How many influencers/celebrities do you follow and are fans of? Everyone has at least a few celebrities they are fans of. Celebrities are, in today’s day and age, known for being very influential to their followers and fans. Social media, especially, has created this new connection between celebrities and their fans. Fans follow to see what their favorite celebrities are up to from what they post. Posts and content that celebrities post can range from posts about their pet to posts about social and political matters, it all depends on who you follow. The past few years, especially, have shown society that celebrities have the influence to engage with their followers on social and political matters. One celebrity that I want to highlight, has over the years created a deep connection with her fans and has created a community that she has been able to educate and discuss current issues with. The celebrity I am referring to is singer, songwriter, producer, and actress Taylor Swift.
Where to start. As you might tell, yes I am a fan of Taylor Swift. For a little history, Taylor Swift started her career back in 2004 as a country singer in Nashville, TN. Over the years she has grown and has explored other genres like pop and alternative music. Today, she has 10 song albums and has headlined 5 music tours. On Instagram, Taylor has 153 million followers and 88.8 million on Twitter. She has become popular through her heartfelt songwriting and singing over the years. Taylor has grown up with her fans as well as her fans having grown up listening to her music.
During the early years of Taylor Swift’s career, she never made her views too public which an article by Teen Vogue discusses. In just these past few years Taylor Swift has become more vocal on a range of social and political issues and has engaged her followers on these issues. Taylor Swift has in recent years started to use her music and music videos as a tool in her activism by spotlighting important issues that need to be addressed and discussed. One example is Taylor’s “You Need To Calm Down” song and video. Currently, her music video has around 244 million views with appearances from many influential and popular LGBTQ+ celebrities and friends of Taylor. This song and the music video helped advocate and bring awareness to her fans and viewers about issues that the LGBTQ+ community was facing. It also at the end of the music video directed her fans and viewer to resources to help support the LGBTQ+ community.
In the same article by Teen Vogue called “Taylor Swift on LGBTQ Activism and Being Openly Political” it states this to Teen Vogue interviewers:
“Rights are being stripped from basically everyone who isn’t a straight white cisgender male,” she told the magazine. “I didn’t realize until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of. It’s hard to know how to do that without being so fearful of making a mistake that you just freeze. Because my mistakes are very loud. When I make a mistake, it echoes through the canyons of the world. It’s clickbait, and it’s a part of my life story, and it’s a part of my career arc.”(Teen Vogue).
Taylor Swift realized how influential her music was and how influential her platform was that she decided to use it to help advocate for others whose voices weren’t being heard and/or ignored. She continues to use her platform to advocate for women’s rights and is a proud feminist. She has even talked about her own personal experience being a woman in the music industry and being in Hollywood along with being put into gossip narratives. Taylor Swift has become a role model for so many women and girls. She has helped open doors for discussions about topics that weren’t previously discussed. Taylor Swift has used her platform to promote her activist work and advocacy for others and most importantly uplifting others’ voices.
Journalism 2.0 