#does the panopticon think my outfit's cute

[sachermorte]

rennweg oasch

[sachermorte]

way ahead of you

i don't think we can meme ourselves out of this one girlies

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I think what's happening with Taylor and her fanbase is most interesting for what it says about her marketing strategy more broadly and its consequences, even more broadly. I think part of the reason that Taylor Swift has such an intensely parasocial fanbase is because she's encouraged it throughout her career. Franchesca Ramsey has an interesting tiktok about it (that I don't totally agree with, but I think makes the point well). Taylor has always done things to blur boundaries with her fans, like the secret sessions she used to do where she invited them to her home, her team (and even her mom) would choose fans at shows to bring to the VIP box or to meet her backstage (though admittedly I don't know if she's doing that at Eras tour, she's done it in the past), she will periodically like and comment on random tiktoks about her, she jokes on stage that she knows what fans/fandom are saying and references her own fandom jokes. It has obviously served her well in terms of making her career massively successful, but it also clearly has some weird and not great impacts on her fanbase. There's an almost panopticon-like sense that at any given moment Taylor might be watching, and so if fans perform fanhood well enough, they might be "chosen" by her or get her attention. Which is unsettling enough on its own for the ways that it makes what's ultimately a one-sided parasocial relationship feel like it might at any moment actually be two-sided, but I think it also helps explain why her fans are out here putting out statements about her dating Matty Healy, because I think it leads fans to think their random tweet or tiktok might actually reach or impact Taylor, the way it might've if they'd posted an Eras tour outfit that she liked.

Obviously none of that justifies fan behavior or makes it any less troubling. I agree with you that I think if people behave this way parasocially, it suggests something about the way they behave in their actual social lives, and I think it also contributes to the ways that celebrities have a difficult time just existing as people in ways that are undeniably harmful to them as humans (like the crowds following Taylor around NYC). But there's something troubling to me about the asymmetry of it - boundary blurring good when it's for financial benefit, bad when it's strangers having public takes on a celeb's dating life. I think the asymmetry is in part natural, because of course fans can only control their own behavior and response and not the way that Taylor chooses to market her music, but I still just feel pretty icky about it, especially because it's largely operating on an unconscious level. I don't think a fan sees Taylor Swift comment on another random fan's concert video and goes, oh, this is a marketing tactic designed to boost engagement with the artist and encourage the creation of Eras tour content to keep it viral. I think a random fan, especially a young person, sees that and goes, oh, that could've been my tiktok, that could be me, Taylor might notice me and think I'm cute or funny or whatever. There are obviously a lot of differences, but it does in some ways remind me of the conversations around the impact of algorithmic content and its unconscious impact on our brains, like whether even people who are intellectually aware that they're being served more content that makes them feel angry, because that gets the most engagement, are still impacted by seeing that content. I don't think it necessarily lends itself to an actual answer, but I do think it's extra unsettling as more artists use similar marketing tactics to engage their fanbase on social media.

I've seen this argument before and while I think there might be points that are worth considering - I completely and utterly reject the idea that it has any relevance to fans response to Taylor being in a relationship. In fact the idea that Taylor's engagement with fans might be relevant to the fact that fans engage her relationships to me crosses boundaries.

To me the key question is: Do you think that everyone who you invite to your house gets a say on your relationships? (Or even more precisely - do you think everyone who you invited to your house 4 years ago gets a say on your relationships now?) I sure hope the answer is no - and if the answer is no for you - then what the fuck could the fact that some fans were invited to Taylor's house have to do that some fans (probably not the same people) think they have a say on her relationship.

There is an argument that the fact that Taylor responds to social media content and sometimes references internet communications contributes to people's belief that they can communicate to her through internet content like an open letter. But my problem with the open letter is not that people are trying to communicate with Taylor. It's that the letter shows a belief that fans get a say over Taylor's life.

I also want to push back a bit at your idea that there's an asymmetry in how boundaries being blurred are being judged. Your model seems to be that there is a set of boundaries that should exist an artist and a fan and that any depature from that from either side is crossing boundaries.

That's not how I think boundaries work. I don't think Taylor was crossing any boundaries when she invited people to her house four years ago. Anymore than I was crossing boundaries when I invited someone to my house today. That's the whole point of boundaries - we get to decide who comes to our personal space.

Likewise "strangers having public takes on a celeb's dating life" isn't a problem and has nothing to do with boundaries. Having opinions publicly about someone doesn't cross any boundaries - we're not entitled to control what everyone says about us. There's a huge difference between having opinions about someone in public - and making those opinions the person's problem. Fans are entitled to say whatever they like about Taylor's relationship - and change their behaviour in any way. But to make demands about what she should do about fans feelings - that's very different.

I do think there are useful and interesting conversations that can be had about Taylor's actions towards her fans - the personal element, the marketing element, and the impact on her fandom. I just don't think boundaries is a useful model for that discussion, or that it has any place in the discussion of fans' entitlement over Taylor's relationships.

[sachermorte]

today on: do I look sickly and wan because I'm overwhelmingly stressed or because I'm wearing light blue and beige and gray

[sachermorte]

this is the new coat btw

it's exceptionally cute I fear

[sachermorte]

I don't know if I'm just feeling myself a little too much but I did a photoshoot in one of my freistunden and I look especially evil today. like even for me.

and not only evil but like. evil with range. the man in each one of these pictures did something uniquely horrible and none of the horrible things overlap somehow

how did I channel this. I'm wearing a sweater vest

[sachermorte]

chop chop roderich hetalia it's 10am where's the ootd

bruder ich muss HACKELN

[sachermorte]

having the exact same moral dilemma I've had over this like. burnt orange target-brand sweater I've had for the past three years. because my mother got it for me, right. and it's not a bad garment necessarily. but it IS kind of shapeless and it IS very orange and I do not look good in orange but then I put the sweater on and I think I can almost get away with this particular shade? and it's autumnal. pumpkin and fallen leaves. I don't know

desperately soliciting opinions on this random sweater from target women's section. is this cute.

[sachermorte]

all my haters become waiters at café roland

[sachermorte]

somehow look exceptionally evil here

[sachermorte]

tried so hard not to wear a tie today. already wearing my little gray suit and a button up and a sweater. I could have just left it. the collar could have stayed open. it would have been fine. and then I took a last glimpse of myself in the mirror and was all like mmmmmm 😰

why is it that I want nothing more than to dress like I'm a corrupt politician

[sachermorte]

happy birthday to me. every era is a villain era

[sachermorte]

daily photograph of me making bad life choices (my friend rolled me a cigarette before he even rolled one for himself)

[sachermorte]

literally cannot do anything anymore. got caught by a couple of my students trying on some ear muffs with rabbit ears on them. that's what I get for hanging around in the same district I teach in

[sachermorte]

I took a shower everyone clap clap clap clap clap like aquarium seals

[sachermorte]

god help us all when I just took a shower and feel cute after

I need to wear anything other than this same jacket but it's such a good jacket for the temperature