Taylor Swift Is a 4chan User Conspiracy Theory
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About
Taylor Swift Is a 4chan User Conspiracy Theory refers to a yearslong conspiracy theory that in the early 2010s, Taylor Swift supposedly posted on and browsed 4chan (particularly the /b/ board) anonymously as a user of the site. Through an analysis of trip codes, timestamps and postings made by Swift on her official social media platforms, numerous 4chan users assembled a theory in the early 2010s that Swift had a burner account on the site, which subsequently spread over the following years and generated widespread discourse, memes and other references online.
Origin
On November 6th, 2011, an anonymous 4chan user asked other anons on /b/ what they should name their kitten. The winning response was "Meredith." The following day, on November 7th, an article ran in People magazine sharing that Taylor Swift had named her cat "Meredith."[1] On February 7th, 2012, Redditor u/erichg313 posted a screenshot of the competition for naming Meredith alongside a screenshot of the article to Reddit's /r/4chan, with arrows and circles elaborating the theory (seen below).[2]
The materials in the screenshot were likely posted and discussed on 4chan prior to that date. The post on Reddit received over 1,200 upvotes over the course of 12 years. Commenters on the /r/4chan post mentioned that Swift had probably named her cat Meredith prior to November 6th and the 4chan competition.
Throughout the early 2010s, the theory gained complexity, as new pieces of purported evidence were assimilated. While never proven true, it was part of a growing narrative that Taylor Swift was secretly "based" or sympathetic towards right-wing beliefs.[1]
Spread
4chan founder and administrator Christopher Poole, known as moot, attempted to debunk the rumors in a post on February 12th, 2012, saying that the anonymous poster was not Taylor Swift.[3]
Posters believing the conspiracy, nevertheless, speculated that moot had been paid off by Swift or her team to shut down the rumors (examples shown below).
The theory saw press attention and coverage on the wider internet at varying intervals in the years to come. In the summer of 2013, a series of articles describing the conspiracy theory was published online, following the vitality of an image macro that brought together all of the supposed evidence gathered by 4chan. This image macro was also posted to /r/4chan on August 3rd, 2013, by Redditor u/RickAstley666, who earned over 3,700 likes over the course of 10 years (seen below).[3]
This evidence started with the cat name poll and went on to involve investigative sleuthing of what posters claimed were photos taken of part of Swift's face and her property. Another anon claimed to have conversed with Swift on Omegle, where she supposedly said she was on 4chan. Another user anonymously posted once claiming to be on the "50 most famous people on the planet" asking for questions from people on /b/.[4]
On a repost to /r/TaylorSwift[8] on August 3rd, 2013, fans of the artist pushed back strongly against the theory, following what had often been the stance of the Swift community towards the conspiracy theory (seen below). The post ultimately garnered over 110 upvotes and 24 comments in 10 years.
In 2018, multiple YouTubers covered the theory as it spread online. For example, YouTuber Justin Whang published a video on March 5th, 2018, titled "Is Taylor Swift an Active 4Chan User?" that received over 1.1 million views in five years (seen below, left). On March 19th, YouTuber Repzilla also uploaded a video on the conspiracy theory, receiving over 4,700 views in a similar timeframe (seen below, right).
In 2023, the theory saw a notable resurgence online, with posters on X sharing the image macro that brought together all of the purported evidence along with their commentary.[7] A post by X user @JadeAtrophis promoting the theory on November 6th, 2023, seems to have been the beginning of this renewed interest. It reposted the image from the 2013 Reddit post, earning over 16,000 likes in a week (seen below, left).[5] Others also commented on the theory, like user @deepfates (seen below, right) who earned over 300 likes across three days after posting about Taylor Swift and 4chan on November 11th.[6]
Search Interest
External References
[1] Sydney Morning Herald – How the far-right internet came to believe Taylor Swift was their secret ally
[2] Reddit – Trips decide Taylor Swift's cat name.
[3] Reddit – Anon basically proves Taylor Swift is a regular 4chan user
[4] Daily Dot – Is Taylor Swift a 4chan user?
[5] X – @JadeAtrophis
[7] Indy100 – Theory resurfaces that Taylor Swift was once an active 4Chan user
[8] Reddit – r/taylorswift
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