7 Things Swifties Find Fun That Everyone Else Is Still Trying To Understand
Swifties may have some unique hobbies, but they sure have a lot of fun.
ComposedPix | Shutterstock Swifties (or fans of Taylor Swift, for those of you who live under a rock), are a passionate bunch. Some people feel they’re a little too passionate about Swift and her music, so there are a few things Swifties find fun that everyone else is still trying to understand.
Swifties devote their time to the singer, her music, and her life, doing things that many other people would find boring at the very least. But fan Cassy Simmons had a clever clapback for the haters. She told the Los Angeles Times, “What’s different about us going to a concert dressed up with our bracelets? That’s the same thing as you going to a football game and putting a mask or body paint on. Leave us alone. Let us enjoy it. It doesn’t mean you have to.”
As Swifties defend their favorite person from internet trolls, feverishly try to figure out the clues she drops, and attend her concerts in droves, it’s really time to take a moment to celebrate them and their dedication instead of putting them down for it. Sure, they do things other people wouldn’t dream of, but that’s what makes them so uniquely them, and there’s nothing wrong with that. And Swift herself really gave them the perfect quote to fight back with: “The worst kind of person is someone who makes you feel bad, dumb, or stupid for being excited about something.”
Here are 7 things Swifties find fun that pretty much everyone else can’t stand:
1. Decoding Easter eggs
Swift’s music is not just some songs she releases every now and then. It goes much deeper than that. She leaves clues about future projects in whatever she’s doing currently.
It really all started when Swift included secret messages in the album booklets that came with her CDs. Back in the golden age of CD-buying, Swifties would make note of every letter that was capitalized in the lyrics as they were listed in the album booklet and find a message spelled out. It was often related to the meaning of the song or who it was written about. One of Swift’s most famous lyric messages came from her song “The Lucky One,” which simply stated, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
When Swift recently appeared on now-fiancé Travis Kelce’s podcast with his brother, Jason, “New Heights,” she addressed her Easter egg hints, saying she had “parameters” and would only do things related to her music but never involve her personal life.
“And that for me is really fun because they find it fun,” Swift said of her fans, per Cosmopolitan. “I love numerology, I love math stuff, I love dates, that stuff I find really fun.”
While the average person may wonder why figuring out just how many palm trees there are in a photo (something Swifties truly believed was an Easter egg once) matters at all, Swifties adore it. Most of the time, they aren’t even right, but they don’t let that deter them. It just adds to the fun.
2. Figuring out who or what songs were written about
Deciphering who Swift wrote a certain song about has admittedly become a bit mainstream as her personal life has increasingly become part of the public eye. Now, everyone wants to know which of her famous exes she wrote a specific song about.
Reporting for the Los Angeles Times, Kaitlyn Huamani covered a listening party for “The Tortured Poets Department,” which was put together by the SoCal Swifties Club (yes, it’s a thing), and made a point of saying fans were attempting to determine which songs on the album were about actor Joe Alwyn and which were about The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.
In many ways, it’s just become tabloid fodder. (For example, is “Everything Has Changed” really about Conor Kennedy or Harry Styles? The public wants to know!) But, for real fans, decoding the songs and understanding their deep meaning is important. It’s become even more so now that Swift has admitted to often penning lyrics about fictional scenarios or having been inspired by pop culture. Swifties don’t just want to know so they can gossip about it; they want to know because they care, and the context is important to them.
3. Defending Swift from the haters
With fame comes criticism, and Swift is no exception. Of course, there are the usual haters who troll Swift on the internet, making mean comments about her on social media. Swifties quickly handle these people, defending their girl and letting them know what they think of their dishonorable activities.
But sometimes it’s gotten serious. Writing for The Things, Taylor Hodgkins pointed out the time that Pitchfork gave “folklore,” Swift’s first surprise pandemic album, a rating of 8.0. This was far too low for Swifties, many of whom felt it was her best work, and they took it up with the website on social media.
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Similarly, Huamani cited an incident in which reporter Chris Panella gave Swift’s massive Eras Tour a less-than-glowing review. Some were quick to attack the journalist’s Business Insider article in which he suggested Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour was more engaging. It got so bad that he wrote a follow-up piece in which he claimed Swifties “sent me death threats, doxxed my family, and accused me of being a pedophile after I criticized her Eras Tour.” But the Swifties Huamani spoke with said “that sect of Swifties is not at all representative of the group they know.”
The vast majority of Swifties would never threaten someone’s life or family over a concert review. Instead, they defend their girl from the hate she receives with class, letting people know that their opinions don’t represent the real Taylor. Most people simply have no time for such a thing, but Swifties enjoy going to bat for their favorite singer and serving as her unofficial protection squad.
4. Creating a community on social media
What Swifties have done on social media is, quite honestly, nothing short of extraordinary. Every fandom has members who create “fan accounts” on popular platforms like Instagram, X, and TikTok, allowing them to connect with other fans. However, Swifties seem to dominate in this area. This really all started on Tumblr, a platform that is admittedly much less popular now, where Swift used to interact with fans directly. After some drama went down on the site, she pulled back, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still interact with fans.
Swift spends most of her “Taylurking” time on X and TikTok these days. And, yes, there is an actual definition for “Taylurking” in Urban Dictionary: “Taylurking is when Taylor Swift stalks her fans on social media.” This has led to Swift reposting photos, commenting on videos, and, of course, inviting her most devoted fans to meet her.
While being Taylurked may be the ultimate goal of having a Swiftie fan account, it’s not the end-all, be-all. Fans have created a beautiful community for themselves where they can connect with each other and forge deep friendships that aren’t affected by distance or similar barriers.
Isha Agrawal told the Los Angeles Times, “Swifties are my life. I don’t have other communities outside of this — it’s harder to connect with people. With the Swifties, I can be a total stranger to someone and then be able to have something in common with them.”
5. Staying up until midnight for new releases and announcements
If you’re a Swiftie, you probably have a pretty irregular sleep schedule. Swift is known for making announcements or releasing new music in the wee hours of the morning. When she teased the announcement for her forthcoming album “Midnights” on the MTV VMAs during her acceptance speech for Video of the Year, she said, “I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand new album comes out October 21. And I will tell you more at midnight,” according to Billboard.
Later, when October 21 came, Swift released “Midnights” at, well, midnight, as is customary for new music releases. But, following the release of the original 13 songs, Swift released a deluxe “3 a.m.” edition at 3:00 in the morning, as Variety reported. The surprise had some Swifties complaining they were simply too old for this kind of behavior, and everyone wondered how they would make it to work or school the next day.
Surely other people would never give up precious hours of sleep to listen to new music or hear an announcement from a singer that they could just as easily hear about in the morning. But it’s the Swiftie way to run on Taylor’s schedule. Instead of being annoyed about being kept up late, they get excited.
6. Figuring out what Swift was wearing and how they can get it themselves
This is all relative, of course, because no one can get a custom designer gown Swift wore on the red carpet at an awards show. However, when she does wear “regular clothes,” fans are quick to find out where they can pick up the outfit for themselves.
In 2011, a Swiftie named Sarah Chappelle started an Instagram account known as @taylorswiftstyled. She has amassed 370,000 followers and even written a best-selling book all about the singer’s fashion choices. After different events, she scours the internet to find what Swift was wearing and where you can buy it, like she did for the $490 Ralph Lauren dress Swift wore in her engagement photos.
Another example came from “folklore: the long pond studio sessions,” a musical special Swift filmed for Disney+. PopSugar went so far as to write an entire article about where you could find the clothes Swift wore, but it was the Free People Lux Velvet Shirt Dress that really made waves. Everyone on Swiftie social media simply had to have the $198 piece, and they proudly posted photos of themselves wearing it when they finally got their hands on it.
The average person would never think of modeling their style after Taylor Swift or trying to buy the expensive wardrobe pieces she has. For Swifties, it’s like it’s a game. Every part of their life is influenced by Swift, so of course, they would want to emulate what she wears.
7. Listening to Swift’s music on repeat
This might be the most obvious Swiftie behavior, but it’s one that people who aren’t in the fandom absolutely can’t stand. Swifties listen to Taylor on repeat. Admittedly, she has quite a large music catalog, which offers plenty of variety to satisfy everyone; however, most would feel limited by sticking mostly to one artist’s work. It could not be more different for Swifties, who proudly post their Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay graphics as proof that they are one of her top listeners.
Part of what makes Swift’s music so accessible is the fact that she has traversed multiple genres. If you like her early country work, you’re all set, but if you’re more of a pop or indie fan, she has those offerings too. There’s also a song for practically any mood or situation. Her lyrics are helplessly relatable and make you feel like you are the one living the song. It’s a very cathartic experience when you’re going through something hard and need to know that someone understands, or when you’re elated and want to share the joy.
At the SoCal Swifties Club listening party, Huamani reported that there was a “‘sad poetry’ open mic,” in an effort to stick with the theme of ‘The Tortured Poets Department.” During the open mic, a Swiftie and poet named Brooke Muschott may have described Swifties’ feelings about Taylor perfectly. “I can pour my heart out to a room of strangers because you did it first,” she stated. “We survived because of you.” It is this bravery that Swift has given her fans that is perhaps her greatest gift of all. Because she lived as her authentic self with no apologies, now Swifties can too.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
