Taylor Swift managed to drive record-breaking numbers to voter registration website Vote.org after urging her 232 million followers on Instagram to take action.
On Tuesday (19 September), hours after the pop star, 32, called on her US fanbase to register to vote in honour of National Voter Registration Day, Vote.orgās communication director, Nick Morrow, announced that āour site was averaging 13,000 users every 30 minutesā.
āFun fact: after @taylorswift13 posted on Instagram today directing her followers to register to vote on @votedotorg, our site was averaging 13,0000 users every 30 minutes,ā Morrow wrote on X/Twitter.
ā13! Letās just say her reputation for being a mastermind is very well-earned.ā
Earlier that day, the āAnti-Heroā singer had posted to her Story, asking followers: āAre you registered to vote yet?
I donāt listen to her music, not a huge fan in that regard - but I love this woman none the less for having a voice loud enough in the current political climate.
Now if sheād just leave the personal jet in itās hangar.
Now if sheād just leave the personal jet in itās hangar.
Definitely not a fan of elites flying in their private jets to whatever luxury location.
But can you imagine Taylor Swift flying in a public airplane? Sheād be harassed endlessly, even in first class.
Some people are just too well known, unfortunately.
Well letās be hoping she doesnāt turn weird like JK Rowling. It seems thereās something in the air that makes billionaires turn rather right wing
Iāve avoided saying things like fascist, nazi, bigot, because thereās been a history of JK Rowling litigating people who call her a fascist, transphobic, bitch and I donāt want to do that yet
I think a comment I saw recently makes this make sense.
A lot of people have told me as you age, you get more conservative. I have not noticed this happen, but I think an entire generation did. Boomers. As they aged they had so many advantages the entire generation acquired things. Things they donāt want to lose because they feel like they earned it. In some ways they did earn it (eg, pursued that promotion, bought that house after āa whole summer of working OT!ā)ā¦ they just donāt recognize they started on third base and did not in fact hit a home run.
So if an entire generation can be as awful as they are, I think it must be a general glitch in human psychology. As long as you FEEL like you earned something, you will fight to protect it. I think thatās what happens to billionaires. And aging republicans. There will always be exceptions, but I think in general humans will just tend to be this way.
There has been research along those lines. If you give someone twice the starting money in Monopoly, theyāll still say they won due to skill.
Humans are ridiculous.
There was a video I saw a while back of a look-alike getting swarmed by fans, fans who were bawling about meeting her, itās just fucking nuts. I saw Harrison Ford once from a distance, and I was like āhey cool, I saw Harrison Fordā, but some people just go apeshit.
I bumped into Mark Ruffalo once. I just did a double-take and kept moving. I donāt understand this stuff.
Bruno intensifies
Sheād probably be fine in first class as long as she got to board separately.
Celebs do get boarded separately if they request it.
However, Iāve flown several celebs around on a commercial n first class and zero people give them grief. Theyāve all been quiet and low-key.
Sheād be harassed endlessly, even in first class.
Some people are just too well known, unfortunately.
The unfortunate truth is that you have to do what you have to do to protect yourself.
Username checks out, i guess
You would have thought she would just pay to get trees planted to match her co2 output produced from jet travel. Not ideal but better than nothing.
same, I donāt pop music but the way she handled yeeezās bullshit and her truck drivers fills me with a modicum of hope for humanity
Republicans: OK, so how can we make this illegal?
Thereās nothing more undemocratic than encouraging non-republicans to vote.
Heh, youre thinking that Republicans want a democratic system. Youāre funny
When you canāt get people to vote for you just get rid of voting
I wonder how many voters have registered so far as a result of that. Assuming itās been 24hrs since her post, and assuming an average of 13,000 every 30min for the full 24hrs, itād come out to 624,000 people!
Thatās a lotta voters
Iāve never been a fan of her music, but Iām kinda becoming a fan of her as a person.
Her music is so neutral that not being a fan means you are actively opposing her.
She isnāt my cup of tea, but she has a couple songs I vibe with.
I vibe with all her dongs
I love to put her dongs in my ears
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Yeah, after I reread it this morning, I got a good chuckle out of it as I was editing it.
Her music is so neutral that it being a fan means you are actively opposing her.
Iām not sure I understand.
I think itās supposed to be ānot being a fanā. Then it works out.
Yeah that sounds more sensibleā¦
I donāt agree with that line of thought. The taste of hospital food is also very neutral but I wouldnāt say Iām a fan of it. I also wouldnāt say Iām actively opposing it, and if served it in a situation where I canāt get anything else I wouldnāt snub my nose at it, but it wouldnāt be my first choice.
Okayā¦ So you agree with me?
How did you come to that conclusion?
ānot being a fan means you actively oppose herā
āIām not a fan, but I donāt actively oppose herā (by way of hospital food analogy)
āokayā¦ So you agree with me?ā
Do you think ānot a fan ofā means ādislikeā?
not being a fan means you are actively opposing her.
Lol nah
if you arenāt a fan you are against her.
You literally just tried to make it that deep when it comes to Taylor Swift bro.
Shake it Off (?) still makes me leave it playing whenever it pops up. Kind of the perfect pop single.
As a guy who mostly listens to classic rock and metal, sheās got a banger or two.
TiL Iām a Swifty.
Weāre all Swifties on this blessed day.
Speak for yourself!
I am ALL Swifties on this blessed day
Classic KenM
Sheās got my vote
looking forward to some backwater shithole GOP-run state legislature to try and arrest her for election interference
They will have their teeth kicked in by Swifties. Her fans are almost as powerful as kpop fans.
We are legion
Theyāre not going to vote for Republicans I hope. I donāt really follow Swift but I assume sheās not, like, a deeply horrible person.
Generally speaking, because Republicans are a minority, the more people that show up to vote, the worse it is for Republicans. Thatās why they work so hard to suppress voters. Anything that gets more people to vote is good for Dems even if youāre not asking people how theyāre going to vote.
https://www.insider.com/timeline-of-taylor-swifts-politics-2018-10
Tldr; yeah theyāre not going to be voting Republican.
Shit man, Iāll make the dumb, easy comment. But I really do mean it: That fuckinā whips ass
Unless she follows it up with a message about āremember to schedule some time on election day to voteā a few days before election day and another message on actual election day to remind people to go out and vote that day, all she has done is increased the available voters not the successful 2024 voters.
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Itās rarely that the job wonāt let you vote, itās that people canāt afford to take the time off needed to vote.
Remember, the GOP has spent decades working to disenfranchise voters, and one of the many tactics they use is closing polling stations in areas likely to vote against them, making in-person voting an ardious, hours-long process.
Who do you sue when the lines at the polling stations are 8 hours long?
Which is all why early voting is so important.
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We have an election coming up here in Canada, in Manitoba specifically.
The early vote window opens Saturday for a week, followed by the voting day. You get 3 hours off to vote, Iāve instructed everyone working on my projects to coordinate so weāre not all gone at once. Polls open 8-8.
Even our piece of shit conservatives push for early voting. Itās just a better way.
Where I am in the US we have about three solid weeks of in person early voting, and anyone can request a mail-in ballot, which they can either send through the mail, or deliver in person, or discard and vote in person (in case your abusive spouse tries to vote for you by mail). Weāve made quite a lot of progress in the past decade
Marianne Williamson should try to spend some time with Taylor Swift, getting Taylor fans to see her policy positions would maybe pressure the DNC to have a debate with Biden going against her and that idiot RK jr
The whole reason sheās doing this is because she saw that Trump was an awful president and she needs to do her part lmao
She released a whole anti Trump/Republicans song a while back called Only The Young:
And the big bad man and his big bad clan Their hands are stained with red Oh, how quickly, they forget They arenāt gonna help us Too busy helping themselves
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Only artists who donāt become successful can promote good messages
/s
Iām just glad people are getting involved in the voting process. Let them vote how they choose. This is good for us all.
She made an anthem to gay people at one point so chances of them voting republican are slim lol.
Lemmyās favorite billionaire, Iād warrant.
Well given that her fans skew young and female, why would they? The Republican party is just 3 world-ending death cults in a trenchcoat and their staunchest supporters openly brag about abusing and oppressing women.
Fuck Iām going to laugh if Taylor Swift takes their guns though.
Her entire fan base are racist conservatives
*hordes
ā13! Letās just say her reputation for being a mastermind is very well-earned.ā
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Donāt let perfect be the enemy of good.
Sure, but people can still do good things that are note worthy despite other short comings.
Person: saves childās life. Did you know person is also rude to waiters?
But also the child they savedā¦ Adolf Hitlerā¦ /s
Yes, this is true and an issue. My question is why you are bringing this up now during this kind of conversation. Itās quite āboth sidingā it
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passively committing mass murder of everyone
Itās sad that so many didnāt consider what it means to be able to vote and werenāt already registered. Itās even worse that they only did it after a celebrity told them to. Iām not sure I like the thought of those kinds of people voting.
What do you mean āthose kinds of peopleā? This is a democracy, everyone (over 18) is entitled to vote, and every vote is valid. Maybe they just needed a friendly reminder or an extra push from someone they look up to.
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The 18-30 demographic in this country is notorious for not voting. Itās been a thing for a long time. Which is part of the reason politics is so conservative*.
MTV was running the āRock the Voteā campaign 30 years ago, in attempts to get younger people to vote. This is not a new situation at all.
*There are younger conservatives, but the younger demographics tend to skew liberal/progressive.
45% of her fan base are millennial so mostly outside of that demographic on 11% are gen z
So you also want fox news, young turks and all other political stations off the air. Understand
Ok Karen. Go sit down.
Voter turnout has always sucked, and especially among the youth vote. I think itās sad to throw stones at any effort that moves the needle in that regard.
Registration isnāt the same as voting, sure, but there is a correlation between degrees of registration numbers and turnout. The below article focuses primarily on differences from automatic registrations, but covers the details pretty well I think.
I thought her fans were mostly young girls, as in, not yet able to vote.
Still cool, not sure itās newsworthy though.
I thought her fans were mostly young girls
Uhh, that was 15 years ago. The core of her fan base is, like, in their 20s and 30s now.
Can confirm, fan of Taylor Swift, and am in my 30s.
Yup, my wife and her friends are all huge swifties in their late 20s
Huh, I thought that was a phase most grew out of and a new generation cycled in.
Well, itās cool that sheās doing this.
Must be a massive rock you call home.
I mean technically we all call a massive rock home. Itās just still hot on the inside and covered in other stuff
I adore you
Apparently.
I have zero interest in the scene of the artists I actually listen to, how much interest do you think I have for the scene of artists I donāt listen to?
You donāt seem to have an interest in touching grass if youāve missed that the world has kept turning.
Do people have to have an interest for everything?
Itās not unusual to have artists that cater to a certain kind of people and for them to stick with that type of people through their career even if theyāre personally changing because thatās what they know.
Heck, I tried to remember the last song I heard by Swift and I just realized that I canāt even tellā¦ I thought that Firework was by her instead of Katy Perry, thatās how little I care about her.
I never expected you to know taylor swifts current songs you dingus. You already made it clear that her songs are not your thing and you arent invested in fandoms. Thats fine.
I expected you to have a broad understanding on society in general. My comment was very derogatory and i apologize.
I mean, musicians evolve as they age too. Iām in my 40ās and donāt much care for her earlier stuff. But the album āLoverā is really good and I quite enjoy her two chill covid-era albums. Maybe give some of that stuff a listen and see why so many people enjoy her stuff.
Open your heart in October and let yourself experience ā1989ā once Taylorās Version comes out. Itās a pop masterpiece.
Iāll give them a try. Iāve had a lot of trouble finding pop music I like anymore, but I think Harry Styles is kinda interesting.
I mostly listen to random indie music these days, such as The Interrupters, and classic rock. But occasionally Iāll find a decent pop song.
I thought that was a phase
You thought what was a phase?
Liking Taylor Swift.
Taylor Swift got popular when I was in college, and I just always assumed that most of her fans were teenagers (nobody my age seemed to like her music, aside from a random hit like āShake it Offā), and they eventually moved on to different artists. I thought it was a little weird when my early-20s cousin went to her concert (she was a fan as a teen too), but I just figured it was a nostalgia thing.
Itās kind of like boy bands in the 90s or Slipknot/Korn in the 00s, they seemed to appeal to a certain age demographic and then fans moved on. Or at least thatās what happened in my circle of friends and acquaintances.
Are you saying you donāt listen to any music from when you were a teenager anymore?
Do you still listen to all the music you listened to as a teenager? Do you actively follow all artists you listen to? Do you actively follow all artists you used to listen to? Do you realise youāre writing on a post in a politics community, not a music one so there are people here who just donāt have any interest for music?
I didnāt say āallā the music. Dude makes it sound like itās abnormal to still like any music from your youth when the converse is more accurate. You do realize weāre talking about a musician and her music here so there are people in this conversation who have an interest for music, right? sheesh
Take a listen to her newer stuff. Her lyrics are tight, topical, and sheās got catchy melodies.
Iāll check her out. I havenāt listen to anything by her in about 10 years, so surely things have changed.
Looks like you triggered her rabid fans that canāt believe some people donāt give a crap about Taylor Swiftā¦
Yeah, Iām surprised at the negative response here. I didnāt criticize her or her fans, just expressed surprise. I even commended her on encouraging people to get registered to vote.
Maybe that means weāve āwonā if even relatively neutral comments can trigger a brigade. When I first joined, comments didnāt get more than 5-ish comments in either direction, but Iām getting high double digit down votes (not good comment, but my original one), which means even a silly comment is getting lots of attention.
So yeah, whatever.
Her 5th studio album came out nearly 10 years ago. Plenty of her mainstream fans have grown old enough to vote by now.
Wow, itās been that long? I guess I figured most people moved on some years ago, and most of her current fanbase is still 13 or whatever.
Thatās not how music works bud. It is usually generational and rides on nostalgia.
Wait, are you suggesting that this āgenerationalā thing is why I have to go to a Native American casino to see Quiet Riot??!?
To some extent, sure. However, I also think people grow out of music as well, at least I have.
For example, I used to love Dashboard Confessional, Plain White Ts, and Modest Mouse as a kid (went to concerts for the first two), but these days I rarely listen to any of them, and certainly not Dashboard Confessional. These days, Iām into very different music, like The Interrupters, The Hu, and apparently a lot of classic rock (from before I was born, and after my parentsā generation).
Iām pretty much right in the age range for Taylor Swift (Iām in my 30s), but I and pretty much everyone else I interact with (professionals in an office setting) donāt listen to anything from the era we grew up in. I even have a sizeable CD collection that I havenāt touched in over a decade that sits in storage with my other things from childhood.
My parents listened to music from their era all throughout my childhood and through to today, but I guess I never got nostalgic for it and listen to anything from the 50s to today, though I have trouble finding any pop music from any era after Michael Jackson that I actually like anymore.
Itās a bit of a downer but being in my 40s now, and talking to my siblings and peers, the almost universal call of nostalgia doesnāt really hit until after youāve lost people, and depending how close they were to you = duh.
I canāt listen to Led Zeppelins Physical Graffiti without thinking of my dad the entire time. Same goes for Pink Floydās Meddle and The Final Cut. All three albums I listen too from front to back, at minimum once a year, on what would be his birthday.
My experience is far from singular, in my circles apparently the norm, so theres something for you to set aside for later.
Some of the tropes about aging are true. I AM more patient, understanding and forgiving now, and Iām grateful for all that as well.
I am not however, and if anything Iāve swung hard the other way, growing more conservative. I was raised on the lie of Meritocracy, the looting from economic Neo-liberalism, Orwellian language from deceitful institutions (Department of Defense instead of War - they changed it in 1946, Department of Justice - as much as you can afford anyway, āProtect and Serveā - the property owners, not the community, or guarding food laden dumpsters during the pandemic so people can get free food. Fucking EVIL). Iāve watched everyone get more poor and normal social reinvestment, think infrastructure, slow to a crawl and now everything is falling apart. Inflation is a lie, itās a tool used to destroy any savings we might have stashed away from the greedy, cancer class.
Retirement is a carrot in a stick. We wonāt have it, if this round of inflation doesnāt make that obvious. Idk why my parents and then Gen X arenāt up in fucking arms that bc if inflation their hourly now is most likely the same value or less their wage when they started working. How do you go your whole life without a raise? Just to get your retirement stolen inches from the end?
Better to die on your feet than live on yr knees. My retirement is dying in the revolution.
I hope to watch it all die a swift, permanent and unresurrectable death.
Lol. I clearly missed the growing more conservative memo. Like, if we were to start over, from scratch, almost no part of society would we remake how it is now. Thatās all the surmising I need.
@sugar_in_your_tea probably a bit of a mixture given that she still has hit singles, but it seems to me that fan bases tend to age alongside musicians.
The teen girls I know are into Doja Cat and Black Pink etc.
The people who like the music I liked as a teen are mostly my age.
Interesting.
Iām in my 30s and I like Black Pink (kinda), but thatās probably because my wife is Korean and theyāre the most tolerable/unique of the K-Pop artists imo (I found them before they got big in my area). I also like Gukkasten (amazing voice), and thatās about it for Korean music. I mostly listen to classic rock (not my era or my parentsā) and recent indie music (largely ska and punk, but lots of other random stuff).
At least in my circle, the people that listen to mostly todayās music are young people. People in their 20s and 30s tend to pick and choose from different eras, older people (>50) listen to their era of music, and 40s are more hit and miss and often influenced by their kids. At least thatās what I observe.
Spotify and YouTube have made it a lot easier to sample from a lot of different eras, itās not just whatever is on the radio.
Naw, her music has only gotten better over time. I think your biases are showing.
Iām not sure which biases youāre referring to. I enjoy listening to pop music from every era, but not every artist from every era. I just found TSās music uninteresting some 10 years ago and havenāt bothered keeping up with her latest music. I found Meghan Trainor more interesting back in the 2010s, and I still think sheās interesting today.
But Iāll give her new music a listen, Iām always looking for new music to try.
Clearly at least 13,0000 are not.
13,000 every 30 minutes. Thatās a mindblowing amount
They were like 15 years ago. Her fandom is like 30 now
They are, only white trash listen to her
I donāt even listen to her but this has got to be the dumbest take Iāve ever seen.
Her fans are all racist conservatives, to hell with her and her garbage mall shopping music
I donāt particularly enjoy her music, but I donāt think thereās any substantive reason to think her fans are all racist conservatives. Why would you think that?
Her views are not, and her fanbase is so broad I doubt they are all anything specific, but she has pissed off some right wingers over the years for sure.
Lolwut?
Are her fans kinda unhinged? Yeah maybe. Racist conservatives? Unlikely.
Yikes.
