It’s not just about pop music or Taylor Swift’s sparkly outfits. Instead of looking down on fandoms, maybe we should recognize how they’re meeting fundamental human needs – something religion has been doing for centuries.
Last year, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour became a global pilgrimage for fans. Dressed up in era-inspired outfits, armed with friendship bracelets, Swifties flocked to stadiums exceeding capacities of 50,000 people, united by their love for the singer. But this phenomenon goes beyond just a pop concert—it taps into something fundamental about human nature: the need to connect, to be seen, and to experience something greater than ourselves.

“There’s a big project that’s been going on for five or six years by some other anthropologists that looks into whether people who are religious experience more things, and the conclusion from that study is pretty much yes.” says Dr Meghan Donnelly, Social Anthropologist at the University of Manchester.

For many today, however, formal religion probably wouldn’t be the first place people turned to for a way to reach beyond their immediate experience.

Dr Greg Garret, a leading voice on religion and culture in America and Professor of Literature and Culture at Baylor University, notes a downward trend in Christianity.

“In the States, we are reckoning with a decline in formal religion that encompasses almost every part of what we think of as American Christianity.”

One key example being the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the States, having lost almost half a million members in 2022 – the largest drop in over a century.

Despite this decline, the need for shared meaning and belonging persists. People still crave moments of connection that elevate them beyond the everyday, even if they don’t seek them in a church pew. Social anthropologist, Dr Meghan Donnelly, underlines this as one of humanity’s indisputable needs.

“People crave togetherness. We’re social creatures; that is one of the human universals. A lot of people crave a kind of indication that not only are they not alone, but that there’s something beyond them, that there’s something more.”

For many, art, music, and pop culture have become platforms for connection and sources of meaning. Naturally, people with shared interests in the same art or music gather together and form appreciation groups, AKA fandoms.

One prominent example that comes to mind is Taylor Swift’s ‘Swifties’. It’s a catchy name, memorable and easily identifiable – no wonder Taylor Swift trademarked it.

But it’s not just the name that stands out. Swifties are known for being fiercely loyal, fervent by nature and totally committed to the cause. Why is this?

One reason might be her lyrics. Taylor Swift’s music offers more than just catchy melodies – it provides a sense of recognition that makes fans feel deeply seen. Her lyrics, often centered around her personal experiences, are intentionally open to interpretation, allowing listeners to project their own emotions onto her songs.

This desire to feel understood parallels religious devotion, Dr Meghan Donnelly observes. In Protestant evangelical Christianity, believers are told they have a direct relationship with God; He sees them, hears them and understands them.

“I think that’s one thing that’s really interesting about Taylor Swift fandoms through a religious lens – the kind of religious desire to be seen at all.”

For Swifties, Taylor Swift’s music creates a space for belonging, emotional validation, and shared meaning. Just as faith provides believers with the reassurance that their experiences matter, Taylor’s music gives fans proof that their feelings, their stories and their lives are worth acknowledging. Her ability to articulate emotions in this way arguably fulfills a fundamental human longing to be recognized and reflected in something greater.

For Anna Sagoo, 20, Taylor’s focus on relationships is something that resonates with her deeply – not necessarily romantic love but appreciation in friendships. A late bloomer to the Swiftie fandom, Anna joined SwiftSoc at the University of Warwick for a shared appreciation of Taylor’s music, but stayed for the people she found in the community. This year, she became President of the society.

“SwiftSoc completely changed the trajectory of my university life. It’s brought me 90% of the friendships that I have; I’ve met hundreds of people through it.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way – even if I didn’t necessarily like Taylor Swift.”

Anna noticed that the Swifties she met through her society tended to share unifying characteristics that fostered close-knit connections in the fandom. 

“When I think of a Taylor Swift fan, I think we’re all quite kind as people. We care about how we interact with people and I think we’re quite emotionally aware. For me, that has been the kind of person that I tend to get on with quite well.”

Social media has only amplified this community, bringing even more like minded people together, regardless of distance. Viral trends like the ‘Bejeweled’ dance trend on TikTok and the deep-dive theories on Reddit about Easter eggs in Taylor’s lyrics show how fans actively build shared narratives before even stepping into a stadium. 

This almost transcendent feeling of connection culminates in live shows, where anticipation and online conversations and speculation transform into something tangible. Tens of thousands of voices singing in unison, creating an experience like that of a modern day pilgrimage.

Michael Wakelin, Chairman of the Religious Media Centre (Home – Religion Media Centre) in the UK, comments on the power a gathering like this can have: “When you go to a concert, you are surrounded by people who share the same frustrations, the same hopes, you sing the same songs, which are hymns effectively to your heroes. And they’re exactly the sorts of things that you would get from a religious gathering too. It’s a hugely bonding thing and it’s very visceral. It’s incredibly powerful.”

According to Dr Meghan Donnelly, this feeling has a name too – communitas. The elevated experience of joy that you get when you gather in large groups doing something together that profoundly changes you. 

You go into a concert as strangers but once you’re in there, you’re all Swifties; whether you’ve listened to her music once or you’re a die hard fan, you’re all singing the same songs in a space designed to help you channel the same emotions. You leave feeling slightly altered. “Like you’ve been touched by the prophet, almost.” Dr Donnelly adds.

This doesn’t mean to say that religious congregations and live concerts are one in the same. Fandoms and traditional Western religions have key differences that keep the terms strictly parallel to each other. Firstly, Taylor Swift is a human being. She’s not omnipresent or the ultimate centre of the universe like a deity. She isn’t watching over you when you choose to put on Olivia Rodrigo instead of Reputation. Anna is adamant about separating the art from the artist.

“I think that us as a group being seen as worshipping her as a deity is something that I try to avoid. I guess because she can do wrong and it’s important to hold people accountable for that.”

Michael Wakelin also points out how social media can propagate ideals, offering Taylor Swift as a form of escapism rather than offering spiritual reflection, as religion might.

“Well, it’s so much more exciting, isn’t it? It’s being thrust at you in the media and it’s colourful, it’s loud, and it very quickly transports you to another exciting place. It takes you away from the norm to a place where everything is starry and different and hopeful and the despair of your mundane existence is transformed through the worship of a celebrity.”

Another common misconception is that overall, religion hasn’t actually gone anywhere, according to Dr Donnelly. Traditional religious institutions are experiencing a decline but anthropologists are actually noticing an uptake in religious experiences themselves. 

“I think that the anthropologists of Christianity caution against this idea that Christianity, like religion, was supposed to end, because although there was numerically a dip in people who officially ascribed to religion, in the latter half of the 20th century, that number started to rise again.”

“I think scholars have gotten better at understanding an individual’s religious experiences and not just counting people who belong to one of the dominant world religions.”

Greg Garratt believes that regardless of the differences, religion and fandoms are both a means to an end.

“I think that what we want to do is lean toward the teachings, whether it’s from culture or from religion or ethics or wherever, that invite us to be our most expansive and loving and compassionate self. 

And maybe some people find that through the church, and maybe some people find that through Taylor Swift and how she lives her life.”

Whether through a religion or fandom, humans have an innate desire to feel connected and understood. We may not be looking towards the church but we’re finding other ways to have faith. The Eras Tour may not be a religious gathering, but for millions of Swifties, it’s a pilgrimage nonetheless, where faith isn’t about doctrine, but about feeling seen, understood, and connected.

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