How One Man Made Australia Hate Him by Creating a Hashtag About Taylor Swift

With voting now closed for Australia's Hottest 100, most of the attention this year has been focused on a social media campaign to get Taylor Swift's song “Shake it Off” to the top of Triple J's annual Australia Day countdown. (If you're not familiar, the Hottest 100 is an annual music poll based on listeners of the national radio station, Triple J, which is part of ABC—Australia's version of NPR.)

The campaign—initiated by Buzzfeed reporter Mark Di Stefano under the hasthag #Tay4Hottest100—has seen “Shake it Off” catapult to second-favourite, according to online bookmaker Sportsbet.

Some Swift fans have even made a website to help make it easier to vote.

But not everyone is happy and a counter-campaign is underway to disallow the song from the annual poll, which is frequently cited as the largest public vote in Australia after the federal election. Hayden Davies is from Perth and describes himself as a lifelong Triple J diehard. He has started a change.org petition calling on Triple J to prevent "Shake It Off" from appearing on the chart.

Davies argues that the song has never been played on Triple J and would ruin the essence of the station. “Sure, we have had songs like 'Thrift Shop' and 'Pretty Fly For A White Guy' win, however they were at least played on Triple J at least once and were listenable before they became overplayed to death,” he says on the petition’s page which has collected 1500 supporters with another 3500 needed.

Triple J’s official line is to not comment or clarify whether or not Swift would be eligible to place in the official Hottest 100 shortlist. According to a Triple J representative, “We don’t comment on voting campaigns whilst Hottest 100 voting is open. It draws attention to them and may influence the results of the poll.”

The station is yet to confirm if that is the case.

In 1995, Alanis Morissette placed three times despite none of her songs receiving airplay and U2’s Elevation and Green Day’s Good Riddance also managed to place despite not receiving airplay during their years of eligibility.

The discussion really comes down to whether you are a Tay fan or not. It seems a lot of people are. Say what you will about the pop princess whose 1989 album has just notched a ninth week at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart, but over the last 12 months her following has grown beyond country radio listeners and a Sophia Grace-like fanbase to hit frantic levels.

Or as Saturday Night Live puts, Swift is now the leading cause of vertigo because, "the girl can write a song.”

When everyone wants you to be their sister you are allowed to beat out Chet Faker or Peking Duck for Triple J’s top spot.

The Hottest 100 countdowns have a history of controversy, from 1998 when "Pretty Fly for A White Guy" won to every year when the issue of the poll's concerning lack of female representation is raised.

But what can/should Triple J do this year in regards to Taylor Swift? Remove the song from the voting list and appease loyal listeners like Hayden Davies, or keep the song and succumb to the Tay bandwagon?

According to online legal resource Lawpath if “Shake It Off” is removed, Triple J will have to prove that the song was voted for by the public as a result of "commercial campaigns". “If they cannot prove commercial influence the song may be excluded unfairly. Future court battles aren’t impossible to rule out here—as bizarre as it would be Triple J could find themselves having to ‘shake off’ a lawsuit.”