Chosen as Time Magazine's “Person of the Year” in 2023, Taylor Swift has emerged as a central figure in contemporary global culture, whose influence extends beyond the music industry to encompass political, economic, and social domains. The extensive global impact of The Eras Tour—recognized as a major catalyst for tourism, the revitalization of local economies, and the surge in digital engagement (Hoff, Gersh & Ogbeide, 2025)— has further solidified Swift's role as a transformative figure. Within this context, the emergence of Swift Studies as a burgeoning interdisciplinary field reflects academic interest in understanding the complexities of her celebrity persona and the sociocultural processes mobilized. This field integrates theoretical contributions from celebrity studies (Bentley, Galloway & Harper, 2024; Morris, 2024) but also: communication studies, cultural studies, digital sociology; issues of affect, identity, media participation, and symbolic power. Central to these inquiries is the constitutive role of fandom in the negotiation of cultural meaning, the formation of collective identities, and the articulation of sociopolitical discourse (Jenkins, 1992; Duffett, 2013). In digital environments, fan communities operate as "affective publics" (Marwick & Boyd, 2011), wherein emotional investment circulates as a form of capital (Zafina & Sinha, 2024), enabling social cohesion, political mobilization, and the co-construction of celebrity narratives across national borders. These affective economies demonstrate how contemporary fandom is not only a space of consumption but also one of agency, negotiation, and meaning-making. This abstract introduces an ongoing PhD research project that explores the Portuguese Swiftie community as a distinct case study. It aims to answer the central question: Who are the Portuguese Swifties, and how is their engagement with the fan community shaped? To explore these three key areas of focus are proposed: (1) the sociodemographic profile of Swift's Portuguese fanbase, (2) the behaviours and practices exhibited by Portuguese fans within the fandom, and (3) the motivations behind their engagement with both the artist and the broader fan community. As a preliminary phase, a pilot study will be conducted, consisting of up to seven semistructured interviews with Portuguese fans of Taylor Swift. This exploratory approach seeks to generate initial empirical insights that will inform the refinement of the main research design. Participants will be recruited through Taylor Swift’s fandom networks in Portugal, leveraging the connectivity and accessibility of these fan-driven digital spaces. The interviews will be conducted via Zoom, allowing for broader participation and facilitating data collection from geographically dispersed individuals. The data collected will be analyzed through thematic analysis, a qualitative methodological framework that facilitates the identification of recurring themes, narrative patterns, and meaning structures within participant discourse. By investigating the Portuguese Swiftie community through this lens, the study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of fandom as a site of cultural production, identity negotiation, and emotional labour within a localized context, while also engaging with broader debates on digital participation and transnational cultural flows.

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