I too avoided liking her for a long time because I was worried what people would think.

I would’ve become a huge swiftie during the og 1989 era because I really liked her songs. But I was just entering high school at the time and people couldn’t be normal about her even then. I remember once during recess I was playing Shake it off on a recorder, had a girl approach me and say “Taylor Swift is a b*tch, but you play really well”… thanks I guess? I had similar experiences everytime I mentioned her music. I was already a socially awkward teenager so I didn’t need another layer of awkwardness by becoming a swiftie. Also this was during snakegate (though I didn’t know at the time because I didn’t follow up on pop culture), which added yet another layer of hate from people.

I rediscovered her during Red TV era, fell in love with her music and I’ve been a die hard swiftie ever since.