After the U.S. presidential election, Taylor Swift’s fan name Swifties is fleeing from X to Bluesky. Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X, is one of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters, funneling more than $100 million to pro-Trump US PACs. A candidate stumbles during the election campaign. Mr. Musk also helped Mr. Trump win over a distinctly right-wing male audience. Swifties, who have built a strong community on the platform formerly known as Twitter, took notice. By Thursday, less than 48 hours after Mr. Trump won the presidency, they began to gather from the dais for good.
“I love the idea of building a new community here, and I don’t want to have to support Elon in any way,” says Bluesky, who goes by @justin-the-baron.swifties.social and shares his own says Justin, who asked to only use the first community. Name for fear of harassment. “Elon is obviously a big supporter of Trump, but that doesn’t align with Taylor’s values or the Swifties’ values.”
There are Swifties from all sides of the political spectrum, and our community prides itself on being a positive and inclusive space. After Kamala Harris was announced as the Democratic presidential nominee, Swifties began rallying to support her. Swift herself endorsed Harris in September. In an Instagram post announcing her support, Swift cited an AI-generated image of herself and a fan that President Trump used to imply support.
In response to the support, Musk posted, “Amazing Taylor…you win…I will give you your child and protect your cat with my life.” Musk has repeatedly expressed concern about declining birth rates and has at least 11 children with at least three women. According to the New York Times, he also donated his sperm to independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s former running mate Nicole Shanahan (she declined).
Eileen Kim, an organizer with Swifties for Harris, says the rampant misogyny that followed the election prompted her and many other Swift fans to abandon X and seek refuge in Blue Sky. Studies have found that hate speech and disinformation increased after Musk took over, but Trump’s election appears to have accelerated it even further. In the 24 hours after President Trump’s election victory, a report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found that a number of tweets such as “Your body, my choice,” which parroted white supremacist Nick Fuentes’ election night remarks, emerged. Phrases increased by 4,600 percent in X.
“I think that’s the kind of rhetoric we want to avoid,” Kim said. She also points out that X’s recent update to its “Block” feature, which allows people to view the profiles and posts of blocked users, makes the experience on the platform even more negative. “Twitter has definitely become a hellscape,” Kim said.
