The devotion of “Swifties” seems nearly boundless. So what’s behind this superfandom? We talked to a psychologist to find out.
As Taylor Swift brings her latest tour to Denver, fans lined up for hours in the blazing heat to buy her merchandise, with some collapsing from heat exhaustion. Many have spent thousands of dollars on concert tickets, travel and hotels. And fans gathered outside of Empower Field at Mile High well before doors opened.Dr. Alexandra Gold, a psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and clinical fellow with Harvard Medical School, told Denver7 the fandom is built around identity and community.
“Many people have grown up alongside Taylor Swift. So, they've had these experiences as she has had these experiences,” she said. "People are not just interested in the connection with Taylor, but also with other fans, and they might be meeting friends through the fandom,” Dr. Gold said. “If your involvement in the fandom is interfering with other aspects of your life,” you may want to take a step back, Dr. Gold said. For example, if “you're spending so much time in an online community... that you're neglecting other important relationships, or aspects of your identity.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Taylor Swift in Denver: Everything you need to know for tonight's concertAlong with the thousands of fans arriving for the much-anticipated tour, Denver-area businesses are looking forward to a boost in sales that comes with all of the hoopla.
Read more »
Taylor Swift’s two Denver concerts could give Colorado economy a $140 million boostTaylor Swift’s visit to Denver will be brief, with two concerts this weekend. But her time here could fill some blank spaces in the Colorado economy.
Read more »
Fainting fans and $8 water: A look inside the Taylor Swift merch lineCruel summer heat set in on the throngs of Taylor Swift fans who had flocked to the artist’s official merchandise truck Thursday morning outside Empower Field at Mile High, and several weren’t ready for it.
Read more »
Taylor Swift Replaces Herself At No. 1 In Australia With ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’Swift becomes the first artist to replace herself atop the ARIA Albums Chart.
Read more »
Swift/UVOT discovery of Swift J221951-484240: a UV luminous ambiguous nuclear transientWe report the discovery of Swift J221951-484240 (hereafter: J221951), a luminous slow-evolving blue transient that was detected by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Ultra-violet/Optical Telescope (Swift/UVOT) during the follow-up of Gravitational Wave alert S190930t, to which it is unrelated. Swift/UVOT photometry shows the UV spectral energy distribution of the transient to be well modelled by a slowly shrinking black body with an approximately constant temperature of T~2.5x10^4 K. At a redshift z=0.5205, J221951 had a peak absolute magnitude of M_u,AB=-23 mag, peak bolometric luminosity L_max=1.1x10^45 erg s^-1 and a total radiated energy of E|2.6x10^52 erg. The archival WISE IR photometry shows a slow rise prior to a peak near the discovery date. Spectroscopic UV observations display broad absorption lines in N V and O VI, pointing toward an outflow at coronal temperatures. The lack of emission in the higher H~Lyman lines, N I and other neutral lines is consistent with a viewing angle close to the plane of the accretion or debris disc. The origin of J221951 can not be determined with certainty but has properties consistent with a tidal disruption event and the turn-on of an active galactic nucleus.
Read more »