As the polls are starting to open up for November midterm elections, it seems that everyone is coming together to encourage their fellow citizens to vote. Social media users are sharing links that connect their friends and followers with voting registration, information about the candidates running in their area, and capitalizing on why their vote matters. With that being said, celebrities have not shied away from implementing their political beliefs into their influential voice.
On October 7, just a month before the midterm elections, pop singer Taylor Swift shared her first political post on Instagram, and it sparked interest from her followers. Under a simple polaroid photo of herself, she expressed her personal thoughts and explanations regarding the upcoming political event. Swift, who is registered to vote in her hometown of Tennessee, thoroughly explained to her followers who she was voting for and why. She also expanded on who she was not voting for and why this candidate will not win Swift’s vote.
Marsha Blackburn, who is running for Senate in Tennessee, represents the Republican Party. Swift states that Blackburn’s voting record in Congress “appalls and terrifies” her. According to Swift’s post, Blackburn goes against equal pay for women, does not believe in equal rights for LGBTQ citizens (i.e. occupational rights, marriage rights), and does not support the protection of sexual assault victims. “These are NOT my Tennessee values,” Swift wrote. She then moved on to explain suitable candidates according to her beliefs. These candidates, who represent the Democratic Party, are Phil Bredesen running for Senate and Jim Cooper running for House of Representatives. Both Bredesen and Cooper stand for values that align with Swift’s political beliefs.
As media naturally analyzes each of Swift’s words and actions, those who read her post had strong opinions. Swift, however, turned her comments off after sharing the post. Shutting down the opportunity for fans to give feedback is a bold move to make, however, the comment section tends to be a toxic zone for people of influence since the forum is known for growing very aggressive. University junior, Lisa Moran, said, “Swift probably wanted to express her own opinions without reading anyone else arguments, and that is why she turned off her comments,” said Moran. “When feedbacks get vicious, this is a healthy action to take.”
Celebrities such as Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian, and Millie Bobby Brown have taken the same action in disabling the Instagram public comments option due to the surplus of hate-comments on their profiles. Whether celebrities share a glamorous selfie or a heartfelt post, if the comments are disabled, there was motivation behind them being turned off.
University junior, Veronica Cabrera, said, “It seems like millions of young people read Taylor Swift’s post and felt encouraged to go vote during midterm elections.” Taylor Swift worded her post in a professional and fair manner while simultaneously addressing the problematic qualities she views with Marsha Blackburn’s policies. She highlighted why she sees Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper as suitable candidates in hopes to inspire young people to vote for who they see as a proper representative for this country.
In the final part of Swift’s post, she encouraged young people to go out and make their votes count while also including registration deadlines for the state of Tennessee. It is clear to see that Taylor Swift deeply cares for her country and the rights of her fellow citizens. University junior, Julia Slattery, said, “It is positive for celebrities, such as Taylor Swift, to express their political beliefs, as long as their beliefs are backed up by informed opinions.” After reading this post, young people of America seem to be more motivated to be heard and exercise their right to cast their vote during the upcoming midterm elections, taking place on Tuesday November 6.
Following this profound young voter motivation, on October 19, Taylor Swift furthered her encouragement for her fans to vote. She shared a post on her Instagram story that stated, “If you just voted, take a pic and tag me with #justvoted. It may end up on my story.” Less than an hour after the story was posted, she began sharing screenshots of fans who voted. Some of these individuals were first-time voters and voters in the state of Tennessee. These posts from young and new voters alone was confirmation that Swift’s first political post was taken into action by the readers as it challenged her fans, friends, and fellow citizens to go to the polls.
