There’s a long list of communities and institutions brought to the brink of destruction by the ascendancy of Donald Trump to the White House: the Republican and Democratic parties, my relationships with a few of my old friends from high school, Journey, the cast of Happy Days, the presidency itself. Now we can add another one: the Swifties of The Swift Life, the official Taylor-centric social media app released last week.
The Daily Beast reports that the app–where fans can post about their love for Taylor Swift, follow their idol herself, and collect exclusive “Taymojis”–has already become overrun with debates about the president, in the four days since its release on Friday.
https://twitter.com/Taylucifer97/status/942031219495178240
At the center of the storm, according to the Daily Beast, is a user named “Britt,” who posted the above comment about supporting Trump because she believed he would make military service members safer. That post apparently led to a discussion in which another user wrote “I just don’t accept gays lesbians and bisexuals.” Now, Taylor fans on Twitter are denouncing the app.
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I don’t get how you can’t swear on The Swift Life but can openly support Trump and have white supremacist bullshit on it???? Lmfao okay then.
— s (@cowsaresocute) December 16, 2017
In an era when celebrities are generally unafraid to speak publicly about their politics, Swift has remained conspicuously silent on the topic of the president, a decision that has led to much unfounded speculation about her own position. (The fact that some in the alt-right have claimed her as their “Aryan Goddess” hasn’t helped.) Earlier this year, Swift’s lawyers took the unusual step of threatening legal action against an independent blogger with a small audience who criticized the star for failing to denounce Trump and analyzed her lyrics for symbolic endorsements of white supremacy. Maybe the uproar on The Swift Life has something to do with that history, or maybe it’s just the destiny of any social network to eventually turn into a place where people argue about Trump.
For now, it seems like it’s still possible for a Swiftie to enjoy the app without encountering homophobia or heated political debate. I created an account this morning, and mostly found a lot of fan art and links to aspiring singers performing acoustic Swift covers on Instagram and YouTube. When I searched the newsfeed for “Trump,” I only got three results: a hashtag for #trumpet, user named @trumpetswiftie, and another named @TrumpMouthPoos. I also collected a couple of sweet Taymoji packs, and am not sure what to do next. If anyone has any tips for getting more followers upgrading my The Swift Life account to Level 4, please do let me know.
