This presentation explores how the use of social media platforms, specifically X, enables users to form community and connections online using the Taylor Swift Eras Tour as the case study. These connections are built through shared practices, interaction and visibility.
Firstly, well done on creating a concise and engaging presentation. The following are three questions to further develop your research. I am genuinely interested in the answers.
1. In your presentation, you argued that the Taylor Swift fandom is a networked public shaped by platform structures using X as an example. How do you think the technological affordances of platforms such as TikTok shape the community on social media? Explain how the community on X differs to TikTok.
2. Members of the Taylor Swift fandom are often referred to as “Swifties.” What makes someone a Swiftie compared to people who only enjoy listening to Swift’s music? Provide some examples of fan practices on social media of people who identify as Swifties.
3. If I had more time in my presentation, I would like to have explored the toxic side to fandoms, specifically how devoted fans, stans, actively participate in networked harassment. In my research, I found that stans abuse journalists and celebrities like Kim Kardashian who criticise Taylor Swift. How do Taylor Swift stans participate in networked harassment on X?
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