More Than Just a Fan

Lizmarie Delacruz   

Department of English, The City College of New York   

Writing for the Social Sciences (ENGL 2100)   

 Professor Crystal Rodwell

April 2, 2025

The Taylor Swift fan base, referred to as Swifties, is a group that reflects the modern and possible intensification of parasocial relationships. I observed the Taylor Swift fandom, specifically its presence on Reddit and Discord, both named r/TaylorSwift. These platforms allowed me to view how fans share content and discuss likes and dislikes. The Reddit platform allows you to upvote and downvote posts and comments, which are visible to anyone who sees the subreddit. r/TaylorSwift is a very active subreddit in which individuals chat through images, videos, or text-based discussions. On the other hand Discord provides fans a more community-driven approach, allowing you to just pick a channel you are interested in and chat. The presence of “swifties” on these online platforms is often deemed problematic but it allows us to see how celebrities impact fans in a positive and negative light.  By exploring these interactive groups and psychosocial analysis this paper will  dive deep into the obsessions, history of Taylor Swift fans, its origins, and online engagement. 

The r/TaylorSwift discord server is an ever growing community of 86,380 members. Through their structured channel it allows organized conversations on merch, theories and even other big events like the world cup. This structure allows others to remain on topic with conversation and provides newcomers context on what is being discussed. The conversations are not only about music but can dive into personal topics or events. For organization purposes spam channels were put in place allowing people to keep the chats clean with direct conversations. Moderators play a huge role within this chat as they make sure to keep everything friendly and nice within the channels and those that don’t follow the rules (which is the first thing you need to read to enter the group)  are put in time outs or kicked out. Rude comments which would shame others for what albums they liked were erased immediately preventing the space to become toxic. Thes channels are not only typing channels, but some allow you to listen to Taylor Swift albums together. Through looking at the server there is a bug in the “Fearless” channel. This bug unintentionally allows users to talk and screen share. People in this chat understand the rules and follow them which allows moderators to be less restricting and more easy going when a rule is broken. Although in this music channel you can’t speak, they have a café channel which allows members to be in video call chats, similar to Zoom. Most of the regular members only text within the discord server. Some of these regular members consist of Lex (laavvenderhaaze) in the theory channel and bb2190 in the merch channel. They contribute ideas and help create conversation within the channels. They discuss not only the things within their respective channels but really get to know the people they are talking to by relating to them on certain occasions or even asking how everyone’s day is just to get a feel on how members are doing. While it seems that the taylor subreddit is linked, this access is only to moderators and one can assume this is just to keep an organized space for those assisting to run the servers. This keeps the fans happy and allows for people to join a group that is inviting and nonjudgmental.

Flourishing Taylor Swift communities are not only seen on discord but subreddit also houses a creative community devoted to Taylor Swift’s music career. Members of  r/TaylorSwift enjoy breaking down the meanings of her songs and creating different perspectives which the community can give opinions to. The creativeness of this group is strong as crochet taylor swift items or drawing of Taylors outfits are something you’re bound to scroll and find. Their creativity tries to reach others as coloring books and artistic tributes are advertised for people to buy. Something particularly interesting within the community is how some in the community often go from artworks and handmade items to borderline obsessive comparisons. An example of this is when a Taylor Swift fan took a religious figure, such as Jesus, and drew Taylor Swift as such claming in the comments that this is her new Jesus. Although some took this as a funny claim others not so much truly believing that Taylor is their Jesus and that she would make a better one anyways. When the page was refreshed, the comments that were trashing religion were gone and only those finding the drawing funny stayed. This led one to believe that a moderator took these comments down at a surprisingly fast speed. It’s good that moderators are on the lookout for hurtful comments which can make people feel a type of way with the community itself. Certain words most likely triggered moderators to look into the comments allowing them to delete it quickly. Although the creative content is prominent within the subreddit it also has a strong data-driven side, where tech-savvy members look at the statistics and rankings of Taylor’s songs and albums. Both the creative and the statistical aspects typically overshadow general discussions. Due to its size and organization it makes it hard to have a communicative and welcoming community. With the constant shifting of content it makes the community scroll prone wondering what’s next in line, like tik tok instead of engaging with and talking to each other, making it difficult for individuals to form deeper connections. It’s surprising how off-topic discussions are not visible within this group and they center themselves fully on Taylor Swift. Still this dedication to foster a friendly community where people can post and discuss their creations and findings is admirable. 

Parasocial bonds play a significant role in how the swifties behave online. The article “Taylor Swift Unplugged: The Psychology of Her True Fans,” from Psychology Today, examines the way Swift’s followers form parasocial bonds with her. Walsh explains how they feel a strong connection through her music, as if she directly addresses their lives. The idea of Swiftmania which is how they categorize obsession within this fanbase is all centered in how the fans feel about themselves and then project it. A lot of the reasons why fans act the way they do is to escape reality or to have a figure as who they see does no harm (Walsh 2024). This psychological bond is manifested distinctively in both the r/TaylorSwift Discord server and the subreddit. The Discord server encourages a powerful group identity. It permits live interaction, organized talks next to shared experiences such as group listens to Swift’s records, making for a space that is more socially absorbent. But the subreddit instead emphasizes content intake. Psychology Today posits that individuals frequently obtain self-esteem and inclusion from their devoted following. The subreddit promotes this through artistic and knowledgeable tasks. On this platform people take part in critical talks about words, album lists, along with creative work. This supports their mental and imaginative loyalty to Swift and not personal ties to other fans. 

The Taylor Swift fandom, when examined across Reddit and Discord, shows distinct styles of interaction, despite celebration of Swift’s artistry on each. On Discord, fans engage in real-time. This offers a location to debate theories, exchange stories along with creating true bonds. The subreddit however, functions more like a content center. It stresses song analysis, rankings along with creative work. Walsh in her Psychology Today article, provides insights into parasocial connections highlighting the intense emotional connection many Swifties feel to Taylor and how this connection occurs uniquely on each site. Through creative plus analytical discussions we can see Reddit users grow more respect for Taylor’s music and legacy. But Discord is all about fostering deeper fan relationships. This enhances community and personal identity. Both platforms showcase how digital spaces empower fandom. It proves fandom is more than “loving an artist”; it is about belonging, about expressing creative ideas and about sharing passion in significant ways.

The Taylor Swift fan base is an interesting community to observe, especially with the perceived intensity of the group. It allows us to see how online figures with fan-made platforms can bring people together through social bonds. Discord and Reddit, although different, provided me with many community-driven interactions, allowing me to see relationships through fans and what Swifties talk about in terms of her career. Discord allowed me to see the organization of the fans and how deeply they wanted to make it beyond Taylor Swift, using her as a start to friendships. On the other hand, Reddit is a hub of creativity and analysis on who Taylor Swift is as a person. Both try to keep things respectful with moderators, ensuring the community follows guidelines. The psychological depth of these interactions, discussed in Psychology Today, further proves how fans use their connection to Swift to engage with her art and find a place where they fit in. The Swiftie fandom shows how impactful celebrity culture and digital communication are and how they can create meaningful experiences beyond just admiration for the artist.

Commentary

I love the comparison between the Reddit and Discord servers for Taylor Swift fans and how even though they shared the same belief of caring about Taylor Swift, they had different approaches to it. Through analyzing, I gained valuable insight and a deeper understanding of communities within an online setting and the ability of digital spaces to connect fans with one another and the interests at hand. The Discord server is very organized, which is something that I love. It allowed me to see other parts of the group, and if I were a fan, it would allow me to integrate myself in a place where I’m most comfortable. For example, if I’m more comfortable integrating myself with people who discuss merch, I can go to a channel and find out everything about merch. I also love how a spam channel was implemented, as it allows people to keep the chats clean with direct conversations. In terms of bugs with the Fearless channel, I found it interesting how respectful the atmosphere was in the Community that they allowed a bug like this within the channel. Everyone seemed very respectful, and those who entered the channel made sure to be on mute and not show their camera, which are the regulations at all the other channels for album listening. Moving on to the Reddit page, I found it fascinating because it wasn’t only about artistic things that correlated with Taylor Swift but also Financial seeing how much the albums would make or showcasing Taylor Swift and how she looked I found it fascinating that it wasn’t as easy to change topics or talk about other things as it is in the Discord server. I also found it interesting how Reddit, although it brings community, it was very hard for the  Taylor Swift fans on Reddit to gain connections just because of how fast content runs within the space. It almost felt like TikTok, where you are just scrolling for content. Psychology Today, which was my information Source, gave me a perspective on both Reddit and Discord, and it allowed me to see that fans typically find a celebrity role model or a celebrity so that they can resolve something within themselves. Some people use it as an escape, while others might gain newfound self-esteem by liking Taylor Swift. It is interesting how many points were given on how fans do not necessarily like the Creator only to like them, but it is also to project themselves onto them in some shape or form. It was exciting to find this Community and see them for what they are, as before this essay, I had believed that Taylor Swift fans were crazy and had an uninviting fan base.

References

Join the Taylor Swift Discord Server! (2025). Discord. https://discord.com/invite/taylor‌ 

Reddit – Dive into anything. (n.d.). Www.reddit.com. https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwift/ 
Walsh, N. (2024). Taylor Swift Unplugged: The Psychology of Her True Fans. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/decisions-that-matter/202407/taylor-swift-unplugged-the-psychology-of-her-true-fans