Why doesn't Taylor Swift follow anyone on Instagram? Singer once said she felt news outlets were "monitoring" her through social media

Taylor Swift is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, and her popularity has increased exponentially since the success of her Eras Tour. In 2023 alone, the tour reportedly grossed over $1 billion, making it the most lucrative concert tour in history.

With a massive following of 283 million on Instagram, the 14-time Grammy Awards winner does not follow anyone back. In a 2019 interview with UK's Capital London Breakfast, the songwriter revealed the reason for not following anyone because she doesn't want people to use social media as a tool to monitor her every move.

Furthermore, Taylor Swift also boasts 95.3 million followers on X(formerly Twitter). However, she doesn't follow anyone on that platform, either.

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The real reason why Taylor Swift doesn't follow anyone on Instagram

Taylor Swift's Instagram profile (image via Instagram/@taylorswift)

Taylor Swift is currently the 14th most followed account on Instagram. However, the Blank Space singer doesn't follow even her best friends like Blake Lively, Selena Gomez, or her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

In a 2019 interview with UK's Capital London Breakfast, the Shake It Up singer revealed the real reason why she doesn't follow anyone on Instagram. She said:

"OK, so basically I found a couple years ago that, um, I found that, you know, social media started to feel a bit like the media’s way of monitoring my every move."

Taylor elaborated on how the media blows everything she does on Instagram, out of proportion. Something as simple as leaving a like or a comment is made a huge deal, when she does it. He further explained:

“I’m starting to realize that if I didn’t wish one of my friends a happy birthday on Instagram, there would literally be articles saying like, unsquadded. She’s no longer friends with so and so!"

Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss (Photo by Pascal Le Segretai

Similar things happened between Taylor and her longtime friend, Karlie Kloss. A simple dearth of interaction on social media was enough to convince the tabloids that the two weren't friends anymore.

For instance, fans started speculating that Taylor had a rift with Karlie Kloss when she featured in a photo posted by Scooter Braun on his Instagram account. At that time, Taylor was in a dispute with Scooter over possessing the masters of her earlier albums. Similar rumors followed when Kloss hung out with Katy Perry. Although the two are close now, things weren't the same back then.

She stated:

"So it was kind of my way of like not allowing my life to be controlled and monitored by social media. I think we’re all kind of taking steps to try to figure out how to not let it take over our lives and our feelings and validation with our lives,”

Taylor further discussed the importance of living in the moment. The singer explained that a like and a comment on a virtual photo can't dictate one's mood and day. She concluded:

“You can’t have like a memory and take a picture of it and spend the rest of the day looking at the comments for that one snapshot of your day. You should just maybe be present for your whole day.”

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Why did Taylor Swift delete all her Instagram posts in 2017?

Taylor Swift reputation stadium tour - Sydney (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

On August 18, 2017, Taylor Swift suddenly deleted all her Instagram posts and removed her profile picture, caption, and even her bio. Therefore, her account was left with '0 following' and '0 posts'. Additionally, she removed her profile picture from Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).

Six days later, fans realized that it was in preparation for the announcement of her sixth studio album, Reputation. Her first Instagram post after the fiasco was the album art of Reputation, released on August 24, 2024.

Currently, Taylor's Instagram feed showcases the warm and retro theme of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.