Taylor Swift leading nominee at VMAs Taylor Swift leading nominee heading into MTV VMAs 06:00
Taylor Swift called out to fans to register on National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday and Swifties answered in droves.
Swift posted an Instagram story directing her 272 million followers to Vote.org, a nonprofit organization that offers voter registration services.
Taylor Swift attends the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on September 12, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. Catherine Powell via Getty Images
"Are you registered to vote yet?" Swift wrote. "I've been so lucky to see so many of you guys at my US shows recently. I've heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are. Make sure you're ready to use them in our elections this year!"
Vote.org averaged 13,000 users every half hour after Swift's post, Nick Morrow, the website's communications director posted on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
"Let's just say her reputation for being a mastermind is very well-earned," Morrow said.
Taylor Swift performs onstage during the "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Foro Sol on August 24, 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico. Hector Vivas via Getty Images
Vote.org registered more than 35,000 voters after Swift's post, which was a 22.5% increase from the previous year, organization CEO Andrea Hailey said Wednesday. There was a 115% increase in registrations by 18-year-olds when compared to last year. The organization also helped 50,000 people verify their registration status.
"Wanna know something even more wild? We see an 849% increase here compared to 2021. 849%! This generation's eagerness to participate is a game changer," Hailey said in a social media post. "They are the future, and their energy will shape the outcomes of upcoming elections."
Hailey described the numbers as Vote.org's "love letter" to Swift for amplifying voter voices.
The pop star first broke her political silence in 2018 when she spoke out in support of Tennessee's Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen. She slammed the record of his Republican opponent, then U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, citing Blackburn's opposition to certain LGBTQ rights and voting against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013.
"In the past I've been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now," Swift wrote at the time.
Taylor Swift performs onstage during the "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Foro Sol in Mexico City, Mexico. Hector Vivas via Getty Images
Despite Swift's support for Bredesen, he lost the race to Blackburn. In 2020, Swift endorsed the Biden-Harris campaign.
Her 2018 post also encouraged voter registration. In it, the singer advised her fans to register to vote and to "educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values."
IVIisery on September 22nd, 2023 at 10:50 UTC »
Can someone american explain to me this ‚register to vote‘-thing? In my country, once you turn 18 you’re just eligible to vote, period. You either vote or you dont. You even get mail, hey its time to vote soon.
Is the US just gatekeeping their voters?
Cat_Or_Bat on September 22nd, 2023 at 08:39 UTC »
The story implies that 35k people registered because of the singer, but that would only be true if otherwise 0 people were expected to register, which is very silly. 35k people actually "was a 22.5% increase from the previous year" (not from the day before Swift's post—from last year), and the previous year was farther away from the elections, so it would make sense for more people to register this year.
They also mention that "There was a 115% increase in registrations by 18-year-olds when compared to last year", which, again, makes total sense, because the elections are coming up, getting more people interested in politics.
This common data manipulation tactic exploits the fact that most people forget to compare numbers to the baseline. When you hear that 35k people have registered after the event, that's not saying anything yet. How many people registered before the event? How many people were expected to register? You need to compare the number to the baseline, not zero.
Otherwise we would have to assume that Tailor Swift's post got 32k people to register, sure, but also killed over 160,000 people on the day it was published alone and has been killing the same amount of people every day since.
Explaining this was the journalist's responsibility, and failing to do so reflects poorly on them and the news outlet.
CountyBeginning6510 on September 22nd, 2023 at 08:07 UTC »
Not a swiftie but big thanks for supporting democracy.