Adeline Courtney, '27 & Charlotte Figler, '27
Everyone has heard of the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce relationship that spiraled into an NFL vs the Swifties phenomenon. Being one of the most influential stars of our time, Swift’s opinions have often influenced the public. The “Reputation” pop star has been involved in politics for a little bit now, but conflict over this will reach its height as the 2024 election gets closer.
How did her involvement in politics begin? It all started back in 2018 when Swift came out as a Democrat by publicly speaking out against Marsha Blackburn and voting to “vote Trump out.” The 14-time Grammy winner became very candid in her political views over the years. She used her platform to raise awareness for anti-racism and gay rights, while also using her influence to make people aware and interested in voting. 53% of US adults consider themselves “Swifties” or fans of Taylor Swift, and 35% of adults favor Donald Trump (Business Insider). While Swift takes the lead, it must be known that over half of her fanbase are Republicans, despite Swift herself being a proud democrat. After her platform, 50,000+ people voted, and the Tennessee voting count increased by 2,000 in under 36 hours (Troy Chariot). But is this necessarily a good thing?
Celebrities have been influencing people's opinions on everything for as long as anyone can remember. Recipes, social media, and clothing are just some small examples of the influence that celebrities have on our day-to-day lives. As we get into more controversial topics, including political views, obviously, celebrities will have their own opinions. Normal civilians share their opinions every day, and celebrities use their platforms all the time for causes they think are positive. When civilians take these opinions and make them their own without any prior research, they run the risk of something going wrong. It is likely that followers of Swift, especially young people, blindly decided to vote for the candidate she supported, without doing any prior research of their own. One woman said, “We see that in interviews, they do agree that influencers have changed their behavior, not necessarily voting behavior, but rather what they buy or what they boycott, for instance, for political reasons” (The Guardian). People, usually in the Gen Z generation, change their voting behavior, what they purchase or boycott, and more all based on a celebrity. Are people, especially of our generation, voting for a presidential candidate because they have done the research and followed their campaign, or are they doing it as loyal fans looking to support their favorite music artist?
The truth is, people are always going to be influenced, whether it is by celebrities, our friends, or anyone else. The problem is when people choose to base their opinions solely off what their favorite celebrity believes instead of putting in time, effort, and research to find out who the best candidate for them is.