The Swifties for Kamala Coalition made headlines on Aug. 28 after quickly raising almost $150,000 for Kamala Harris’ campaign in its virtual rally. Their launch event, which drew approximately 34,000 people, highlighted the impact of celebrity influence on political campaigns.

The movement and its influence provide insight into how fan-driven movements can quickly build momentum and spotlight political candidates and their causes.

With the target audience of young adults, many of whom are first-time voters, the impact is particularly significant.

College students are thought to be especially affected by the enthusiasm surrounding celebrity endorsements. A February 2020 survey of 2,200 U.S. adults, with a portion aged 18-29, revealed that 29% would be more likely to vote for Sen. Bernie Sanders due to Ariana Grande’s support.

The approaching 2024 election between Harris and Donald Trump makes this influence even more relevant at Fresno State. The campus is home to students with a wide range of political views, including both Democratic and Republican clubs, with many students actively participating in social media and pop culture.

“Working with a lot of young people, for instance, many of them hope for and anticipate certain endorsements like Taylor Swift… I hope that they will use everything in their toolkit, including if they know any celebrities or find ways to leverage social media encouragement,” said Naomi Bick, assistant professor of political science at Fresno State.

Since social media is available with the click of a button and celebrity endorsements can have a significant impact on the political attitudes and behaviors of not only students, but also the general public.

Swift’s recent endorsement of Harris is said to have a major impact on voter registration, with CBS News reporting that the Instagram post drove at least 337,826 users to visit the site vote.gov.

“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” Swift stated on her Instagram post on Sept. 10, urging her followers to do their research.

She signed off on the post with “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady,” referencing JD Vance’s previous name-calling of Democrat women.

“Young people are some of the least-likely to vote and so I think having a variety of tactics including celebrities, peers and reducing barriers like allowing voting on campus can all help encourage more students to vote,” Bick said. “When social media influencers and celebrities use their platforms to encourage participation among young people, that can be an extremely helpful tool to reinforce other information students are receiving.”

Swift’s endorsement of Harris is seen as potentially influential, with NBC News reporting that Harris’s campaign views it as a significant boost.

Google Trends shows that searches for “voter registration” began to drop off as the Sept. 10 debate between Harris and Trump came to a close, but surged with Swift’s endorsement.

There is speculation online that the endorsement was coordinated, noting that Harris’ exit song was Swift’s “The Man” — a move that likely had to be approved by Swift’s team in advance — as well as political friendship bracelets being sold on the campaign store soon afterward.

Javier Bautista, a 19-year-old computer science student at Fresno State, says he considers many factors when voting in elections, “I believe that students and other young voters should just look more into facts and verified sources rather than believing a celebrity they don’t personally know.”

In the past, celebrity endorsements, particularly Swift’s, have resulted in a mass amount of new voters; in September 2023, Swift’s Instagram post urging her 272 million followers to register to vote led to over 35,000 new registrations on the nonpartisan site Vote.org.

Other prominent figures such as Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish have been working to boost voter turnout over the years, and both artists have spoken in support of Kamala Harris.

Rodrigo condemned the Supreme Court repealing Roe v. Wade and provides voting information and pro-choice resources at her shows, while Eilish has teamed up with HeadCount to encourage fans to get registered before November.

On the other hand, several high-profile celebrities have endorsed Donald Trump for the 2024 election, including Hulk Hogan, who appeared at the Republican National Convention in July calling Trump his “hero” and the “greatest president of the United States.”

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, along with other notable figures such as Elon Musk and Azealia Banks, have also supported Trump’s campaign in the upcoming election.

These celebrities and the way they’ve chosen to go about their endorsements, in particular, can have a lasting impact on the younger demographic of voters.

For most entertainment celebrities, social media is a common platform used to connect with fans and address public issues. Social media analysis strongly suggests that politicians and celebrities need to adopt a more interactive style to effectively engage with their audiences.

Harris’ campaign, under the handle KamalaHQ, most notably had engaged with current trends by updating their X (formerly Twitter) banner to Charli XCX’s signature green, from her latest album “Brat”, with “Kamala” written in Arial font.

The campaign has also aimed to engage Gen Z voters on TikTok by embracing the humor found on the platform.

“I would say that KamalaHQ is far better at hopping on trends than the Donald Trump equivalent,” said Jacob Gutierrez, an advertising and public relations student at Fresno State. “The ‘Brat Summer’ trend depicted Harris as ‘one of the girls’ – a very popular move for reaching out to Gen Z voters who identify as women. I’m not sure if leaning into this certain demographic is enough to attract Gen Z voters who identify as men.”

The New York Times reported that the Harris campaign’s efforts to appeal to a younger demographic have paid off, with polls showing that her campaign is outperforming Biden’s within that group.

After Swift’s endorsement, Trump said on Fox & Friends that he is not a fan of the artist and suggested she would probably face consequences for her endorsement ‘in the marketplace’.

Despite this, students at Fresno State shared that they are not influenced by these sorts of endorsements.

“I don’t like to vote on party lines, because I feel like that’s counterintuitive to fostering a good democracy,” said Spencer Beair, a broadcast student at Fresno State. “Celebrities endorsing political candidates does not change my voting decision simply because I do not think their opinion matters any more than any other person — just because you have a following doesn’t mean you know what you’re talking about.”

Research seems to suggest that while celebrity political endorsements rarely determine election outcomes, they can still play a role.

Celebrities, especially those in the mainstream, can attract mass amounts of media attention, expand the voter base for candidates and make financial contributions that the public may not be able to.

“It is important to teach students to source additional background information and facts following viral social media posts and pursue multiple sources of information,” Bick said. “Here at Fresno State, professors often assign activities that ask students to research, utilizing the library and other high-quality sources of information, and logically construct arguments in essays and class discussions, which all help students become better critical thinkers in the age of social media and celebrity.”

In February 2020, 89% of adults said they wouldn’t change their vote due to a celebrity endorsement.

However, 19% of younger voters said a celebrity could likely influence their political choices.

“I view celebrities endorsements as a part of politics like anything else,” said Alicia Verduzco, a film and media arts student at Fresno State. “To the average person, it’s more attention grabbing than discussions about slight differences in tax policies. I’d say celebrity endorsements provide some level of tactical advantage.”

As pop culture and politics continue to intersect, with celebrities taking a more active role in political advocacy, their impact on voter engagement is undeniable. Endorsements from celebrities are proving to be more than just publicity stunts — pop culture figures like Swift continue to play a major role in attracting young voters.

The full impact of such high-profile celebrities holds a lot of potential for not only this year’s election, but also for future ones.

“At the end of the day, students have a lot of power to help get their friends to the polls, help their peers answer questions about their ballots, and remind them of the importance of state and local issues,” Bick said. “I hope students will remember their own power and their important voices in their communities.”