The K-Pop Fandom on Twitter

K-Pop, also known as Korean pop, is a genre of popular music that originally emerged from South-Korea, but fans of this style of music can now be found all over the world. The K-Pop fandom differs a lot from other fandoms on Twitter due to the fact that they have their own terms, traditions, and habits that are exclusive to this fandom. In this article I will look at K-Pop fans as a niched culture on Twitter.

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The K-Pop fans as a social group

In Outsiders (1963), Howard Becker states that every group has different rules, norms and values and that the people who conform to these beliefs are seen as a part of this particular group. Due to the usage of certain terms, traditions, and customs that is exclusive to the K-Pop fandom on Twitter, K-Pop fans can be considered a social group or a niched culture.

Becker also discusses what the conditions and requirements are to be considered a member of a social group. You need to know the norms, the talk, the emblems, and the same applies to the K-Pop fans on Twitter. There are many websites and blogs dedicated to helping new fans get into the fandom by teaching them about fan traditions, terms and more.

In this article I am going to discuss in what ways the K-Pop fandom differs from other fandoms on Twitter and in what ways you can show other Twitter users that you are part of the K-Pop fandom.

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The analysis of the fans

For my research, I used an ethnographic approach. Ethnography is a certain way of doing research in which the researcher observes society and its cultural phenomena from the perspective of the subject of the research (Varis, 2016).

This type of research of course comes with all kinds of ethical considerations concerning the private lives of the informants. When I wanted to incorporate somebody’s tweet or picture, I always asked for their permission first. For more privacy, I removed their username and the actual text that was accompanying the hashtags and the pictures.

When I wanted to incorporate the fan’s Twitter profiles, I used pre-made profiles that I found on Tumblr, rather than social media profiles that were actually in use by real people, as to respect people’s privacy as much as possible.

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The K-Pop popularity

In the past year, the K-Pop fandom has grown a lot on Twitter and K-Pop can be found in all the nooks and crannies on Twitter nowadays, but it does not stop there. By scrolling through other social media platforms or by turning on your television or radio you will find a lot of K-Pop as well.

In the past year, for example, K-Pop group BTS has been performing at a lot of well-known Western award shows, such as the Billboards Music Awards. The fact that K-Pop artists and groups are so present in the media nowadays enables the fandom to expand a lot, both online and offline.

In times of super-diversity (Vertovec, 2006), the new media function as infrastructures that, among other things, create cultural niches. The same applies to the growing of the K-Pop fandom. Because K-Pop artists are getting more popular in the media, and in particular in the new media, new fandoms and thus cultural niches are born. The presence of K-Pop fans on social media platforms such as Twitter also contribute to the spreading of the K-Pop culture and they thus help strengthening the cultural niche.

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The K-Pop language

One of the biggest way in which the K-Pop fandom sets itself apart from other fandoms on Twitter is by the use of terms and names that are exclusive to this fandom. This can make it very difficult for new fans to integrate into the fandom. Because of this, there are blog posts and other web pages dedicated to explaining the different terms and rituals that are used by the fans to make it easier for people to understand what is going on in the fandom.

Terms such as bias, which indicates your favorite member of a K-Pop group, ult, which is considered your ultimate favorite idol of the K-Pop industry, and bias wrecker, which is the K-Pop idol that makes you doubt who is actually your favorite idol, are exclusively used in K-Pop fan culture and this terminology is only used when talking about K-Pop artists.

The utilization of these terms is one of the main reasons why K-Pop fans are considered to be their own cultural niche. The Twitter users who do not belong to the K-Pop fandom do not use this language, or understand the terms.

The internet can help you become experienced with the language of a social group

To be considered a full member of the K-Pop fandom, you have to master the language that comes with it and you have to be able to understand and use the different terms that are part of the fandom (Becker, 1963). Because of the introduction of social media, it is now a lot easier to become a master of the language than before, due to, for example, blog posts and websites that give definitions of all the terms. The internet can thus help you become experienced with the language of a social group.

These blog posts and web pages that explain the K-Pop language are mostly created by fans and, because of this, these fans can be seen as “masters” or “crusaders” in the cultural niche. They have mastered the language and know all the norms and the talk. By writing these how to-posts, these crusaders try to help “newbies” of the fandom on their way to becoming connoisseurs themselves. Most of the time, these crusaders also have a relatively big following.

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The profile

There are many ways in which you can show that you are part of a fandom on Twitter. The constructing of one’s identity on Twitter involves displaying certain emblematic features that can be seen as typical for that certain identity. These features are arranged in a particular way and these necessary combinations of features make up one’s identity. Identity is thus a matter of “enoughness”. Hence, one has to have, display and enact “enough” of these emblematic features to be considered a part of a certain fandom (Maly & Varis, 2016).

One of the easiest and most forward ways to be considered a member of the K-Pop fandom on Twitter is by changing your profile picture and header to something K-Pop related. Basically everybody who considers themselves part of the K-Pop fandom on Twitter has a profile picture of their K-Pop idol with a matching header. What your profile looks like is thus a big index of your identity.

In the making of the profile, it is particularly important to make sure that the profile picture and the header match in some way. This can be done by matching the colors, the background or the filter. In this example, you can see that the maker of the profile tried to make the profile match by using the same color in the profile picture and as in the header. I found this example on a Tumblr blog dedicated to making matching Twitter profiles for K-Pop fans.

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The Selca Days

One of the many activities that is exclusive to the K-Pop fandom is the tradition of Selca Days. On these so called Selca Days, fans will post a picture of themselves with a picture of their favorite idol. The fans mostly post their Selca Days pictures on Twitter or Tumblr.

The idea of Selca Days is that you post these pictures of yourself and your idol with a specific hashtag for the Selca Day and every group of fans has their own specialized hashtag. For example, if you want to participate in the Selca Day for the fans of the K-Pop group BTS, you use the hashtag #ARMYSelcaDay.

On top of that, there is a schedule made by a K-Pop fan on Twitter for when the Selca Day for certain fan groups will take place. For example, the selca day for BTS fans is every first tuesday of the month. The Selca Day for the fans of the K-Pop group Vav takes place on every full moon of the month with their hashtag #VAMPZSelcaDay.

Furthermore, most participants of Selca Days come up with a concept for their pictures to make them match. Participants of the Selca Days can do this by simply using the same filter, background, or pose as their idol.

They can also get a little more creative by trying to recreate everything from their idol’s picture, including the pose, background, and clothing, which you can see in the example. In the example, you can see that the fan tried to match the artist by using the same background, clothing, and pose. In the pictures, the idol and the fan are sitting in the same restaurant, eating the same pizza, wearing a white t-shirt and holding the same pose.

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The threads

Another trend that is very big in the K-Pop fandom on Twitter is the making of threads of tweets to show your love and support for your favorite idol. A lot of fans make a thread called “365 days with your ultimate”, in which they tweet a picture of their favorite artist everyday for 365 or more days straight. There are even fans who have been keeping up their thread of pictures of their idols for over 3 years now.

This example shows the first tweets of a thread of pictures. I did not ask permission for using these tweets in my research, as there are many tweets very similar to this and I do not think that the Twitter users will be traceable through these tweets. I did remove their usernames and profile pictures for more privacy.

Another thread of tweets that a lot of fans make is a thread of all the albums they have collected and the accompanying photo cards of their idols that come with these albums, which you can see in the example. Most of the K-Pop albums are accompanied by a physical picture of one of the artists and the idea is that fans will try to collect all the photocards of their favorite idols by buying multiple copies of the album or by trading with their friends.

Purchasing these physical albums is more about collecting all the souvenir items and pictures than about actually listening to the music

K-Pop albums thus differ a lot from western albums. Not only because the K-Pop albums usually have a lot more lavish packaging than western albums, but also because the K-Pop albums come with different photocards of artists, photo books with lots of pages and pictures, and other souvenir items. Purchasing these physical albums is thus more about collecting all the souvenir items and pictures than about actually listening to the music.

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The purple ribbon and the #BlackArmyBeauty project

One of the things that the K-Pop fandom is most known for is their fan projects. In particular the fans of the K-Pop group BTS are known for organizing a lot of popular fan projects.

BTS wants to spread the idea of self-confidence and being kind to others through their music, and their fans have taken it upon themselves to spread this message of love and kindness. They do this by organizing projects on social media and particularly Twitter is a very popular platform to arrange these projects on. Examples of their fan projects are the purple ribbon project and the #BlackArmyBeauty project.

The purple ribbon project started as a way to ensure the safety of K-Pop artists, but it quickly became more than that. Purple is an important color for the fans of BTS, as one of the members of the group told their fans that purple is the last color of the rainbow and it thus means that the group will trust and love their fans for a long time.

The project started when fans went to the airport that the members of BTS were arriving at to create barriers with purple ribbon. This way, the artists could safely pass through the airport without being attacked or mobbed by their fans.

Now, the sharing of the purple ribbon is not only about ensuring the safety of the artists, but also about ensuring the safety and comfort of fans. The purple ribbon often gets passed around amongst fans at concerts as a reminder to respect and take care of their fellow fans.

Another example of fans trying to spread the message of love and kindness is the making of the #BlackArmyBeauty project. A K-Pop fan on Twitter who noticed her friend was getting anonymous racist messages started the #BlackArmyBeauty project to spread more positivity and to make sure the racism would come to an end.

The hashtag was accompanied by a picture of a flower called Protea King, which symbolizes diversity and courage. By reposting the hashtag #BlackArmyBeauty and the picture of the flower, you could show your support for Black BTS fans. Very quickly, black fans started posting pictures of themselves with the hashtag to spread more positivity in the fandom.

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The commodification in the K-Pop industry

Commodification is a big part of fandoms and fan culture in the 21th century. Being a fan of your favorite idol or artist is about showing your support for them, and in practice this mostly comes down to acts such as going to their concerts, buying their books or buying their albums. Celebrities are very aware that they make money through the financial support their fans give them and the same applies in the K-Pop music industry.

K-Pop artists are very aware that they are, above all, a product that has to be sold. The artists are, for example, filmed a lot, during interviews and talk shows, but also backstage, and they are very mindful of this. This means that the artists are always trying to sell a public, highly commercialized persona. Members of the K-Pop group BTS even refer to these persona’s as their own “characters”.

In Indonesia, the influence of K-Pop has now reached beauty and fashion and, in particular, children’s fashion. Clothing that stems from Korea has recently become very popular, not only because of the popularity of K-Pop artists, but also because the clothing is more affordable than international brands. In the Philippines, Magnum Ice Cream even launched Magnolia K-Pop ice cream due to the influence of K-Pop.

The more integrated fans are in the scene, the more they contribute to the selling

The presence of commodification can also be found in, for example, the selling of the albums with multiple souvenir items. This also shows that the more integrated fans are in the scene, the more they contribute to the selling. The more “hardcore” fans will try to collect all the different collectibles that come with the album, and by doing so, they are spending more and more money on the artists.

On top of that, most K-Pop artists have their own shops where they sell their clothing and merchandise. The more integrated a fan is, the more they will want to consume their favorite artist’s merchandise.

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The K-Pop fandom as outsiders

Although K-Pop is getting more and more popular everyday, and most of its fans can be found all over the Internet at this point, there are some people who are less happy with the increasing success of the K-Pop stars.

On a forum on unpopular opinions about K-Pop, a Reddit user posted that they hate K-Pop and one of the reasons was because of the fandom. They said:

“I also hate the fan base. Just one word of you saying that you hate kpop, they’re gonna say all the mean things to you. Well, MOST of them do. I think they’re too crazy and obsessed towards kpop and they treat it as if it’s the only thing in life. (Well, that’s what I’ve observed)”

The user also expressed their incredulity for the merchandise in the K-Pop industry. They added:

“I think the merch is crazy too. These fans go crazy on the pictures of their Idols on plastic cards and other merch that costs waaaay too much.”

It seems that this hatred is mostly targeted at K-Pop fans on Twitter, as a different user replied saying:

“Twitter is especially intoxicated with their crazy fan base smh”

It is not just Reddit users who speak ill of K-Pop fans. In South-Korean culture, there is even a term for an over-obsessive fan of a Korean idol, known as a sasaeng. In general, sasaengs are known to be female fans who commit illegal crimes in order to get their idol’s attention, such as stalking or stealing.

The K-Pop fandom is only getting bigger and bigger, but this also comes with a lot of criticism from people outside of the fandom. These people do not understand the fans’ norms, customs and habits. They call them crazy and obsessed for spending so much money on collecting merchandise. K-Pop fans can thus also be considered outsiders, as people from outside the fandom consider most of their actions to be strange and abnormal.

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The conclusion

The K-Pop fandom can be seen as a niched culture on Twitter. However, where the Harry Potter fans simply have to have a Harry Potter-related layout and tweet about Harry Potter-related topics to be considered a Harry Potter fan, the construction of identity as a K-Pop fan is a lot more complex and difficult.

First of all, without understanding the terms, names and words that are frequently used by K-Pop fans, you cannot become a full member of the fandom. To become part of this community, you have to have done some type of research first.

There is, however, a large collection of websites and blogs that can help new fans on their way. Not only the vocabulary, but also the presence of traditions and habits that most fans are very loyal to, such as the Selca Days, set the K-Pop fans apart from other fans on Twitter. There might be some people who would like to disagree, but the K-Pop fandom is one of the most powerful fandoms on Twitter because of the mass organized traditions and actions such as the fan projects alo.

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References

Anonymous (2018) BTS Fans “Purple Ribbon Army” Project Gains Applause From Korean Netizens

Becker, H. (1963) Outsiders

Dahir, I. (2018) This BTS Fan Created A Project To Empower Black Fans And People Are Loving It

Gordon, L. (2015) Riding the Korean Wave: How K-Pop, K-Drama and K-Beauty are Influencing Consumers

Maly, I & Varis, P. (2016) The 21st century hipster: on micro-populations in times of super-diversity

Samuelson, H. (2017) The Philosophy of BTS: K-Pop, Pop Art, and the Art of Capitalism

Sun-hwa, D. (2018) When K-Pop superfans turn ugly - the dark side of the Korean pop culture phenomenon, where admiration turns to obsession

Tucci, S. (2016) K-pop A to Z: A beginner’s dictionary

Varis, P. (2016) Digital ethnography

Vertovec, S. (2006) Super-diversity

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