A True “Love Story”: Taylor Swift’s Swifties

 

Taylor and her Swifties

Taylor Swift has been a globally successful, American, singer/songwriter/popstar since her debut in 2006

when she was only sixteen years old. Growing up in Reading and Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, “TSwift”

had very humble beginnings. She has been writing and playing the guitar since she was ten, but has

moved onto worldwide stardom. Almost everyone in the US has heard of her and perhaps can give you

a few details of her (very public) personal life. With nine (soon-to-be ten) albums under her belt, Taylor

has achieved great renown for her life as a musician (Taylor Swift).

Cover of Taylor's next album, "Fearless (Taylor's Version)"

Her fans are passionate people, constantly supporting her music and her growth over the years. “Swifties” can be described as “dedicated” and “powerful” (van As et al.) Taylor has only collected more and more supporters as time has gone by.

Taylor often interacts with her fans on Twitter. She has a massive following (88.5 million - to be exact)

and a very kind relationship with her Swifties. Below is a screenshot of one of her recent tweets about her feeling saddened by the cancelation of her tour dates. She crafted a personal message for her fans to explain her mutual feelings of disappointment and desire to go out and meet everyone when the world is safer than it is currently. The replies are flooded with positive responses from fans with usernames relating to Taylor, like “swiftsivygrows,” “taysversion13,” and “wildeyedswiftie.” This is a great example of Taylor’s personal connection to her fans and how positive the fan atmosphere is (@taylorswift13).

You’ll find Swifties communicating and sharing content on websites like Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, Wiki Fandom, and even Genius Lyrics.

The Taylor Swift subreddit has “152 Swifties” and includes posts from fans every day. Here, fans share artwork of Taylor, song-inspired crafts, meet-up plans, and theories analyzing Taylor’s music. Full discussions usually break out after someone digs far deep into Taylor’s content over the course of her career.

For example a post made by “SnooEagles5876” on March 7th, 2021 at 6:17pm said this:

“58 Theory?”

Long time lurker, first time poster!

Curious if someone has broken the love of the number 58 that Taylor has...lol.

58 Years Later - The Man MV 1:58 - Last Kiss “Some days I feel like I’m 58” - Taylor interview

Did we figure out the theory behind 58? :) although now that I’m thinking...is it because it adds up to 13?”

After they posted this, fellow fans discussed in the comments. Many assume the 58 could be a countdown of sorts to Taylor’s re-release of one of her first albums, “Fearless,” which comes out on April 9th, 2021. Others believe it’s just because Taylor’s favorite number is 13. This fact is common fandom knowledge (SnooEagles5876).

Above are great examples of fan art and crafts shared on the Taylor Swift subreddit. The first is a drawing of Taylor by the user updownstranger. The second is a cookie cake decorated with the lyrics to one of Taylor's songs, "long story short." Fans are easily and relentlessly inspired by Taylor's music.

Swifties do similar activities in the Wiki Fandom discussion board. Currently, many are excited about her six Grammy nominations and are sharing their enthusiasm. Below is a post by Wiki Fandom user "Ember27." The comments under their post are flooded with mutually ecstatic Swifties rooting for Taylor's victory.

You could spend hours in the search results of Youtube after searching “taylor swift cover.” So many fans dedicate their love for Taylor by covering one of her songs and performing it on their own. Here’s a great example of a cover of one of Taylor’s songs, “gold rush” by Ava Hennessy.

Fan’s also dedicate a lot of time to analyzing her song lyrics on Genius Lyrics. Taylor has always been a talented songwriter, sneaking in references to her older songs in her newer ones often. But she also writes narratives in songs that intertwine with others of her’s. When she released her album “folklore” on July 24th, 2020, fans went wild with theories. Many realized that three songs off of the album, “cardigan,” “august,” and “betty,” were part of what is known as the “Teenage Love Triangle” story including the same characters and storyline. In the comments of these three songs on Genius Lyrics, fans overanalyze the references to each other - specifically, users “MoniqueTall” and “doll12345” (Taylor Swift – ​betty). 

It’s also noteworthy to mention the two Taylor Swift fan books that are on sale on Amazon for around sixteen-seventeen dollars each. Seeing this kind of book being published really emphasizes how large Taylor’s fandom is and how dedicated they are to her.

Fan books about Taylor.

I’ve been a Taylor Swift fan since I’ve first heard her music. During every family gathering I’ve been to, you can most certainly guarantee Taylor Swift’s music had been playing. I’m happy to consider myself a Swiftie and a part of her fanbase. 

My cousins and I seeing Taylor on her Red Tour in 2013 :)

Works Cited

doll12345. Comment on “Taylor Swift - betty lyrics.” Genius Media Group Inc, 26 July 2020, 9:14 a.m., https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-betty-lyrics 

Ember27. “GRAMMYS IN A WEEK” FANDOM, 7 March. 2021, https://taylorswift.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003243294.  Accessed 9 March. 2021.

Feldman, Brian. “Taylor Swift Is Glad Her Tumblr Stans Liked Her Post.” Intelligencer, Intelligencer, 9 Oct. 2018, nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/10/taylor-swift-is-glad-her-tumblr-stans-liked-her-post.html.

fussyplatypus. “Made and decorated my first cookie cake to mark my one year stay-at-home-iversary” Reddit, 5 March. 2021, https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwift/comments/lyio75/made_and_decorated_my_first_cookie_cake_to_mark/. Accessed 9 March. 2021.

Hennessy, Ava. “gold rush - taylor swift cover.” YouTube, uploaded by Ava Hennesy, 13 Dec. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03UrsL63oH0 

MoniqueTall. Comment on “Taylor Swift - betty lyrics.” Genius Media Group Inc, 24 July 2020, 4:08 a.m., https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-betty-lyrics 

SnooEagles5876. “58 theory?” Reddit, 7 March. 2021, https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwift/comments/m02zmk/58_theory/. Accessed 9 March. 2021.

“Taylor Swift.” Taylor Swift Wiki, FANDOM, taylorswift.fandom.com/wiki/Taylor_Swift. (Taylor Swift)

“Taylor Swift – ​betty.” Genius, Genius Media Group Inc., 24 July 2020, genius.com/Taylor-swift-betty-lyrics. 

updownstranger. “you put me on and said i was your favorite 💚🖤” Reddit, 8 March. 2021, https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwift/comments/m0ip6j/you_put_me_on_and_said_i_was_your_favorite/. Accessed 9 March. 2021.

van As, Amber, et al. “Taylor Swift and the Story of the Swifties Fandom.” Diggit Magazine, 1 Nov. 2018, www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/taylor-swift-and-story-swifties-fandom. (van As et al.)

@taylorswift13. “I miss you terribly and can’t wait til we can all safely be at shows together again.” Twitter, 26 Feb. 2021, 6:02 p.m., https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1365437047578783747