0 votes
in General Factchecking by Genius (43.6k points)
Taylor Swift drove 338,000 people to vote.gov with her endorsement of Kamala Harris.

1 Answer

+1 vote
by Newbie (200 points)

After exploring several websites, I believe that it is true that Swift's post drove lots of people to vote.gov, but that a lot of the articles give different numbers. Also lots of social media posts have misinterpreted what those numbers mean.

On Tuesday, Sept. 10 a presidential debate between Harris and Trump took place. Swift announced her support for Harris in an instagram post following the debate. She later posted a instagram story that included a link for followers that directed them to vote.gov. Vote.gov is not a website where citizens can actually register to vote. It is a website that directs individuals to their state's election website, so they can learn how to register in their state. 

Many social media posts have misinterpreted the variety of numbers being reported by news outlets as a tally of new voter registrations. But that is NOT what those numbers mean. Those numbers are just how many people clicked on the link and where taken to the vote.gov site. Another pattern I am seeing is a variety of numbers. For example, NPR is reporting "In the 24-hour window that Swift's story was live on Instagram, a GSA spokesperson told NPR that there had been 405,999 visitors to the Vote.gov website via her unique link," but CNBC is reporting "Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris in a Tuesday night Instagram post drove at least 337,826 visitors to Vote.gov, a government website that directs users to state-specific voting information, a spokesperson for the U.S. General Services Administration told CNBC.

I left a voicemail and reached out to GSA by email on Sept. 26. I have not heard back, but if I do, I will update this post to confirm or deny the numbers being reported.

Exaggerated/ Misleading

Community Rules


Be respectful.

There is bound to be disagreement on a site about misinformation. Assume best intentions on everyone's part.

If you are new to factchecking, take some time to learn about it. "How to Factcheck" has some resources for getting started. Even if you disagree with these materials, they'll help you understand the language of this community better.

News Detective is for uncovering misinformation and rumors. This is not a general interest question-answer site for things someone could Google.

Posting

The title is the "main claim" that you're trying to factcheck.

Example:
Factcheck This: Birds don't exist

If possible, LINK TO to the place you saw the claim.

Answering

LINK TO YOUR EVIDENCE or otherwise explain the source ("I called this person, I found it in this book, etc.")

But don't just drop a link. Give an explanation, copy and paste the relevant information, etc.

News Detective is not responsible for anything anyone posts on the platform.
...