Famous friends and falling in love: Taylor Swift knows what you want and gives it to you

Seen barrelling down an inflatable slide emblazoned with "Taymerica"on its side, Taylor Swift has beenon quite the ride when it comes to social media.

The pop singer has dominated news feeds and social media streams of late thanks toa steady stream of photos that sell her hopelessromantic, girl-next-doorbrand and alsotapinto that classic mainstay of human desire: to be loved.

On one hand, there's the love of friends, like Swift's celebrity budswho chose a very public dip over a private swim last weekend.Swift's squad forJuly 4thincluded besties such asGigi Hadid, Cara Delevingne, Karlie Kloss, Uzo Aduba, Ruby Rose and Blake Lively (with husband Ryan Reynolds tagging along).

And of course, there'sromantic love:Swift's high-profilerelationships are now famous fodder for her music. Most recently, after shaking it off with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris following about ayear of dating, Swift's been takingpublic displays of affection to a whole new level with current beau, English actorTom Hiddleston.

The internet lost its mind a few weeks agowhen The Sun tabloid released pics of the couple making out in Rhode Islandandstrolling with Hiddleston's mum in the seaside town of Ipswich.The couple didn't seem to mind that photographers were snapping away all around them. Or maybe they did, butdecided to live their lives in the public eye anyway.

Responding to skeptics, The Sun's associate editor Dan Wootton noted that the incident wasn't a celebrity-paparazzi set-up.

Still,"there is no doubt she has a terrific team of PR advisors behind the scenes advising her and working with her on messaging that she feels is authentic,"according toDebraGoldblatt-Sadowski, president and founder of Rock-it promotions inc.

"She is a strong, extremely smart, successful young woman and with that comes a lot of planning and thought.You can bet for almost everything she does (that is media facing), she does it with a strategic plan in place."

Lest you think she's hogging the spotlight, Swift also thrusts the love lives of others into her frame as well, from Ed (on-a-break-from-social-media) Sheeranspiedcanoodling with his girlfriend in the background of one Instagram post to the fans whose wedding she crashed.

Is it a genuine portrait of real life? Maybe, but it's definitelypart of an intentional, curateddepiction of the star.

"There is nothing actually new under the celebrity sun," declaredShinanGovani,social columnist and celebrity-watcher.

"The levers of informationand the pace with which the nuggets and images are distributedare different, yes... But, in a way, Taylor Swift is using social media the way another Taylor Elizabeth, that is allowed the media to turn her life into theatre.But the more she did, the less we knew."

Swift wasn'talone in broadcasting her holiday fun:variousA-listers took tosocial media last weekend to postcarefully selected celebratoryimages and videos out to the world. At least one admitted cheekily to the staged nature of this sort ofsharing.

"The danger with social media is that people believe too much. Social media is like an extension of reality programming in many ways:it's real, but very filtered (no pun intended)," saidGoldblatt-Sadowski.

"Instagram is much like curating your own personal magazineand Snapchat your own reality show. There are slices of reality, for certain, but celebs are like anybody else in that you never see what happens behind closed doors."

When it comes right down to it, Swift knowsjust how to stay in the spotlight. An earlier post captioned witha lyric by herformer flame Harris indicates that singer knows exactly how to hookus: by showing off ajoyful life filled with vibrant, famous friends and falling inlove. Well, you came to the right place.