "1989," and debuted the soon-to-be-monster-hit single, "Shake It Off." In Swift universe, anniversaries are very significant, so it makes sense that she would pull this move on a special date.
- What else is significant? The number 13, Swift's lucky charm. Some fan accounts started circulating an alleged screengrab from DirecTV that suddenly had a listing for Swift to appear on "Good Morning America" on Aug. 31. That's 13 days away. And 31 is 13 backwards. So draw your own conclusions! (A "GMA" rep did not return a request for comment.)
- There's a rumor, sparked by Twitter account Pop Crave citing BBC UK, that Swift will drop in at the MTV VMAs next weekend for a surprise performance with her nemesis, Katy Perry, who spent a lot of time this year discussing their feud.
Convincing? Swift's camp is, obviously, on lockdown. But frankly, a Swift reset makes perfect sense. In 2016, she went through the first major backlash of her career - thanks to her much-photographed Tom Hiddleston relationship, issues with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, and silence during the election. Now marks an excellent time for a comeback.
The Australian site cited a 'heightened threat level' as the issue.