After avoiding politics for years, earlier this month Taylor Swift made an Instagram post voicing her opinion on the upcoming midterm election.
“I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country," Swift said.
She then ended the post urging her followers to register to vote.
This post, while maybe common in a highly politicized world, actually made a huge difference. Within the next couple of days after Swift posted her call to action to Instagram, her followers began to register to vote. According to the New York Times, “166,000 people across the United States submitted new registrations on Vote.org between Sunday and noon on Tuesday.” 42 percent of these last-minute voter applicants were between the ages of 18-24, the average age of a Taylor Swift fan.
We often underestimate the kind of influence celebrities have, but Taylor Swift was able to make an actual change just by posting on Instagram. Celebrities are able to appeal to a larger range of people, unlike your average politician. So, when a celebrity such as Swift tells a young person to vote, that holds more weight than when some politician they have never seen before tells them to do so .
People often say celebrities should stay out of politics. They say that their job is to act, not to be political. But, we would never say this to a bank teller, for example. We wouldn’t comment on the Facebook status of our cashier friend and say, “Hey! Your job is to count money! Stay out of politics!”
Yes, celebrities are very privileged by virtue of being celebrities. But, most of our politicians are just as rich and privileged, if not more so. If we let rich and privileged politicians make our laws for us, then rich and privileged celebrities certainly should be allowed to voice their opinions. Also, celebrities becoming politicians is not unheard of. Just look at Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura, Al Franken, Sonny Bono or even our current president.
Taylor Swift’s post was important in more ways than just voicing her opinion. Tons of celebrities voice their political opinions every day. What made Swift’s post different was she actually urged people to register to vote and gave them the resources to do so. This leads to direct, tangible change. If more celebrities urged their followers to do something tangible, instead of just going on political rants like Kanye West, then there might actually be a change.
But, we as consumers also have a duty to be critical of celebrities. Do not take everything they say at face value. Don’t vote for a particular candidate just because your favorite celebrity tells you so. Take their opinion just as one of the many factors you use to decide how you will vote. Because, at the end of the day, many celebrities are out of touch. But, that doesn’t mean they aren’t entitled to their opinion.
Celebrities are hugely influential, some with an almost cult-like following. If they have a cause they believe in, they should speak out about it. Their influence can lead to direct change. If a celebrity wants to see change, they can make it happen, if not through the influence, then through monetary donations. There really is no excuse for a celebrity to not stand up publicly for something they believe in. If they truly care about an issue, they will speak out about it and let their influence produce change.
This is not to say all celebrities should constantly talk about politics and be considered experts on the subject. This also isn’t to say that if a celebrity doesn’t care about politics, they should pretend to do so. If a celebrity is particularly passionate and educated about a certain issue, they have a duty to speak up on it to make a change in the world.
