As you all know, Taylor Swift and Kanye West have been in a very rocky relationship since 2009. Even in the recent 2016 Grammy Awards, Taylor Swift took a dig at industry sexism and rebutted Kanye West’s insulting song lyrics.
The ball was in Swift’s court, when 1989 won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Her response was impassioned and as clearly directed at West as it could be without mentioning his name: “As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice, I want to say to all the young women out there: there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.”
Before this, Kanye had taken his unhappiness for Taylor winning the 2009 VMAs to Twitter, causing an uproar amongst audiences. Even President Obama weighed in on the issue.
In 2013, Taylor had two VMA nominations in the MTV Video Music Awards, and she tweeted:
By going online, their conflict dragged on for the past 6 to 7 years and sorely affected the reputations of both artists. Although names were not mentioned in public, it was obvious who the statements were targeting online. As such social media can be extremely dangerous and detrimental to relationships and we should be more cautious before posting anything online.
Some areas for thought:
- How could the issue have been better resolved online?
- How has Taylor’s 2016 speech affected the use of online mediums to fight for women’s rights?
Dr. KyuJin Shim's blog 
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