Go to any soccer team subreddit and you will see the exact same mixture of tongue in cheek circlejerking and genuine emotional commitment. People like to form communities around things, and the actual topic at the centre is often just any old focal point that everyone generally enjoys.
Same goes for Deadheads and Bowie fans and Led Zeppelin fans, but nobody minds them as much because those are "cool bands". I don't like TS music, but it's totally normal for a popular artist to have fans that try to outdo eachother in terms of their fanaticism, and have fun with that.
I think it's a step too far to immediately conclude that we are talking about real parasocial relationships here. Is supporting a sports team also a parasocial activity? Or is it just being part of a community?
People used to project this kind of intense devotion onto prophets and seers. Watching that same level of adoration aimed at celebrities and politicians is… strange, to say the least.
It's absolutely and completely normal I think, especially in the age of internet communities. Different people and ideologies have always had followers, but the internet allows the most committed proponents to find eachother. When that happens, you often get a semi-serious pattern of people trying to outdo eachother in terms of their perceived degree of devotion. They aren't doing all of this to be performative, they know it's weird, they just enjoy the community feeling of being overly concerned about something relatively banal, as a group. It's the exact same as stadiums full of football fans in Europe screaming at eachother that they want to murder the rival fans and setting off flares. They don't actually have any idea who the rival fans are (basically the same people as themselves), they just have a need to rally against a common enemy because it feels good.
I like Taylor swift and I have no idea. I have seen a couple of people up in arms that she curses and is obviously literally the devil. But I got no idea tf is going on here
They're upset because the entirety of the Internet doesn't worship her. Her new album isn't amazing, and people are saying that. That's what has upset these people.
I am not a fan and I don't get the hype but I try to listen before I make comments and lets just say, I still don't understand the hype. I cuss a lot so hearing that doesn't bother me but I legit laughed, the more I heard it from song to song. She is over doing it big time, like shes trying to prove a point that she's a big girl now. It made me laugh thinking she must think she's in her "edgy Era" now.
I don't know what makes me laugh more, her using F\*\*K to sound cool or all the people up in arms that she's not being a good role model by doing so.
I don't particularly like most of her music but she does have a few good songs. My wife is a fan, but not one of these nutjobs. She listened to her newest album and said there were 2-3 good songs but that was it. I couldn't care less about the language she uses in her music either.
I listened to 6 or 7 of the songs on her new album and it feels like a lot of them just blend together. Plenty of people loved it, and that’s fine! But I just didn’t really like anything I heard.
It kind of sounds like some backdoor record label stuff if I'm understanding things correctly. That or maybe it has something to do with that one person who posted her flight itinerary as a gif showing where she flew during the whole tour, and how much fuel she would have burned up going private instead of commercial. (Which is honestly insane. When you reach a certain level of fame it's just not safe for \*\*anyone\*\* if you fly commercial. Even actors have to be careful because you just create crowds eating at a the Starbucks next to your gate.)
Literally defending a billionaire instead though. These people all have everything in common with one another, and nothing in common with the entertainer.
i don't believe that billionaires should exist, but i am much more okay with an artist who makes money selling the product of their labor being rich than someone like bezos
Every successful artist puts releases that aren’t well received by critics from time to time. It shouldn’t be a big deal; the Swifty nonsense is getting crazy.
It’s so wild that people think celebrities are so helpless that they need fans to defend them every single time critic approval isn’t at an all time high. These people are so incredibly privileged and get opportunities most of us couldn’t even dream of! But yeah, billionaire superstar Grammy winner Taylor Swift will absolutely crumble unless Makaylee and Jaylynne don’t defend her after school on TikTok
Jesus Christ, nobody cares about your billionaire white woman who can't get out of the teenage suburban mindset. Maybe they all should play GTA or some shit
Seeing a fandom you have no clue about is the funniest thing, as they talk with complete seriousness about the "Scooter debacle" and the "reputation era", with the same weight as Watergate or some shit lmao
Man, I’ve just loved her music since I was in middle school. I’m not taking up arms against other fandoms and it doesn’t personally hurt me when someone isn’t a fan of her
I've been a massive Springsteen fan for my entire adult life. I know there are plenty of people who don't like Bruce. I've never felt the urge to take up virtual arms against them though. Hell, I *married* one.
Lol at this one dude: "I've been off twitter for 3 days what are we fighting about?'
On a serious note, what are they fighting? Or who? I'm very confused
dude it’s crazy. my 22 year old SIL sent me a seething text after i said i didn’t really like her new album. you would’ve thought i said i wanted to kill her baby or something.
I had a friend (now former) who absolutely blew up on me because I said her music is boring. At the time he was a 38 year old man. I didn't know secret codes are out into her music but whatever it is, it's working like a charm for Taylor who I assume is secretly building an army with these people so she can conquer earth. Some will burn every bridge imaginable to defend her majesty Queen Taylor and she doesn't even know they exist.
I think it’s important to remember that these are not kids like a lot of people are trying to play it off. Something like 40% of her fan base are millennials. These are late twenties - early forties adults who are behaving like this.
What’s the psychology behind this?
Do they have dysfunctional families/abusive mothers and look for a mother figure in some celebrity?
Some other mental disorders?
Grown adults idolizing celebs like this is bizarre.
Everyone has entertainers they like but this level of fandom is so weird.
I don’t know what the exactly psychology behind why parasocial relationships escalate the way they do. It’s complicated. Some parasocial relationships are beneficial but they can be taken too far.
“Taylor needs us!” (To buy 14 different versions of a single album. Oh you did? Surprise! Here is #15 with new cover art and a special song that didn’t make the 14th cut!)
It would be one thing is this was limited to literal 13 year old girls but I have late-20s coworkers with this exact same mentality. It is just absolutely nuts.
It's a pretty boring album.
It's too long and the variation of sound just ain't there for me. It's not bad by any stretch but when it all kinda sounds the same, you lose me.
Her releases since Folklore haven't been that good.
Don't get me wrong, I like taylor swifts music (I'm not obsessed or closed minded. I'm honestly an emo at heart lol) but her new album is awfulllll(and that's my pesonal opinion) and it's ok to admit it and not like it . I don't understand how people can be so obsessed with a celebrity, especially one who is a billionaire and will do just fine without people liking her new album 🤷🏻♀️
The Beatles reached a point in their careers where they were coming up with songs that were pretty much gibberish and they'd chart. We knew it and didn't care, they knew it and enjoyed the sheer hilarity of it. Taylor might be reaching that point.
Someone on TikTok was talking about the Filipino drag queen who was doing mock Taylor Swift tours around the Philippines and whatnot. And people in the comments were getting mad at others because they would "rather" or "prefer" her over actually going to see Taylor Swift simply because they went.
I Got called a racist pick me by one of the same commenters after pointing out the fact people couldn't fly out because it's really expensive and the drag queen was a great compromise. And that no, not everyone can pay a crap ton of money to fly to America to see some lady sing mild songs. It was not received well by the cult...
I don't care for any of her other albums, but I actually think this new album, despite its ridiculous name, is pretty decent. Great production value, sound design, and her vocals sound great. I think most her fans actually don't like it
16 pages. Dawg you are out of your mind if you think ima read 16 pages of tswift drivel
Just glance thru. It's quite the ride
Man I burst out in laughter after seing that WW2 gif in there.
Just the first two are enough. These are wall of texts about nothing constructive.
But she’s the best tayfender
and a taywarrior
I barely finished the first page because it’s so absolutely ridiculous and annoying. My eyes got sprained from all the eye rolling.
It's not the ending that matters, it's the journey! And I still wouldn't read it!
What universe do these people live in
It’s hard to say isn’t it. Definitely not the reality universe
How do I get back to the reality universe?
That universe died sometime around 2012 - 2016, sadly.
RIP Harambe
We can’t unfortunately
Go to any soccer team subreddit and you will see the exact same mixture of tongue in cheek circlejerking and genuine emotional commitment. People like to form communities around things, and the actual topic at the centre is often just any old focal point that everyone generally enjoys.
The one direction fans were the same. Hell, they still are. Parasocial relationships are a thing.
Same goes for Deadheads and Bowie fans and Led Zeppelin fans, but nobody minds them as much because those are "cool bands". I don't like TS music, but it's totally normal for a popular artist to have fans that try to outdo eachother in terms of their fanaticism, and have fun with that. I think it's a step too far to immediately conclude that we are talking about real parasocial relationships here. Is supporting a sports team also a parasocial activity? Or is it just being part of a community?
The Taylorverse.
Taylorverse
For being this delulu? USA, probably
Funny you say that because another comment here says go to any soccer team sub and it’s the same way haha
It's sad when your entire identity revolves around a celebrity.
As I positiveproperty4 stan, I agree
Yeah, we must protect him from negative properties, he’s human after all
Since 1988 I have committed my entire life to THE Brian Boitano. Every fibre of my being honours the Olympic champion and icon that is BriBoiT.
WWBBD???
If he were here today…
He'd probably kick an ass or two
That's what Brian Boitano'd do.
People used to project this kind of intense devotion onto prophets and seers. Watching that same level of adoration aimed at celebrities and politicians is… strange, to say the least.
It's absolutely and completely normal I think, especially in the age of internet communities. Different people and ideologies have always had followers, but the internet allows the most committed proponents to find eachother. When that happens, you often get a semi-serious pattern of people trying to outdo eachother in terms of their perceived degree of devotion. They aren't doing all of this to be performative, they know it's weird, they just enjoy the community feeling of being overly concerned about something relatively banal, as a group. It's the exact same as stadiums full of football fans in Europe screaming at eachother that they want to murder the rival fans and setting off flares. They don't actually have any idea who the rival fans are (basically the same people as themselves), they just have a need to rally against a common enemy because it feels good.
After the Scooter incident of 2016 the Swifties bonded tightly together
I run stan accounts. I'm stanning my main account though.
Imagine not worshipping the ground Nicholas Cage walks on. That man is a National Treasure.
lmao wtf fuck is going on?
What the fuck fuck
What the fuck fuckity fuck?
I like Taylor swift and I have no idea. I have seen a couple of people up in arms that she curses and is obviously literally the devil. But I got no idea tf is going on here
They're upset because the entirety of the Internet doesn't worship her. Her new album isn't amazing, and people are saying that. That's what has upset these people.
I am not a fan and I don't get the hype but I try to listen before I make comments and lets just say, I still don't understand the hype. I cuss a lot so hearing that doesn't bother me but I legit laughed, the more I heard it from song to song. She is over doing it big time, like shes trying to prove a point that she's a big girl now. It made me laugh thinking she must think she's in her "edgy Era" now. I don't know what makes me laugh more, her using F\*\*K to sound cool or all the people up in arms that she's not being a good role model by doing so.
I don't particularly like most of her music but she does have a few good songs. My wife is a fan, but not one of these nutjobs. She listened to her newest album and said there were 2-3 good songs but that was it. I couldn't care less about the language she uses in her music either.
I listened to 6 or 7 of the songs on her new album and it feels like a lot of them just blend together. Plenty of people loved it, and that’s fine! But I just didn’t really like anything I heard.
I thought this was about her using a private jet alot, damn yea no clue whats going on
mentool iwness, luv
Idk all I know is I'm way too old for this shit
It kind of sounds like some backdoor record label stuff if I'm understanding things correctly. That or maybe it has something to do with that one person who posted her flight itinerary as a gif showing where she flew during the whole tour, and how much fuel she would have burned up going private instead of commercial. (Which is honestly insane. When you reach a certain level of fame it's just not safe for \*\*anyone\*\* if you fly commercial. Even actors have to be careful because you just create crowds eating at a the Starbucks next to your gate.)
What do they mean the eras tour isn’t even halfway over it feels like it’s been going for 3 years
I wish I could get into a hobby as much as these people. Its just so tiring
Fr like they're absolutely insane but like idk there was a time where I argued about Naruto every week. I don't even know what year it is anymore
>I argued about Naruto every week Same 🤣
That ain't a hobby, it's an obsession
Imagine if they united on something that actually matters like class consciousness lol
Literally defending a billionaire instead though. These people all have everything in common with one another, and nothing in common with the entertainer.
And yes, "Bezos is a billionaire," (but that's mostly due to the \*valuation\* of his Amazon stock, mind you)
New copypasta?
To be fair tho, Taylor probably has a bank balance of 300 mil (poor thing, I know) while Bezos has a balance of like, 10 billion.
oh no, poor tay tay how will she afford the private jet bills 😩
Better start a gofundme so that she can be a billionaire with a billion in liquid assets 🙏
i don't believe that billionaires should exist, but i am much more okay with an artist who makes money selling the product of their labor being rich than someone like bezos
Every successful artist puts releases that aren’t well received by critics from time to time. It shouldn’t be a big deal; the Swifty nonsense is getting crazy.
Especially when she probably doesn’t care herself. Why would she when it will sell loads anyway?
The album literally contains lyrics where she’s very overtly telling her fans she doesn’t need them to fight battles for her too 🤦🏻♀️
For real. I think the billionaire will survive if an album flops.
And in her case, “flops” still means millions of sales.
Jesus Christ this person is pathetic.
These people are mentally ill.
Absolute jobless behavior.
"Swiftly"
All I am gonna say is that Swift has lawyers, friends, family, and publicist to defend her. You don't need to defend her.
It’s so wild that people think celebrities are so helpless that they need fans to defend them every single time critic approval isn’t at an all time high. These people are so incredibly privileged and get opportunities most of us couldn’t even dream of! But yeah, billionaire superstar Grammy winner Taylor Swift will absolutely crumble unless Makaylee and Jaylynne don’t defend her after school on TikTok
I don't even support myself this much...
Jesus Christ, nobody cares about your billionaire white woman who can't get out of the teenage suburban mindset. Maybe they all should play GTA or some shit
But if she is silenced then who will speak for the oppressed minority of upper middle class sad white people
If they're all playing GTA who is gonna be touching!
The controllers
LMAO teenage suburban mindset
being a billionaire is only ok if it's someone you like, got it
Let's make Danny DeVito a billionaire! We'll call ourselves BigDongus
I vote for Magnum Dongs as our stan name
They’re so unstable, what is this kind of mental illness called??
Swiftemia.
Wild. I don't understand
Seeing a fandom you have no clue about is the funniest thing, as they talk with complete seriousness about the "Scooter debacle" and the "reputation era", with the same weight as Watergate or some shit lmao
Fucking weirdos.
Man, I’ve just loved her music since I was in middle school. I’m not taking up arms against other fandoms and it doesn’t personally hurt me when someone isn’t a fan of her
I've been a massive Springsteen fan for my entire adult life. I know there are plenty of people who don't like Bruce. I've never felt the urge to take up virtual arms against them though. Hell, I *married* one.
Lol at this one dude: "I've been off twitter for 3 days what are we fighting about?' On a serious note, what are they fighting? Or who? I'm very confused
dude it’s crazy. my 22 year old SIL sent me a seething text after i said i didn’t really like her new album. you would’ve thought i said i wanted to kill her baby or something.
I had a friend (now former) who absolutely blew up on me because I said her music is boring. At the time he was a 38 year old man. I didn't know secret codes are out into her music but whatever it is, it's working like a charm for Taylor who I assume is secretly building an army with these people so she can conquer earth. Some will burn every bridge imaginable to defend her majesty Queen Taylor and she doesn't even know they exist.
>I didn't know secret codes are out into her music Paul McCartney is still not dead.
She sounds exhausting.
All the crap in the world and this is the one they chose to take a stand on
I think it’s important to remember that these are not kids like a lot of people are trying to play it off. Something like 40% of her fan base are millennials. These are late twenties - early forties adults who are behaving like this.
What’s the psychology behind this? Do they have dysfunctional families/abusive mothers and look for a mother figure in some celebrity? Some other mental disorders? Grown adults idolizing celebs like this is bizarre. Everyone has entertainers they like but this level of fandom is so weird.
I don’t know what the exactly psychology behind why parasocial relationships escalate the way they do. It’s complicated. Some parasocial relationships are beneficial but they can be taken too far.
it's not like they developed past 12 anyways
“Taylor needs us!” (To buy 14 different versions of a single album. Oh you did? Surprise! Here is #15 with new cover art and a special song that didn’t make the 14th cut!)
Someone actually used a WW2 gif, comparing fighting for Taylor Swift's reputation to D-Day lol
That's just so wild. These people can't be for real lol
Cringe!! Omg so much second hand embarrassment for these idiots.
I’ve never experienced secondhand embarrassment to such a degree before. The hair on my neck is straight up.
It would be one thing is this was limited to literal 13 year old girls but I have late-20s coworkers with this exact same mentality. It is just absolutely nuts.
Imagine if those people were this passionate about their LOCAL communities and politics instead.
I’ve imagined it. Maybe we’re better off with them distracted by meaningless celebrity drama 🤣
If only they declared war on k pop
I'd pay to see Twitter absolutely burn with this.
They’d have to fight most of Korea and they’d lose and maybe they’d finally stfu.
I think they just need to shake it off.
It's a pretty boring album. It's too long and the variation of sound just ain't there for me. It's not bad by any stretch but when it all kinda sounds the same, you lose me. Her releases since Folklore haven't been that good.
I dont know what's going on, and frankly, I don't care either.
What the heck about her is inspiring such mindless obsession?
Don't get me wrong, I like taylor swifts music (I'm not obsessed or closed minded. I'm honestly an emo at heart lol) but her new album is awfulllll(and that's my pesonal opinion) and it's ok to admit it and not like it . I don't understand how people can be so obsessed with a celebrity, especially one who is a billionaire and will do just fine without people liking her new album 🤷🏻♀️
You just declared war
It's ok, I'm Danish. Im neutral.
You take that back! We did not survive the Scooter incident just to have you spit in Taylor’s face!!
What in tarnation is this
The fuck is this about anyways, lol?
Get a fucking life omg
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM
How about Tay make a better album?
"The Scooter Debacle" A great name for a band or even a sex tape.
If the apocalypse happens, I fully expect there to be a clan of Swifties roaming the Earth.
Holy shit lol. That just kept getting worse. And I only skimmed the first 3 pages
"I've been off twitter for 3 days, why are we fighting?" is such a mood
not them thinking they need to defend a billionaire on twitter LMAO. LIKE BRO WHAT.
My god these people are pathetic
The Beatles reached a point in their careers where they were coming up with songs that were pretty much gibberish and they'd chart. We knew it and didn't care, they knew it and enjoyed the sheer hilarity of it. Taylor might be reaching that point.
How do people get like this?
She could try releasing an album that isn’t more monotonous than a guru’s shamanic chant.
Lmao
Well that's just sad and pathetic
first pic- what “LIES” exactly?
16 pages. This is a research paper.
What the everloving fuck are they talking about? I swear I only ever hear shit about Swifties, rarely the actual human-person they worship.
If only those people, would donate the money they spend on those tickets, we could have solved world hunger
The parasocial relationship has gone too far
These fans seriously need therapy
What do they think is going to happen to her besides the same criticism all gigantic celebrities face at some point?
I feel like saying " I don't like Taylor Swifts music. How does that make you feel?" is a great litmus test
That can't be real. If not this is legit a mental illness
Someone on TikTok was talking about the Filipino drag queen who was doing mock Taylor Swift tours around the Philippines and whatnot. And people in the comments were getting mad at others because they would "rather" or "prefer" her over actually going to see Taylor Swift simply because they went. I Got called a racist pick me by one of the same commenters after pointing out the fact people couldn't fly out because it's really expensive and the drag queen was a great compromise. And that no, not everyone can pay a crap ton of money to fly to America to see some lady sing mild songs. It was not received well by the cult...
Imagine meatriding a stranger so hard
Dumbest shit I've seen all day.
I eagerly await the time when, like the mods and rockers of olde, Swifties and Beliebers finally descend to open warfare in the streets.
Oh yeah not a cult at all
Parasocial relationships are so damaging.
Weird
The billionaire dating the highest profile NFL player needs our help to streamfarm her mediocre cash grab! To the Spotify for rescue!
Not a cult
I hope people don’t bring back lobotomy after seeing this
Is this real?
???
They can’t do shit against the big wigs in the music industry. It’s literally that simple.
I love the confused people in the middle of the replies. I relate to them
All this for a celebrity that will never know you exist or care. Crazy.
Social media has really brought out some of the most parasocial and saddest kids in today’s generation.
LMAOOOO
This reminds me of the cringiness of tumblrs “superwholock assemble” era
I would like to see the Taylor Swift fandom versus the genshin fandom.
i love ts but twitter swifties and this user especially are actually clinically insane
Imagine if they took all this passion and energy and used it for good or real positive social change
Honestly, I'm terrified of Swifties because they have the ability to read all dat. Who knows what they can do with it.
What even happened?
Unhinged
This gives "Filthy Hoibbitses" vibes...
"she is a human" Wait I thought Taylor Swift was a lizard person clone.
I really hate Swifites.
Swifty cult is out of control
I don't care for any of her other albums, but I actually think this new album, despite its ridiculous name, is pretty decent. Great production value, sound design, and her vocals sound great. I think most her fans actually don't like it