Make the Friendship Bracelets: Pop Music Creating Community in 2023

Taylor Swift. Harry Styles. Beyonce. Three of the biggest names in pop music in the 21st century and they all are on or have just concluded world tours.

The rise of social media platforms like TikTok have made these concerts more of an event than ever, but they're also working in new ways to create community in ways unseen with pop(ular) music until now. Counter culture music has always succeeded at creating community. We've seen it in the back alley dive bars that hosted close knit punk communities, underground queer ballroom scene, and outdoor, camping based bohemian acts. These groups were and are intertwined found family. Pop concerts were never able to achieve this level of intimacy due not only to their size and scale but because of their lack of interactivity between individual fans.

The spectacle of Swift, Styles, and Beyonce shows have inspired not just millions of social media posts about the music and production of the show but multiple trends of the act of creating the social media surrounding the event itself. You don't just see an Instagram post of a person's outfit or their video of their favorite song, but there's a TikTok showing the getting ready process set to music from the artist and multiple accounts showing how to make getting ready TikToks or how to capture the best video of your favorite song. Community building doesn't start when you walk into the arena or stadium; it starts during the hours long getting ready process. When comparing photos of concert-goers from previous tours of the same artists, you cannot see the same level of commitment to the fashion, makeup, and preparation that has gone into the most recent pop tours.

Beyond the raising the profile of the individual artist, these social media trends also increase interaction among fellow fans beyond their mobile screens. The journey to one's seat is a fashion show. People previously strangers stop each other to compliment shoes, accessories, and outfit choices. Long merchandise lines allow for conversation between patrons. Tailgating is common for those who could not get or could not afford tickets. These concerts are also seen as a place of safety unlike other large crowded gatherings. There becomes safety in numbers when everyone is gathered for the same purpose.

My personal experience with this came at Taylor Swift's The Eras tour in Kansas City. Fans of Swift's music, known as Swifties, have been trading friendship bracelets as a reference to "You're On Your Own Kid", a song from Swift's latest original album, Midnights. These bracelets were popularized as concert gifts in EDM and raver communities to act as reminders of memories and have been called kandi. Personally, I made over 50 friendship bracelets for the concert but was concerned I wouldn't be able to trade all of them with other Swifties if I was going to get merch and food before the opening act took the stage. My sister and I decided to divide responsibilities, so while she got food and found our seats, I stood in line for merchandise.

While I stood in line, I started trading bracelets with those directly around me, but I knew in order to trade all my bracelets, I'd need to get creative as the line was expected to be at least an hour and half long. I turned to the Swifties behind me and asked if they minded if I wandered to other people in line to trade bracelets while we all waited since I had no one to hold my spot in the queue. They didn't mind, so off I went. I traded often, and each time came back to my space in line to thank the Swifties holding my space. During one trip to trade, I discovered that there was actually a shorter merchandise line that would get me back to my seat faster. I knew I had to tell the people holding my place that we would all save a lot of time by moving. I grabbed my new connections, and we made it through the line in less than 30 minutes talking away while we picked out what we would take home at the end of the night. I think about them every time I wear my black hoodie.

When I found my seat, my sister had been talking to the Swifties sitting next to us and trading with them. They ended up living only 15 minutes away from my sister's home even though the concert venue was multiple hours away. Our new friends hadn't made any bracelets but came with custom stickers with lyrics on them. My sister grabbed me stickers with Folklore lyrics as it is my favorite album. We had the best night together singing along to all the songs and making the memory of our first time seeing Swift. My sister and I had to rush to the car at the end of the night which meant abandoning the Swifties next to us. We forgot to get their names and social media handles before the show began, and it was too loud to exchange information during the show. I have searched high and low for our seatmates on social media, putting out pleas to people I know in that area, scanning through thousands of social media posts hoping to see their faces, and now this appeal that someone may recognize their stickers and connect us. I hope someday we will meet again. (In the off-chance that someone knows 2 curly haired redheads from Arkansas at this concert sitting in section 125, please contact me.)

I built community at the Taylor Swift concert. I connected with people outside of my social sphere and not in the passing way but in a way that I will remember their faces, and outfits, and favorite albums, and energy for years to come. We made the friendship bracelets, took the moment and tasted it. An arena or stadium is never going to allow for the same bonds formed as those in counter culture venues, but 2023 is seeing some of the closest attempts made for community connection in pop music.

The stickers from my lost friends from The Eras Tour in KC.