SHOCKING NEWS: How Harris campaign is engaging with Swift

Taylor Swift has just endorsed Kamala Harris – but it’s not just her vote Harris is after, it’s her millions of fans.

Weeks before Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris on Instagram, the gears had already begun to turn Swift’s millions of fans into bona-fide Harris voters.
Soon after Harris announced her intention to run for president, Irene Kim, 29, who spends as many as 14 hours a day talking to fellow Swifties online and has attended more than five of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour concerts, sprung into action. Along with other mega-fans who supported Harris, they created social media accounts, memes, montages, and newsletters, all in a bid to help their favourite candidate win the election.

• I’ve been going inside the world of the Swifties ahead of the Presidential vote for the second season of BBC Radio 4’s podcast Why Do You Hate Me USA. Subscribe to the podcast for episodes soon. I’ll be investigating how the online world of social media is shaping the US election. And when it comes to social media, Taylor Swift supporters are considered leaders of the pack.

  Now the executive director of the Swifties for Kamala campaign, Ms Kim decided to get involved because she wants the US to see its first female president and believes Kamala Harris will “protect our rights, the rights of our friends, our family members”.
  With more than 3,500 volunteers, the Swifties for Kamala would seem like an experienced political operation. The group has even raised over $165,000 (£126,000) for the campaign since they began tracking donations from 1 August.

  But Ms Kim, who says she has never participated in political campaigning like this before, thinks everyone came together in a really “natural” way. They’re using the skills she says they’ve developed – from strategising how to buy tickets for the sold-out Eras tour and auctioning off merchandise like signed Taylor Swift records – to try and swing an election.