Important Vocabulary for new ARMY

     As BTS ARMY grows, we welcome new ARMY to the fandom. I know in the beginning it can be overwhelming and I want to help in any way I can. There are some terms that we use and things that may confuse you as you get into the fandom as they confused me when I found BTS and joined the fandom later on online. Never be afraid to ask questions because some things we do in ARMY are different than a lot of other Kpop fandoms. I don't claim to be any official authority on this but I learned a lot from OG ARMY on Twitter back when Twitter was a good place for ARMY to share info without all the toxicity that's there now. I kept quiet and took notes and now I try to pass on what I know as I learn more. Here's some terms we use frequently that you should learn.

1. Solo- Solo stans don't like all the members of the group. They take a bias and they only vote and stream for their fave when they are involved and may even participate in sabotage like voting for other groups  or artists to see the members they don't like lose, They make toxic comments like "ARMY doesn't support (member)" or they will call ARMY solos when they get called out for being solos. There are people saying that not all solos are bad but the only ones that are good usually stay out of fandom business and aren't as active in fandom spaces. For example I like Jackson Wang and got into his solo work and no shade but I have no interest in GOT7 and I don't go into their fandom groups and talk about them or other members at all. Solos of BTS members stay in our spaces and intentionally bully and cause trouble. Be aware and block freely to keep the peace.
2. Diet solo- pretends not to be a solo and may not be as vocal about it but will show their full solo colors eventually, puts their fave over the other members but will say they aren't a solo till they are exposed. They will blame ARMY when their bias loses voting and will use terms like "you ARMY" distinguishing themselves from the fandom yet still saying they aren't solos. 
3. Multi stan- someone who stans multiple kpop groups. Supporting multiple groups is not an issue but if you say you stan BTS then you should be prioritizing streaming and voting for them and not leaving when it's voting time and coming back when it's over or voting for your other faves while we work hard for BTS, beware of them sometimes saying "BTS has enough awards so I'm voting for (other group) now because they deserve it" I have seen this way too many times and ARMY votes and supports BTS when BTS is nominated period. 
4. Anti- another term for haters, solos and sasaengs are antis, they engage in fan wars and post rage bait posts to get ARMY involved in fan wars, they invade the privacy of the members and make up excuses for exposing private information just so they can seem popular putting BTS at risk 
5. Manti- usually solos but not always, but they are so extra that they try to demand things from Hybe or Big Hit and complain about how things are done, they may complain about the packaging of 1 member's albums compared to another's or the promos and start campaigns to trend things on Twitter like "Hybe protect (this member or that member)" or make posts demanding things like physical CDs when only digital are available, they try to act like they can do better at the job of promoting and managing the artists than the artist or company themselves 
6. Company Stan-is an insult that antis and solos like to throw at ARMY who listen to other groups within Hybe or when we defend Hybe from solo and anti slander
7. OT7=ARMY- OT7s are ARMY and ARMY is OT7, solos are not ARMY and will put down ARMY and are disrespectful to us. ARMY loves all 7 members of BTS. You can have a bias and still be OT7 and you can not have a bias and be OT7. Both are equal and it's not better or worse not to have a bias and not having a bias doesn't put you above those who do. If you show up for all 7 in voting and streaming and respecting all 7 members you are OT7, there also os no such thing as ARMY Seokjinnies or ARMY pjms - we do NOT combine solo fandom names with ARMY to signify our bias I'm ARMY and my bias is Namjoon I'm not ARMY moonchild 
8. Daesang The highest grand prize awards in South Korean music shows are called daesangs. 
9. Bonsang- The second highest awards in South Korean music shows are bonsangs. Bonsangs are called main prizes and are awarded to many artists. Ex: at the MAMA awards 2024 Jungkook, Tae, and RM all won bonsangs along with several other artists while Jimin won the daesang.
10. Moot- moot is short for mutual friend or mutual follower on social media so the people you follow who also follow you back are your moots and you would be their moot.
11. Nugu- the term nugu or 누구 comes from the phrase "who are you" in Korean or 누구셰요 (nuguseyo) meaning " who is it",  it is used to refer to newer artists, groups and can be a normal term or used in a derogatory manner depending on how you say it 
12. Bias-- bias is the member you feel the most connected to, some people say favorite but I don't use the word favorite because I love all 7 and it sounds too exclusive of the other members to say favorite. 
13. Bias wrecker- Your bias wrecker is the one that always gets under your skin in the best way and grabs your attention from your bias. All of BTS constantly wreck me but Jungkook is my main bias wrecker  
14. Sasaeng- sasanengs are those who engage in extreme behavior as anti-fans and stalkers invading the privacy or violating the privacy of idols. They stalk them in public and private and post pictures and video as well as show up to locations where they are asked not to be like private taping of videos or shows and military discharge locations. Stalking them online and sharing private info is sasaeng behavior as well
15. Kpoppies- This is a term that refers to the rest of kpop fans as a whole outside of a particular fandom. ARMY in my opinion uses it to refer to the rest of kpop because BTS and ARMY are often left out of conversations despite being the biggest global group and fandom in the industry. Kpoppies can be derogatory or not depending on use. 
16. Member focused accounts- Member focused accounts are accounts that only post about 1 member but are not solos. It can be hard sometimes to determine if they are solos or not but with some checking the accounts and word choices they use when posting you can figure it out. If not ask other knowledgeable ARMY to check it out for you. Member focused accounts are good for getting pics and video of the members and usually good at providing updates on specific members. 

     Hope these definitions help you with understanding things as you get used to conversations within the fandom and in fandom spaces. If I think of any more I will add to this later.

BTS Members RM, V, Jungkook and Jimin Complete Military Service

      After a long wait, BTS's RM (Kim Namjoon), V (Kim Taehyung), Jimin (Park Jimin) and Jungkook (Jeon Jungkook) have completed their mandatory service in the South Korean military. Members Jin (Kim Seokjin) and J-Hope (Jung Hoeseok) have already served and were discharged June 12, 2024 and October 17, 2024 respectively. The final member to be discharged, Suga aka Agust D (Min Yoongi),  will be discharged on June 21. Suga has been enlisted the longest due to his social service assignment. 

     ARMY, BTS's strong loyal fan base waited patiently on the streets near the Hybe building to catch a glimpse of the guys as they arrived to the company on both days of discharge (RM and V on June 10 and Jungkook and Jimin on June 11). Many more fans tuned in online to watch the press conference from Chuncheon. Hybe and BigHit sent out a memo to the fan base via Weverse app and advised as they have in the past that fans are not to come to the sites where members are being discharged for security reasons and asked that fans stay away from the site and "convey warm regards and encouragement" in their hearts. ARMY did just that by gathering at Hybe, hosting online watch parties, gathering on social media and waiting for the return of 4 more of the 7 members total to return and waiting on Suga as well. 

     Though the final location where the members were meeting up to meet the press was not formally announced to fans, fake fans seeking internet clout including a Brazilian delegation led by a travel agent called Bom Dia Coreia on Instagram, showed up to the site at Chuncheon against Hybe's memo rules and squatted outside of the gates to live stream and stalk the members. They do this for internet attention to get likes and follows and get paid on their monetized accounts. They have since locked down their pages and gone private after being called out for such inappropriate behavior. The press fed their disrespectful actions and allowed them to stay. They returned the next day for Jungkook and Jimin's release and proceeded to scream disrespectfully while the members were conveying messages to the media and ARMY who were watching online. At one point during the broadcast you could see security getting visibly annoyed at the crowd who wasn't supposed to be there anyway. One particularly odd group showed up wearing all black both days as if they were attending a funeral. Sources say they are called anti-fans and the reason they attended in such dreary costumes is still unclear. 

     ARMY online flooded social media with love for all members on their release days and well wishes for the future. RM and V touched ARMY's hearts with their goofy antics. RM showed up playing his saxophone wearing sunglasses to complete the look from the Squirtle meme that went viral and left skipping holding onto V. V displayed his Tata mic innocent face while delivering his speech. Both went on a live stream later on separately to greet ARMY. RM spoke of his struggles and plans for the future and V vibed to some music in one of his trademark short streams that typically last less than 15 minutes.

     Jimin and Jungkook were discharged the day after RM and V as they had served together in the same unit. Both looked happy and healthy as they showed up to speak to the press at Chuncheon. Live streams of the moment were plagued with buffering and loud sasaengs screaming during the speech so ARMY had to rely on online ARMY translators later to convey the message from the two maknaes. Later on they did a joint live stream where they also ate and discussed future plans. Both seemed in good spirits and full of giggles in a room full of flowers and balloons celebrating their return.

     Next up ARMY eagerly awaits the return of Min Yoongi who will be discharged on June 21. Suga's discharge from military service will make BTS whole again as BTS is seven members and the second oldest member and one of the 3 rappers will be back. Suga has been gone the longest due to his assignment to social service in the military. He was assigned social service duty in order to protect his shoulder (which was injured years ago in a car accident) from further damage after having had surgery on it in 2020. Social service assignments last 21 months compared to other assignments that are usually 18 months. 

What's With The Recent Mass Bullying in Kpop?

      About two months ago, we BTS ARMY were in the trenches fighting for Yoongi during the scooter incident. He dropped a scooter on its side, a kick board scooter with a seat like teens ride in the US. This was not a motorcycle or Vespa type but a lightweight little scooter. Not rehashing everything here but we ARMY fought Korean media who set out to destroy Yoongi's reputation with lies and misinformation (things I'm convinced they knew were lies but ran with anyway not anticipating the power of ARMY to call them out on it.) We fought and we protected Yoongi the best way we could and we did that alone.

   Other Kpop fandoms either went silent offering no sympathy or they participated in the hate train against him making things worse. You see, I haven't forgotten the malicious fake ARMY TikToks they did encouraging drunk driving and pretending it was ARMY posting them. I haven't forgotten the pictures taken from Pinterest and the hashtags they trended on Twitter creating a fake Suga challenge. When Yoongi was being bullied and having death threats and wreaths sent and having fake forums set up online with fake fans pushing for him to leave the group, they didn't reach out. They didn't band together to shout loud for us. They joined in and laughed in our faces. Like bullies do. 

     "ARMY only has BTS and BTS only has ARMY" we said as we re-charted Agust D songs and made block lists to keep negativity off the timeline. We did a K-media blackout and forced some agencies to apologize (however half-assed these so called apologies were). Banners of support were put in front of Hybe and all over from International ARMYs showing love and support for Yoongi. A few individual celebrities showed support and Coldplay's massive fanbase of Coldplayers offered support and encouragement as did Brazilian Beehive. We got nothing from kpoppies but we didn't expect anything anyway so it came as no surprise. One thing we did say was this bullying is a major issue and if it can happen to us (BTS/ARMY) it can happen to you too (other Kpop groups). 

     Fast forward to now. We're right back in the trenches again. A whole new wave of hate trains started and it feels like deja vu with a little 'I told you so' thrown in. A mass malicious campaign to kick Seunghan out of Riize took place and however things went down, he's no longer an official member of the group. The same thing haters and (probably paid) malicious actors tried to do to Yoongi happened to Riize. Seunghan didn't do anything wrong to be kicked out and neither did Yoongi for them to call for his dismissal. But this mass bullying "worked" because SM didn't stand behind their artist. 

    Riize fans have called for ARMY to help and ARMYs have shared petitions and shared hashtags in support. I made a comment the other day that I was staying silent though I agree he was treated unfairly and I wish the best for him in the future. Funny how ARMY is accused if being so toxic but when other fandoms need help some ARMY are willing to lend a hand despite not getting anything in return. I said I would stay in my lane and be quiet but something else happened to change my mind.

     As I watched the rest of Kpop support Riize, including some ARMY. The hate train shifted back to Yoongi. Why? It's been two months. His case is over. He paid an unfair fine and it's done. Well the haters figure they got rid of a Riize member so they're coming at BTS again. Well Hybe isn't SM and neither is Big Hit. BTS owns their company so Yoongi isn't going anywhere. ARMY is back in the trenches standing up for Yoongi as always. BTS is 7 and will ALWAYS be 7. 

     Haters sent funeral wreaths to intimidate Seunghan. This is a malicious practice of bullying that is somehow a trend in South Korea now where Kpop is concerned. Sending death wreaths as if to say 'you're dead' or 'your career is dead'is the way hate is expressed by cowardly bullies who hide their faces behind medical masks as they send giant funeral wreaths with taunting statements on them attached to ribbons adorning the flowers. These are floral arrangements meant for sending condolences to families of the deceased. They left the wreaths up so he could see them as he left the building. How this is allowed and tolerated in South Korean society, one that already has a high suicide rate, I have no idea. You would think this kind of intimidation and bullying would be punished. I mean you fall off a scooter and they call for your head on a silver platter but sending death threats in the form of funeral flowers is fine. God forbid you have a relationship as a Kpop idol but death threats in the form of funeral flowers is fine apparently. I saw a video where fans had left supportive messages for Seunghan and he got the chance to read them and that hit my heart some kind of way. I'm glad he was able to see that and I hope it drowns out all the hate. 

   The funeral wreath bullying came back to Hybe. The people who did it were caught on camera because they had the audacity to stay onsite at Hybe with the wreaths. They were boo'ed by International ARMYs as ARMY made sure to stand their ground and show love and support for all 7 of BTS particularly Yoongi who is the target of these haters. Food trucks and message trucks helped overshadow the negativity of the disgusting wreaths. ARMY wearing purple and carrying purple ribbons chanted the 7 members names known as a fan chant and calmly protested against haters in front of Hybe. ARMY on social media made memes and TikToks sharing support and thanks for ARMY that was available at Hybe to represent the fandom. They also shared the footage of the bullies so people will know somewhat who is behind this malicious behavior. Threads ARMY as well as Twitter ARMY reported as much as we could to the new Hybe portal. 

     As we went about reporting accounts we found out that there were other attacks supposedly planned against Enhyphen and Shinee. I don't listen to any of these other groups but at this point that is irrelevant. I'm ARMY only but the more I heard about this the angrier I got. I don't want to see anyone get hurt no matter what group they are from and this now feels like it is bigger than just a bunch of brainless antis. This seems like a coordinated attack and someone in the industry is behind it. Several lines have long since been crossed and exorbitant amounts of money have been shelled out for these very expensive funeral wreaths. They can go for about $4k each! There were multiple wreaths lined up side by side totaling possibly over $20k and up for a whole line of them. I don't think the average hater sitting behind a computer has that kind of money to flush down the toilet. I know they do some fundraising but, are there enough of them to have raised about $20k plus in a few days to pay for all these wreaths? I don't know. It's possible but in my opinion not as likely.

     I have a theory that seems to be one shared a bit certain social sites. My theory is that Min Hee-Jin or MHJ is behind this. It's just an opinion at this time, a theory. She is the former manager (who knows what is going on with that messy situation but as far as I know I will say former manager) of NewJeans who has beef with pretty much all of Kpop right now. She has several lawsuits going on with Hybe, Belift, and Source music. You can read all about it here because this article sums up the drama better than I could. She wants to destroy BTS because apparently she thinks Bang PD stole the idea for BTS from her. This is a pattern that will continue and sounds like narcissistic behavior to me. She has openly stated that she will use whatever she can to bring about their downfall and will use whatever media she can even if the stories are not true. This makes me speculate that the whole scooter incident was possibly a setup. It's not unfathomable that someone she hired tailed Yoongi after work when he went out with his colleagues in the service and this person knew he was drinking and called the police giving his location and saying that he had been drinking. He was followed by those cops as we see on the video. They didn't just appear out of thin air. 

   MHJ used to work for SM as a creative director. Both Riize and Shinee (ok just noticed the names, trying not to giggle because that's cute) are with SM Entertainment. I don't know the circumstances of her leaving SM but Google says burnout which seems a little bland to me. Not downplaying burnout because it is a real thing but I doubt that's why. Other rumors are that there was an issue with the concept she was planning for a girl group and her concept was rejected by higher ups and they decided to focus on developing NCT. This is just a rumor and not confirmed. But if this is the case then she may be trying to get revenge on SM's boy groups. Her thinking seems to be that she does no wrong and everyone else just takes from her.

     Riize was targeted by hate trains to get rid of Seunghan who was on "hiatus" for having had a girlfriend prior to becoming a member (as far as I know). Another dumb reason to kick someone out of a group. I mean to be real SM has a dirty history with how they treat their talent and they also have had criminals in their midst that have seen and hopefully will see jail time for actual crimes. To kick someone out for dating is just stupid. It may sound harsh but in the rest of the world, like Yoongi's scooter mishap, this wouldn't have even raised eyebrows. After the hate campaign, Seunghan was removed from the group. According to fans of Shinee they are the being targeted next on the list with haters going after Onew. I don't know the details of why the hate train is coming for him and Shinee but it doesn't even matter because none of this makes any sense. By that I mean it's all just hate for hate's sake and none of the reasons will make sense because none of these artists deserve this at all. There's no way to justify any of this at all.

     The targeted hate trains are going after Enhyphen as well. There are two members of Enhyphen they are planning to target to get them kicked out of their groups. I have no idea why they would want to kick them out either but Enhyphen is with Belift Labs which is the same company that Illit is with. Belift is suing MHJ due to her allegations of plagiarism against Illit. See the pattern now? Everyone according to her has stolen choreography or concepts or something or other from her. I hope all these other fandoms fight back and fight back hard and smart and I hope these other companies actually stand behind their artists and won't let haters win in their bullying. 

     MHJ's karma is coming. Whether she is behind this particular shit storm of events or not she has done enough. She made he bed and now she has to lie in it. Hybe will have their hands full dealing with what's to come with her and I hope they make all the right decisions there and don't try to be lenient with any punishments to her or anyone else involved with interfering, bullying, or attempted sabotage of other groups. 

     What can we do? There are petitions going around and they can be effective if used the right way. I will link the one I signed. The hope is that the media will see the petitions (I guess by scrolling through the site? ) and articles will be written and these causes will be brought to the attention of the people who need to see them. Ideally since this one is really gaining traction and has over 10k signatures now, someone on the South Korean side would take the petition and print it out with all of the signatures and comments. It needs to be formally presented to people who make laws so they can see that there is a global interest in ending the use of these funeral wreaths as a bullying tactic. They also need to know that this is an issue bringing negative attention to the country and how it is perceived globally. Allowing these people be bullied , publicly shamed, and sent death threats is wrong. Here is the link to the petition if anyone wants to sign. It can't hurt to try. 

     Idols are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect. If you don't like an artist it takes nothing to mind your own business and keep scrolling. Focus on what you do like without trashing other artists who are also working hard to make it in a difficult industry. I never understood hateful culture of anti-fans. Idols should be able to date in peace without being kicked out of the group for it or dropped by their label. A very minor mistake like Yoongi's riding on a scooter after having a few drinks (a little kick board scooter) should be forgiven and don't warrant calls to be forced out of the group. No one thinks of what this does to a person's self-esteem and mental health. Losing a career can be devastating and haters sitting behind a computer and hiding behind a mask shouldn't get to ruin people's lives while the public closes their eyes to bullying.

***Media: Check out this video starting at 9:24 for more info on the Min Hee Jin/ Belift/ Source Music drama 

Asian Entertainment and Culture YouTube 

Beware of Blue Checks

      Blue checks used to mean something good on social media. I used to be a sign that you were on an official page for a celebrity or public figure and that what was posted was coming from that person or their team. For less famous people with blue checks it meant that they had achieved some kind of status symbol, clout, that meant that they had arrived somehow at being popular enough for a verified seal on their account confirming that that account was their official one. That was all cool until Elon Musk came to Twitter with his fascist views and unhinged unstable behavior causing advertisers and users to leave in droves. In order to try to keep users and advertisers on board and make back some of the money he was losing, he decided to charge for blue check verification as a subscription and open it up to anyone and everyone. To get a blue check all you had to do was subscribe to a monthly paid plan. This is when things started going way down hill and they haven't stopped tumbling yet.

     Because people bought the hype and started paying for Twitter and getting blue checks, there is no longer any real credibility on any social media sites for celebrity accounts. Impersonators use celebrity names in their display name and get blue check subscriptions on not only Twitter but Instagram,Threads, and Facebook now. Because Twitter started it and it worked, all of the other major social media sites followed suit and offered the same thing, paid verification. Public figures have to constantly put out notices advising users not to fall for scams using their names because now that anyone can use the name and put a blue check beside it, you don't really know if an account really is the celebrity you think it is. You can't even always go by how many followers they have now because if 1M people fall for the same fake account then that account has 1M followers despite being fake. Platforms don't really do much anymore when you report impersonators. I have reported more BTS impersonation accounts  on Threads/ Instagram than I can count and I don't think a single one was ever taken down. Hybe/Big Hit put out a statement recently on X/Twitter advising ARMY to beware of impersonation accounts. There are official lists made by ARMY on X/Twitter and Threads that point out the real BTS accounts. BTS doesn't have any individual accounts for members on X/Twitter (just a joint account and Big Hit official account) and none of the members nor Hybe nor Big Hit is on Threads at all as of the writing of this post. 

     Beyond just getting to seem like a celebrity, having a blue check provides you with incentives like supposed better customer service if your account gets hacked. Twitter offers longer posts to blue check holders by allowing them more characters, the ability to edit posts, supposedly a better reach meaning posts guaranteed to be shown to more people on the app and the most diabolical of all incentives- pay for play with regard to engagement. Now I'm not saying that creators, editors, shouldn't be paid for their content. People who use it for good are fine. The blue checked ARMY accounts who got checks to protect their accounts from hacking (if that even really works) or to get more characters so you can make longer posts without having to break them into several threads, that 's all understandable. They subscribe for valid reasons. I'm not knocking those choices because that'a a legit reason to get a blue check. The issue I have is the misuse due to monetization incentives.

     On Threads you can qualify for the Threads Bonus Program. I believe the criteria is you have to have 1000 followers or more on Instagram and decent engagement according to IG. Not sure how many you have to have on Threads to qualify. Once you get into the program you are paid based on posts on Threads as long as they stay within the guidelines of Threads, IG, Meta. This has led to the same thing with blue checked troll accounts on Threads seeking engagement through manipulative means like the ones on Twitter. On Twitter, BTS related posts get bombarded with troll spam comments from blue check trolls. You can tell they aren't ARMY because they often are footballer bro squad types with Ronaldo or some footballer as their profile picture or memes as their profile pic. They go under posts about BTS that are popular and say rude things in order to rile up ARMY into commenting back to them. The comment equals engagement and if they get enough of that - the comments , good or bad, they get paid. They will play the evil role of making hateful comments to make ARMY mad enough to comment back or some will pretend to be interested in BTS and will ask questions or make praising comments that are fake just so they can get ARMY to comment something positive back because all comments count towards their paycheck. In my opinion fake baiting positive comments are manipulative too so I steer clear if something looks fishy because I've seen people pander to ARMY to get attention then just when they have a ton of ARMY attention they turn on BTS and ARMY.  They get pulled into fan wars or get attention from other fandoms who want them to listen to and promote their guys. We've seen this happen with "reactors" on YouTube. 

     The other side of this is the blue check rage bait paid accounts. They make whole threads that are engagement bait hoping to get people angry so they will argue and the poster will get paid based on views and comments likes and shares. These are the people posting rude things like, "which fandom is the most toxic" and "which member of BTS is the hottest?" (seemingly innocent question but put out to make people argue about their looks and draw solos and visual stans into confrontation with OT7. ARMY is the largest most active fandom and these trolls know it. They use ARMY for engagement. The person posting the last question wasn't even ARMY and the first question was a set up to get fan wars started in their comment section. Trolls think that hiding their IG link will stop people from going to their IG to check them out. Well I will still go and sometimes that is the most telling of all. Asking questions to ARMY to get engagement when you stan another group and never mention BTS or don't follow them on IG is a giant red flag to me. Threads says they are looking at ways to combat engagement bait posts but I will believe it when I see it. 

   When you see posts like this it should be an instant block. I know I have caught myself responding before but I am reminding myself to stay focused and just block. Don't pay their bills by commenting. Don't quote to make a comment, don't re-share, don't screenshot to discuss because all of these things count as engagement. It's best to ignore. If you see a page that's claiming to be Big Hit, Hybe, or any member of BTS on Threads and it is blue checked, as of now it is fake. In the future always ask other ARMY or look for the official list (which I will post on the information page on this blog). If something seems suspect like you are suddenly seeing bait posts, swipe "not interested" and block. There are several accounts that don't have blue checks that still do the bait post for engagement thing hoping to get likes and follows. Just avoid it at all costs and resist the urge to comment. Trust me I know the urge to clap back is strong and I have fallen for it myself but taking a breath and not giving these accounts what they want is better than telling them to f -off. 

      

Correcting Misinformation: Photos and Videos

     This past week we celebrated the 30th birthday of our Bangtan leader Kim Namjoon aka RM. It was nice to see the timeline full of support for him and seeing the feed full of positivity. There were touching tributes thanking him for saving ARMYs from difficult times, the usual thirst posts praising this handsome man (not complaining because Namjoon is gorgeous), lots of really cool fan art, and video clips remembering moments from the past. I think one of my favorite of those is the birthday when he was spinning around in the chair and he accidentally blew out the candles on his cake. He's so funny. He's my bias and I didn't think I could come up with anything to say on Threads so I just posted my birthday reel that I do for all of the guys' birthdays and I left him 2 short messages on Weverse wishing him a happy birthday. 

     Over all everything was cool until I started to notice several people using the wrong photos of him in their posts. They were using a picture of Lim Hyunshik from BTOB that they got from Pinterest or Facebook groups (BTS Facebook groups are notorious for spreading misinformation so if you are on there please be aware of this). It was annoying because how do you call yourself an ARMY, which to me is beyond just being a regular fan, and post how much you love a member of your ult group and post the wrong picture of them as a child in your birthday tribute?

      I politely informed a few of the posters that they had the wrong picture up and informed them of who they had posted incorrectly. The first person I informed deleted her post hours later and let me know she deleted it. That's how these things should go. I made a post on my Threads account asking ARMY not to use that picture and I posted the photo of Hyunshik with a side by side of him wearing the same thing as an adult as he recreated the picture of himself as a child. I thought that was common sense enough to show that it was not Namjoon. The second person I commented to didn't get it at first and proceeded to go back and forth with me over it. That's when I realized what a real problem this is.

      Because they got the picture from Pinterest, they thought that anything pulled up on Pinterest is somehow automatically legit. Pinterest is used by many as a search engine, is it not? Well the thing is, all of these search engines are run by AI and AI is trained using the information fed into it by humans. This happens whether you intentionally add to it or not. The internet uses all kinds of content to feed AI. This user on Threads showed me the screenshot where she had put "Namjoon baby pictures" (or something to that effect) into the search on Pinterest and the first pic that shows up is this one of Hyunsik. She was adamant that it was Namjoon because that is what she was shown. I asked her to search "Hyunsik of BTOB" and see if it comes up and sure enough the picture not only showed up but it showed up where other people had made posts saying "this is not Namjoon this is Hyunsik." That's when she got it and acknowledged that the picture was mislabeled when she found it. 

     When you tag a picture, caption it, or otherwise label it as someone or something that it is not, the searches are going to show it as that (if enough people do it). There are so many people who have wrongly listed this picture as Namjoon that when I reverse search it using Google Lens I have to scroll past at least 10 to 15 links from all across the internet until I get to one that mentions Hyunsik. That's pretty bad because all over YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, X/ Twitter and everywhere else this pic is being put out there as Namjoon and even the corrections are being ignored. I saw one where the person being corrected by a member of BTOB fandom says to them that Namjoon confirmed that it was him (giant eye roll). Why are people like this? You know if someone took the pic of Namjoon in the bumper car with his dad wearing coveralls or the one where he was rollerskating in the Mickey Mouse tee (his actual baby/child photos) and insisted over and over that it was say, a member of EXO, ARMY would flip out. Don't be that embarrassing ARMY that can't pick your ults out in a lineup. It's a bad look and spreading misinformation makes it harder for other newer ARMY to learn things and have the proper information. 

     There is another picture that goes around from time to time as Jungkook and that isn't him either. This picture is of Hongseok from Pentagon. Once again I called out the person posting this months ago on Threads and I told them this was not Jungkook. They proceeded to argue and when I asked for a source they gave Facebook which is not a valid source when people ask where you got something. Always provide a link. The official BTS Facebook is valid but a Facebook group or fan page is not. I told them they were wrong and provided a link I found to the photographer's X/ Twitter page where they still had this photo shoot listed proving this was Hongseok and not Jungkook. They argued that it was an edit. Why would anyone edit the pic? None of the arguments made sense and all were irrelevant once I showed proof. Blocked. Once again this is disrespectful to Jungkook and to Hongseok who deserves to be credited in his photos as himself. It's a beautiful photo shoot altogether and he's a beautiful man. He deserves to be credited properly. 

Hongseok of Pentagon 

     Mislabeling and wrongly crediting photos to an artist is one thing. Some people sharing them have no idea because others are lying to them about who these people are so they can get attention to their accounts from having "exclusive" photos no one else has (by labeling the wrong ones as BTS). Intentionally sharing photoshopped, AI generated photos is a whole other fight in dealing with misinformation. 

     The issue there is that people can't tell when a picture has been faked with AI or run through apps for AI or photoshopped. Some AI photos are blurry around the outline or the shadows are all wrong. The easiest giveaway for me is when the fingers are all messed up (multiple fingers or mangled or missing) and the writing is faked or not legible (sometimes AI fakes language by trying to sort of blend letters in multiple languages together and it creates an illegible mess). Then there are the real photos that people feed into apps like Rimini (I think that is the name) and they ruin perfectly good pictures of idols by adding crappy makeup or facial "flaw" editing to them. These are the pics usually that have Taehyung with double lids on both eyes and same with Namjoon when ARMY knows Tae and Jin both have one mono lid eye and one double lid eye and both of Namjoon's eyelids are mono lids. 

     Besides adding makeup and giving the guys unnecessary cosmetic changes, I have seen people splicing members of two different groups together to make a sort of hybrid. This is next level weird to me. I scroll the timeline and see a photo of a BTS member with features added from someone else from another group and ask how do people have time for this nonsense? A while ago there was a fake Jimin photo going around with him in military clothes sitting in a room. The background kind of looked like a hotel though which would be odd because he was deployed. Looking at the face though, I knew something was wrong with it. Jimin is hot and this version just looked weird and over done. I used Google Lens to reverse search the photo and I found out why. It was a photo of Kai from EXO that had his face mixed with Jimin and photoshopped. The stupid things people do on the internet for attention never cease to amaze and disgust me at the same time. I think the person posting that one blocked me for correcting them because they had tons of engagement from posting the picture and when faced with taking it down they decided to leave it up because most of the comments were praising Jimin. That's fine, I shared the original to show that it was faked. 

     There are also videos being spread that are not BTS and are being labeled or captioned as the members. There's one that started on TikToK as a joke saying the baby Jackie Chan was in a movie with looked like Tae. Some one started spreading it with the caption cut and said it was Tae. Nevermind that Tae was a teenager when the movie came out. Because Jackie Chan did the Simvest promos with Tae they took a movie clip and lied about it being him for likes. Just don't spread things without fact checking. If you ask for a source and the poster ignores you ask other ARMYs or look it up yourself.

     Have you ever used Google Lens? It can be a good app to use to get information whether you are looking for a item you saw somewhere and want to buy it, looking to find out if a photo is real or AI, or looking to see if a photo has been improperly tagged as someone else. Google Lens is available in the Google Playstore and Apple app store. Download the app and to reverse search a picture in the app you open the app and it takes you to your photo gallery. Click on the picture you want to search and Lens looks for it. It pulls up searches from across the internet where that photo was found. You may have to scroll a bit to find the proper information due to misinformation but do your research. Look for legit sites and check with knowledgeable ARMYs for confirmation or clarity. Lens doesn't always work though. Sometimes I get messages saying it's hard to identify people or a bunch of totally unrelated things. Most of the time, I get enough to work with to find out if something is real or not though. If you doubt that something is real (ex AI pics) or think it may be tagged as the wrong person but you can't confirm it, don't share it. It's that simple.

     There's always a reason why I try to correct misinformation. It's not to be mean or seem like I know everything because I will be the first to admit that I don't and I'm still learning every day. How are we going to have knowledgeable new ARMYs that enjoy the fandom if they keep getting fed lies and "jokes" that no one is in on except clout chasers? Correcting things now means not having to do it later. Correcting it now means not embarrassing the fandom when the boys come back with viral posts or pics that aren't them tagged/captioned as them. We can do better. 

How To Vote When Multiple BTS Members Are Nominated

  There has been some drama this week over voting and we need to address it and get this covered before we roll into end of the year voting. The issue of how we should collectively be voting when there are multiple BTS members nominated is what is causing arguments within ARMY. When you break it down it all comes down to math, basic math, nothing complicated. It’s not rocket science and I feel like constantly having the same conversation gets exhausting for those of us that get it. Name calling of OT7’s being called solos and antis because they disagree and can actually see the big picture will not be tolerated. Trust and believe you will be blocked and we will keep it moving. 

     When we are voting and multiple BTS members are nominated, the first day or so should be the day you vote for whomever you want. Rankings will be evident after the first day. I’m going to use the current September birthday voting on MNet as the example here because that’s what prompted this post though we have been going through this a lot, especially in chapter 2. Right now Jungkook and RM are both nominated as they both have September birthdays (Sept 1 and Sept 12 respectively). So Jungkook has been on top with Plave bouncing back and forth with him vying for the top spot. RM has been in 3rd place. Jungkook and Plave both have about 35% of the vote as of today (9/10) and RM has 7%. This is NOT rocket science. Hell, this isn’t even freshman algebra. Common sense says you vote for Jungkook if you expect BTS to win at all. I said what I said. As an RM bias, yes it does suck but that’s the way it is. Being OT7 means you do not always get to vote for your bias. Voting for RM means giving up votes that could go to JK while Plave will move forward off of those lost votes. RM has too much ground to make up to get from 7% to 35% + of the vote. He would need to have more than 35% to surpass both JK and Plave. To move from 3rd place to 1st takes more effort than moving from 2nd to 1st or maintaining 1st. 

     Properly addressing the elephant in the room would really take a whole other post and I really don’t have the words or time for all of it but, to touch on the issue a bit right now I will just say it. This fandom has too many diet solos who don’t get that having a bias does NOT mean you ignore other members for ANY reason. By diet solos, I mean people who consider themselves ARMY but don’t ride for all 7. I’m a Namjoon /RM bias. Do you have any idea how hard it is to see him constantly at the bottom of all these votings? All the shitty excuses I see people using for not wanting to stream for him but will call themselves ARMY? All the thirsty comments that we giggle and “teehhee” at but at the end of the day more than enough of the people making them are just attention seekers because if all of them streamed and voted he wouldn’t constantly be on the bottom. Have you noticed how we hardly ever struggle when a maknae or vocal line member is up for awards but when it’s hyung line we fight and it’s always the same ARMYs I see kicking ass to stream, vote, and otherwise support hyung line.. Those same ARMYs do the same for vocal line as well, consistently. These are the ones getting called solos for having more than an ounce of common sense. 

     Choeaedol did a September birthday vote at the beginning of the month. The same situation occurred  with RM and JK. RM finished 5th. Fifth! Jungkook lost to Plave, so he was second. Now theoretically since Jungkook’s birthday is gone, we should have been voting on MNet for RM because his birthday is after JK’s. I guess we aren’t as organized a fandom as we used to be or as logical thinking. I don’t know. Just my opinion. So here we are. On MNet for this vote you get 12 votes per day. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be winning this outright. Don’t split the vote.

    Why is this important? Because it goes beyond birthday votes and if we can’t get it together for a simple birthday vote ad on an app then what does that mean for end of the year voting. End of the year voting is important because this is where daesang awards (group of the year, artist of the year, etc) are won and lost. We have so much competition and with fandoms often teaming up against BTS to win, buying votes on Twitter, cheating with VPN’s, and playing manipulative psychological games like guilt tripping (cosplaying as ARMY multis and saying they choose another group to vote for because BTS has enough awards and to let someone else win) we don’t need to be divided over this. 

      Last year there was an end of the year vote on Choeaedool that was for best male artist (I believe that was the category-best male artist or best male vocalist).  V, Jungkook, and Jimin were all nominated. After the first day or 2 of voting, Jimin was in the lead out of BTS, Jungkook and Tae were further down. It was obvious that we needed to put our votes behind Jimin to win. Kang Daniel was the main rival for first place. We kept telling ARMYs to vote for Jimin and not to split the vote because all 3 will lose if the vote is split. Same situation where making up the ground between 4th or 5th place takes more work than going from 2nd to 1st or just maintaining 1st on a daily basis with consistent votes. We lost to Kang Daniel because people didn’t listen and continued to split the vote all the way down to the last day. Being stubborn and not listening to more knowledgeable ARMY does nothing to help BTS and that’s why we are all here. Not for our individual egos (I hope so because I’m here for BTS). It hurt to watch an end of the year award slip away like that.                       

     In conclusion, let’s use these smaller voting opportunities to practice voting and for those newer to voting to get used to it before the end of the year awards come up. Before I joined ARMY online, I didn’t know anything about voting for awards. In the US we only have MTV awards and Billboard that are voted on (besides Nickelodeon -do they still do that?). Everything else is decided by an exclusive panel of judges. You don’t know who they are unless they say they are on a panel. This is why Grammy's are so all over the place because the people who consume the music aren’t the ones making the decisions on who they think should win or and have no say in who is nominated. With K-Pop it’s different and voting to win awards is ARMYs love language with BTS to show them that we are here for them. With BTS enlisted and not returning to us as a full team till the end of June 2025, it’s highly important now that we show our support. Awards help us do that, even smaller ones.

Threads Is Not Twitter, Let's Keep It That Way

 TW: talking about things that have happened on Twitter so I feel like I may need a TW for self-harm, suicide, cyberbullying

 This week’s post is somewhat of an extension of last week’s post in that I want to discuss my thoughts on Twitter and Threads. They are two different apps and I feel like the influx of new users (and some older ones) on Threads don’t get that. I made a post on September 2nd in the morning reflecting my thoughts because I scrolled and saw three posts nearly in a row that would never have been there on ARMY Threads six months ago. Two were fan war starters and I was like, “nope, I'm definitely saying something,” so I did. The first comments were in agreement then came the noobs (new ARMY accounts that haven't been on the app longer than six months). Some of them seem to be the ones causing drama or excusing the drama. I was told I should go try Blue Sky if I wanted a “clean” app. I don't expect any social media to be “clean” whatever that means. I do expect ARMY to do better though, and if you call yourself ARMY you should want to do better. We don't do fan wars. Certainly not ones we start by saying “I hate (insert fandoms)” and proceed to post screenshots of hate tweets from X/Twitter or “proof” the fandom is trash based on one person acting maliciously. We keep it in the group chats and not out in the open instigating arguments. 

     Threads came to be a year ago in July 2023 in response to Twitter being taken over by Elon Musk who ran the platform downhill fast. The shit show that Twitter became under Musk is all his doing. I was on the app and I followed people who worked for Twitter/X that lost their jobs. They explained that things were going to get a lot worse before they ever got better. I watched as security that handled protecting people from abuse became pretty much non-existent. Then there were the glitches or so called glitches where users couldn’t post or could only like a set number of posts per day or over a 24 to 48 hour period and were restricted from then on. Rumor was that if you paid/subscribed to Twitter Blue (I think that was the name of it) then you could like more posts and comment more without restriction. So Musk decided to start trying to push users into payment plans/subscription tiers in order to have a better user experience on the app. I wasn’t paying for that. Not when an app that I used to enjoy decided that “free speech” (read: hate speech) was allowed unless it was directed towards Musk or anyone he defends.  So for a while I bounced back and forth between Twitter (which also went through a name change to X but no one calls it that) and Threads. 

     I learned the best things from Twitter ARMY and I also have seen the worst bullying that I have ever seen in my life happen on Twitter. The thing is all the crap is not worth wading through to get to the good part for me. I will never forget how kpoppies all came together in a mostly fake show of solidarity the day Moonbin passed away. I stayed out of the conversations surrounding mental health because to be honest, they were largely performative and it made me sick to my stomach to see some of these fandoms pretend to give a shit when they put people in the hospital or grave by bullying. Suddenly fandoms who photoshopped BTS members with self-harm marks, celebrated the death of cancer victims who were family members of ARMY or artists who worked with BTS, and mass shooting victims who were ARMY or friends of BTS, and doxxed others to put their info on porn sites gave a shit about mental health? Yeah spare me the fakeness. I would find out just how fake the "mental health matters" posts were less than 24 hours later.

     Another vile part of Twitter is all the solos, antis, shippers and all manner of weirdos who can’t bother to be normal fans of all the members of BTS. Solos are antis who hate all members except the one or two they stan. They are akgaes. They leave traps sometimes in order to start fights or they will go fishing for like minded solos to join their side of fandom, the dark pathetic side. Nothing wrong with having a bias because that’s not the same thing. You can be OT7 and have a bias like I do or just not have a bias at all. Solos openly express hate for all other members except their favorite. They stan the one member and not the group and will go as far as to exclude other members from their streaming and consuming of content.

     That being said, the day after Moonbin passed, I was on Twitter and some J-Hope anti made a post excluding J-Hope. I didn’t realize it was an anti account and don’t remember who they were a solo of. I didn’t realize it was a set up post either. It was set up to bait people like me who are OT7 into arguments. The screen name suggested they were a BTS fan because they used a member’s name and something else -maybe they had a little seven in the name too (a lot of us do including some fake ARMY). Seeing this post, I quote tweeted them and said something harmless like “Don’t forget Hobi.” Apparently that triggered an alarm for them to bring out the psycho bitches and out they came. I was getting comments like, “Go die,” “kill yourself.” and I was called stupid when I responded trying to figure out what all of this was about and I spelled a word wrong. I was so done with these losers. All this vitriol because they were downplaying a member of the group I thought we both were stans of. I realized after looking through their account that I had been played by antis. I took the bait and they came to chew me up and spit me out. I blocked the ones commenting but reported them first (of course nothing happened to their accounts because it’s Twitter, they don’t protect you from bullies anymore). Then, I ran a nuke block on everyone engaging with that post (nuke block was a site where you put in the URL of the tweet or link to it and it blocked everyone who liked it). I was so upset I took 48 hours or so off of Twitter. I logged out and stayed off. So much for everyone coming together the day before to advocate for mental health awareness and being kind to one another. Such bullshit. 

     I did some research when I got back online and the person running that account turned out to be a guy from India posing as a girl who pretends to like BTS. He has multiple accounts for rival fandoms who are always in ARMY business bullying ARMY. Makes sense. His IG account gave him away. I blocked him on all of my IG accounts and from that point further, I engaged less and less with anyone’s Twitter accounts. Not that I got that much engagement there anyway. It says something when you comment on a post or make a post and you get the notification that someone responded and you cringe a little because you automatically anticipate that it's some troll or some anti coming to your comments to be a jerk. You kind of develop a bit of anxiety about commenting or getting comments back. I don't know if anyone else gets that but I had that when I was on Facebook and on Twitter. This incident made it worse. I don't get that anxious feeling about my notifications on Threads though. 

     I had been on the app (Twitter) for 6-8 years I think and my personal account just became my stan account when I decided to join ARMY online. At first it was fun but it quickly became clique-ish. I noticed big accounts all talked to each other and people who talked a lot about voting and streaming got a lot of crap from solos. Playlist accounts even got bullied for posting playlists. Why? Because they were OT7 and solos didn't like that they spread focused playlists that included all 7 members as well as the focused releases. Meanwhile these solos were spreading looped playlists that sabotaged the streams and caused plays to be stripped on Spotify resulting in sabotaging the member's numbers they were trying to boost. Brainless behavior on full display there. 

     Over a year into learning Korean self-study I could tell that some of the translators were playing with words for engagement. I never said anything but waited till one got called out for lying. When I knew she lied about what was said I blocked her and others backing her up. A mistake is one thing but a full on mistranslation that a beginner/intermediate speaker picked up on–yeah get out of here with that. 

     As Musk’s antics got worse and worse, stupid things continued to happen to push my buttons and push me right out of that dumpster fire app. I got suspended for 24 hours for saying I hoped a guy’s Tesla would catch fire. There was a video going around of a guy chasing other cars on the road, cutting them off, and blocking them so they couldn’t go anywhere, and bashing their windows out. I wished for the downfall of a car and got suspended but people wishing death on others daily got no punishment. I started getting offensive ads that pushed fascist ideology (I’m in the US) and pushing Christian Nationalism. I tried to block ads which I could do, at first, and then I kept getting pop ups saying this was no longer allowed and I needed to subscribe to get rid of ads. Nope! Not paying to keep from seeing things that shouldn’t be there. So I deleted my account this past spring and never looked back.

     Let me reiterate that, I never looked back. I wish I had saved my bookmarks with receipts and links to some info but other than that I don’t miss the ever burning dumpster fire. At first I thought I would miss out on information about BTS, but I realize the best information will come from the official Big Hit Instagram and Weverse accounts. Yes the guys are still on Twitter and the account still posts but anything there will eventually be on their Instagram or Weverse. Even if it isn't, I have accounts I follow like @/dalbitbangtan and @/samaya_bangtan_girl on Threads who keep me updated on official news from BTS_TWT the official Twitter for the members. For me it wasn’t worth going through the hellscape to get information. I’d rather be a little later getting info than getting it ASAP and risking seeing something upsetting or being bullied on the way to getting info. Some people pop back and forth and that’s fine for them but it’s not going to work for me so I only have Threads and IG and I’m fine with only those as my socials. 

     Having Threads and having it be new at the time, I sought out other ARMYs and we came to the collective conclusion that we have a unique opportunity on Threads to redo what went wrong and continues to go wrong on Twitter. We want to create a space where ARMY of all walks of life feel safe and able to be themselves. No bullying and no spreading Twitter drama and fan wars in our spaces. No clout chasing with gossip from tabloids or unauthorized photos (real or faked with AI), no spreading rumors, and no age shaming. ARMY like BTS is also LGBTQIA+ inclusive so there’s obviously no discrimination allowed nor ableism. I also don’t believe in being a larger account than someone else and not responding to people. That’s so middle school. I experienced that a lot on Twitter where larger accounts wouldn’t even acknowledge that you said happy birthday to them with a like or comment back. You could ask a genuine question and no one would answer you. Sometimes other small accounts would answer, hours or days later. I try to help everyone and engage with everyone who engages kindly with me regardless of how many followers we have. 

     There are a lot of ARMY just coming over to Threads and we welcome you. Those that are relatively new may not be following anyone who was there when we first decided to make Threads an ARMY safe space and may not know but I’m saying it and have been saying it. We need to get it together because there are people trying every single day to tear ARMY apart and not to get into that, but we need to decide how we plan to move forward as a fandom. Some things need to be put aside and others just need to be handled better.

     One thing I really want to address here is anger and spreading hate and negativity that comes from Twitter. I left Twitter because of all of the hate being spread by antis. Why are there people bringing it from Twitter over to Threads? I don’t need to see screenshots of what some anti account says about BTS while I am scrolling Threads. There is no point in posting a Twitter screenshot and clapping back at the hater in the post on Threads. They can’t see it unless they are on Threads and in that case you should find them and tag them because we do not care. Anyone that wants to see that kind of rubbish can go to Twitter to see it. Why not clap back to them right under their post on Twitter? Oh because you don’t want drama? Well don’t bring it onto Threads because we don’t want it either. Don’t start fan wars on Threads because we don’t do that there. You aren’t adding anything valuable to the community by sharing drama. I am blocking the accounts that do this because I left Twitter for a reason. I’m not trying to see people make Threads into Twitter 2.0. We can choose the kind of content we want to see and participate in and boost that. 

     So if you see anything on Twitter and it upsets you because haters are in ARMY’s business, instead of spreading that, you can send it to the Big Hit legal team (via their website ) and block and report the account/post. You don’t need to run to Threads with it. You could leave something positive on either or both platforms to combat the negative. If you need to talk about it keep it to your DMs or group chats because sharing it spreads it. You are spreading negativity. Haters will always hate and there really is nothing we can do about it but try to get as many of them sued as possible. When it hits them where it hurts they will probably tone it down but sharing it and complaining won’t do anything but upset people who didn't know before you brought it to their timeline now more people are upset and ranting. 

     I don’t say any of this to try to be bossy or control what people post because ultimately they are going to be posting whatever they want to their pages but in case people wonder why they get less engagement or aren’t getting more followers I will be blocking negative posts from Twitter that aim to start drama rather than to inform. I hope other ARMYs will do the same. I know there are some that like gossip and rumors and even some that like fan wars. I don’t and I don’t want to see it. The difference in energy on the timeline when it's release day or during a release week vs when a bunch of drama is being spread and everyone is chiming in their opinion on something some loser on Twitter said about the guys is so different. Basically if it isn't an update from the official Big Hit Twitter or the guys Twitter, a fact checked update from a chart account about a milestone, something fact checked from a fan base that's not a stalker post or something otherwise informative that's not shade throwing or negative then keep it on Twitter and not on Threads. 

      Leaving Threads for another platform isn’t it for me right now. Eventually all of the trouble makers will make additional accounts on the other apps too and none of them will be any better than the others. At this point all we can do is acknowledge the spread of negativity and misinformation and try to do better at keeping it out of our spaces.

Update: 12.10.24 I joined Bluesky but I also keep Threads. What led to me joining Bluesky was the influx of negative accounts joining Threads and Meta/Threads lack of moderation to protect people from bullying and misinformation. The downfall of Twitter and mass exodus to Bluesky has led to many good informative ARMY accounts going to Bluesky and I found accounts I used to follow there that aren't on Threads. Bluesky does have better moderation in the form of filters and blocklists. Staying on both apps for now.

ARMY Appreciation Post And Update

      It's been one long month. Somehow the weeks seem to have blended into one another inside the bubble of ARMY and social media. I want to thank all ARMY who have been in this with us from the beginning of this K-media bullying Yoongi fiasco. ARMY who fought relentlessly and who continue to protect all 7 of BTS members, thank you. If you streamed, reported accounts, told others when they posted and shared misinformation that they were wrong, if you sent positive notes to Yoongi on social media, shared the positive blog posts, streamed, bought songs, watched videos, made block lists, or anything positive that I missed you are seen and we thank you. Thank you Philippines ARMY for putting up the banners near Hybe and any international ARMY who helped with funding. Thanks ARMY who participated in block lists and got people on board with keeping clout chasers in check (more on that in a bit because I have some thoughts, you know I do).  

     I have been ARMY since 2018 but I didn't really become active in the social media part of the fandom until BTS did "My Universe" with Coldplay. I had a Twitter but it was for keeping up with politics and news and I followed a few Coldplayers on there. I used my personal Twitter and it turned into a stan account then. Things were cool for a while until things changed the deeper I got into the fandom there. I learned a lot but I also saw a lot that was really bad. I deleted my account this past spring and haven't rejoined. I probably never will. I'm not bothered about it because I am on Threads and IG. I don't do Tik Tok or Facebook for the same reasons (way too much toxicity in a lot of areas I don't want to be exposed to). So coming to Threads the first day the app launched and being there since the beginning has been interesting. 

     What Threads ARMY started as a safe space that was supposed to be non-toxic is being tested by haters and clout chasers. I honestly don't know anymore who is worse, antis or attention seekers. Now lets get one thing out of the way. We all want attention but the way we want it is different. I don't care about followers. I never did. I'm not getting paid on any of these social media platforms. I have 0 blue checks and I don't have 1000 IG followers so I don't get paid there or on Threads. The attention I like is how we all get hype on release days, how I have a post about "Are You Sure?" that has over 5k views in less than 24hrs (a lot for my small account). That means locals may watch the show and it means good things for BTS ratings on Disney+. Other so-called "ARMY" among us are clout chasing and making it look like they have good intentions and I am not here for it. With everything happening with Yoongi and with antis attacking the other member's accounts and MHJ still up to her nasty tricks I am not playing with anyone here. 

     When knowledgeable ARMYs tell you to delete tabloid drama just do it. Do not argue. I had someone show on my feed who posted something that was a lie from Koreaboo about Jimin's dad. This lie had been proven false with receipts over a week ago. I tried to tell her her info was wrong and not to spread it and she said basically to keep scrolling if you don't like it. I said 'OK bye' and blocked her. Then I see someone spreading old ass Samsung lies again. The Samsung thing about them deleting Yoongi was one insignificant Samsung account on Twitter that deleted one pic. It was not one of their major accounts. This got blown up by Koreaboo and turned into the lie that ARMY was boycotting Samsung. Where? I'm not boycotting them and no other ARMYs I follow are either. I have been Team Samsung since before BTS were ambassadors. I have been Team Samsung since some ARMY were in diapers. I was using Samsung before iPhone came out. No stupid post by someone who doesn't have the common sense or decency to fact check before rage posting is going to cause me to "go break my phone" so I can get an iPhone as someone posted. 

     NewJeans has a contract with Apple and shot one of their videos on iPhone. MHJ is their manager and has made it no secret that she wants to destroy BTS so that NewJeans can take their place at Hybe. There has been speculation that she is behind all the media bullying of Yoongi because she has a friend who wrote at least one of the malicious stories against him. What are these people who are quick to call for boycotts of anything going to do if it turns out that MHJ paid off the media to smear Yoongi and her girls represent iPhone? Are they going to jump to Google Pixel next? No shade to any of the companies because all of their phones are good. People just need to be conscious of what they are saying when they use their platforms to call for people to do something like this based on gossip and rumors.  Sorry not sorry but if you run with rumors and share without fact checking and share rumors out of anger as if they are facts then you deserve to be on a block list and you are not ARMY. Does anyone bother to think that if this blows up more Samsung might say they will actually go with others as ambassadors because ARMY is being a pain in the ass over nothing? I know contracts end and Samsung already has promos with TXT and Enhyphen. BTS likely has not done anything with Samsung that's on hold to be released later so any promotions that are already out featuring BTS members is probably all there is for now. NONE of the more major divisions of Samsung deleted any Suga pics. Only Samsung Germany on Twitter. Stop spreading misinformation. We have been over this. Fact check and ask before posting or sharing. 

     The thing with block lists needs to be addressed because the people sharing misinformation should be added to these lists too. If you are told that you have made a post that is misinformation and the person explains why and you like their post for a boost and don't delete, what that tells me is that you are here for clout and to boost your followers or likes and not here for BTS. How so? Some people join fandoms and use the group so they have something to post about and so they can have a community of followers, then use fake news and scandals from the group or artist to post about. They know there are those in the fandom who will seek out these gossip stories or seek out the drama and will feed that and they know their likes and follows will go up if they post something controversial. This happened this past week with fake ARMY posting Yoongi's photo lineup at the police station. As soon as ARMY found out that he was going to go to the police station to participate in this and we found out how humiliating it is intended to be for anyone accused of a crime, we posted Purple Ribbon Project posts and forewarned others that if they were seen posting video or pictures of Yoongi at the police station that they were going to be immediately blocked. So why then when they had at least two or three days of warning would they post anyway? For attention. All the ones who dared to post police line pictures with captions saying things like "Yoongi we stand with you" were particularly disrespectful. I need people to start using their brains. There are hundreds of thousands of pictures of BTS out there -official ones- and they chose the photo lineup to show support. One account posted this type of post today. Literally this morning. Days later! Be for real. This is all done for clout. I know I use that word a lot but that's what it is. They want a type of attention that's achieved by doing something performative rather than from doing something genuine. I guess that's the best way I can explain my use (and probably over use but I don't care) of the word. Good attention=ARMY sharing things they like, supportive photos of Yoongi in good times// Bad attention and clout chasing= "OMG can you believe this?" and proceeds to post Koreaboo screenshot and pics of Jimin's dad's restaurant taken out of context. This is the difference in normal attention and what I call attention seeking behavior. They will take negative attention because to them that's still attention and it also equates to anti behavior in my opinion.

     No one is forcing you to block anyone if you see these block list posts. Common sense says don't just block blindly and I would assume most of us have that. You should always go through the account and look for yourself if you don't mind seeing what you find there. Now I will warn you, there is an account on the block list that we encourage Twitter users to block. This account has graphic sexual content being used to bully a member of BTS and it is in the form of drawings and vile cartoons. We cannot post that kind of stuff and say "hey block this account here's why" and share screenshots of that on Threads. I didn't want to see it when it was sent to me and brought to my attention but now if I see that name on a block list I know exactly why it's there. We go through these accounts so you don't have to but you have the ultimate say in who you block. I was told that we have power and that people are going around blindly blocking people because of these block lists.  How do you know that? Are people going around bragging "hey I blindly block people no matter who made the block list." I doubt it. I think we struck a nerve with people who are scared to be blocked. Well that's just the way it is. Some people are annoying and I usually just mute before I block but these people doing actual harm to Yoongi by spreading his police line pictures and people libeling the names of family members of BTS and potentially getting themselves caught up in libelous company slander need to be blocked. Don't like block lists? Don't participate. Keep scrolling like I do when I see posts about things I disagree with. It's not that hard.

    The thing about social media is that it is all built around being social. Blocking keeps things off of the timeline whether you block or someone else blocks to keep it from you (protect you from it). On Threads, any and everything you respond to is shared with your followers. On a daily basis I see my moots congratulating people on random things, fighting the patriarchy, talking about other groups and fandoms they belong to, sharing Korean learning advice, etc and if anything doesn't click well with me I swipe it away or click "not interested' and keep it moving. If you see a post of something that belongs on a block list and you engage with the post guess what? Now that post is on all of your follower's feeds with your response to it. It's best to DM someone and ask them to remove a pic rather than to ask on the feed. I have done this too but now I am trying to do better. If you block it it's likely less people will see it. 

     I understand that some people might use block lists to try to get rid of people who haven't done anything wrong but frankly what's stopping people from going into a group chat and saying "Jane Doe is annoying lets DM all the ARMYs we can to block her"?  Absolutely nothing. If people block you you should just get over it because maybe they weren't for you and you weren't for them. It happens. I haven't seen anyone add anyone to the block lists I have participated in that didn't belong there and I have no control over what someone else decides to do on their end if they end up being inspired by something me and other ARMYs do. We already know solos have block lists on Twitter where they add OT7s -who cares? We don't want to see or deal with them anyway. Maybe some saw names listed on the block list then went to block them and didn't see the Yoongi photo line pics so they assumed it was a "witch hunt." That's because some deleted them when they found out they were being added to lists and blocked. You can tell if something has been deleted recently on Threads because a block sometimes shows up grayed out that says "Content Not Available." That something that was deleted isn't always something bad but in the case of these posts it was. I still ended up blocking all the ones like this on the list because they all had other things I didn't like on their pages on Threads or on their IG (yes I check there too before I block). There were toxic shippers making inappropriate comments about the boys sleeping arrangements in "Are You Sure?' and some with edited pictures shipping members with girl group members intended to start dating rumors. Unacceptable.

     I will do a post about Threads in the future because there is a lot to get into about how things work there as opposed to how things work on Twitter. Lots of new people joined this month that are coming from Twitter as ARMY (or fake ARMY seeking attention) and we have to clean up our space because it is definitely not how it was even two or three months ago. We will be OK though. ARMY always pulls through and this too shall pass. Great work this month on protecting and showing love to all members and putting shields up to protect Yoongi. We will be fine and the guys will be fine. This too shall pass. 

Apobangpo! <3

Why You Shouldn't Care That I'm A Single Group Stan

       *Note: This post is in no way aimed at all multi stans. This is only referring to multis who shame single group stans and who try to force others to listen to the groups they stan. I have nothing against multis who stay in their lane and don't bully ARMY or other one group stans. *

  I have a confession to make. Many of you may share the same sentiment as me and will confess also for the good of all mankind, but I have to get this out in the open now. Here goes… I am a single group stan when it comes to K-Pop. I only stan BTS. I have thought about stanning TXT and Le SSerafim but have since decided that I am perfectly fine being a casual fan of both. My casual fan behavior is often more dedicated than some so called “stans” anyway so I’m proud to be BTS ARMY and only stanning BTS. Even if this earns me ridicule in some circles. “Why would anyone care if you or anyone else only stans one K-Pop group?," you ask.  Well let’s get into it. 

     Last month there was an engagement bait post on Threads posted by a young multi-stan that rubbed me the wrong way and turned out to be quite funny by the time ARMY finished chiming in on the subject. By engagement bait post I mean a post that is structured to make people argue in the comments so that the poster gets tons of engagement in the form of comments, mostly likes, re-shares, quotes, and views. I have blocked and unfollowed several popular accounts for posting things like this because it always ends up blowing up at the expense of someone and I just don’t like it in general. This particular post was obviously aimed at ARMYs to get people in the comments to mention and complain about us. The post was asking how multis feel about single group stans and goes on to call out single group stans saying it could never be them because single group stans are “missing out” and several other things I disagreed with. So here’s my take on stanning in general. 

     The term comes from the Eminem song called “Stan” from 2000. The song is about a guy who is a psycho fan basically and keeps demanding attention from Eminem. Over time the term has come to mean someone who is a “superfan” of a group or artist (according to the person who posted the Thread). It has been argued that it doesn’t mean superfan but that’s what I am going to go with as a definition.  Being a stan means you are more than just a casual fan and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a casual fan, though some people act like being a casual fan is the kiss of death to admit. 

     I am a Coldplay stan as well as BTS. I only purchase physical albums from those 2 groups. I listen to hundreds of other artists but when it comes to merchandise and where my money goes, it goes to BTS and Coldplay. You don’t have to have any merch or albums at all to be a stan but in my case these are the only groups I own anything from.  I have seen Coldplay live twice but I have never seen BTS live before, not yet. You don’t have to attend concerts to be a stan either. Stanning to me has to do with loyalty to the artist, voting, and streaming. If you genuinely enjoy the music the artist puts out and support them then you are a fan. As a stan of BTS, as an ARMY I stream and vote. I don’t vote for any other groups when BTS is concerned. My loyalty belongs to BTS. I don't really listen to other groups in their generation (3rd gen). I love TXT, who is 4th generation, and if I did stan any other group it would be them but I feel like if I cannot give them the same attention I give BTS I can’t fully consider myself a MOA. I do show up for all of their comebacks and stream with MOA on Stationhead when I can and I’m learning their birthdays. In 4th gen if they are nominated for awards I vote for them. Stanning for me goes beyond listening to the music and that’s my interpretation. It may be different for you and that’s fine. 

     

     One thing that was brought up as a reason they (multis) don’t get single group stans is that they don’t understand how we don’t get bored and stan other groups when our one group isn’t releasing new content. I think this was the funniest point to destroy as ARMY. I stan BTS. No content! Where? I cannot even begin to relate. Now if your faves release an album or EP once every five years, or have been around for more than one year and have not produced a full length album and all you get are two or three song slices here and there then I guess you have to supplement your musical diet with songs from elsewhere, but ARMY stays fully fed. BTS has an amazing discography spanning 11 years so far and counting. Stanning them as an OT7 is stanning a group and seven amazing solo artists. Every member has solo work as well as group work. During this enlistment “break” we have gotten new songs or albums nearly every other month. That’s a LOT of music to keep up with, not to mention all of the videos and shows. As I am writing this we are getting ready for two new shows from them premiering this month and waiting on Jin’s solo debut album while we still digest critically acclaimed “Right Place Wrong Person” by RM, “Hope on the Street Vol. 1” by J-Hope and the latest “Muse” by Jimin. Those are just the album releases from the past 6 months not counting single releases. When I say we stay fed, I mean it’s a feast. It’s a full on all you can eat buffet. And we love it. I understand why other fandoms would be envious but that’s on their artists for being more interested in other non-music related endeavors when they signed up to be music idols. Get you a group that is here for the music first and foremost rather than the fame. 

     Another thing that seems weird and almost cult-like about multis who have an issue with single group stans is that they assume if single group stans branched out and stan other groups that it would be some of the ones they stan. I am very picky with what groups I give time and energy to. I can’t get into music that isn’t about anything. The message has to resonate strongly with me or I won’t be bothered to keep listening, let alone be a serious streamer or buyer of that artist. With Coldplay whom I have stanned for over 20 years, they are all about peace, love, and adding positive vibes to the world and sharing that strongly with others. Their message is that things will get tough because that’s life but the sun always rises after the darkest dawn. Sounds a lot like our BTS and that’s why they click so well together. Hopefulness in the face of adversity and pushing forward is the message. Le SSerafim has a message of strength and resilience woven through their music as well and it’s empowering to women. Le Sserafim spells I'm fearless and the fandom name is Fearnots. I love their girl power message. When I have tried to listen to other K-Pop groups (outside of the three or 4 I listen to) nothing else stands out or hits me enough to stan or want to stan. I hear the same tired metaphors over and over (food used as metaphor for sex), culturally appropriated AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) used in cringeworthy contexts, and plagiarism of lyrics from 90’s rap groups being called interpolation when it’s not because interpolation involves sampling and melody rather than words but somehow certain K-pop writers get a pass for it. It has to stand out and be something special enough to grab my attention and keep it. I do listen to K-Rock and I love The Rose and Se So Neon as well as Balming Tiger. To see me only stanning BTS and thinking of me as "missing out" is laughable. K-Pop isn't the only genre to exist.

Some of these multis move like a cult pushing their artists by giving unsolicited recommendations in comment sections begging people to try their groups and getting pissy attitudes with you if you say you’re not interested. That has happened to me several times and it’s just weird. They move like MLM scammers who get paid or level up when they bring in enough recruits to the team. Do they have a secret club where if they turn enough single group stans into multis then they get points and level up? That's the only way getting pressured to stan more than one group by random strangers makes any sense. What do they hope to gain if you decide to stan three groups? If I decide to stan more groups and enter Multisville do get a membership budget so I can buy merch? Is there a portal where I can add more hours to my day? I'm busy enough as a wife and mom and ARMY. I don't have time to catch up to all of the content other groups put out if I can barely keep up with all that BTS puts out. I love BTS but I have never tried to force them on people. You like what you like and you’ll find what’s for you on your own. I don't care if people don't like BTS because not everything is for everybody. What I don't like is the disrespect shown to BTS and ARMY for whatever reasons. There are a lot of popular artists I don't like and I have my reasons. I don't go into their comment sections and talk about how great BTS is or Coldplay or how they're missing out by not listening to them. I don't give unsolicited recommendations then argue when politely turned down as if the person insulted you directly. People like that need to touch grass.

     

     What I don’t get is if you’re a multi and you talk about stanning all of K-Pop (a comment I have seen posted as a flex strangely enough) then how do you vote if two or more groups you like are up for the same award? I know I will always go for BTS no matter what but how do you choose? I guess that’s where “ults” or ultimate groups come in and I hate to break it to you but if you have an “ult” out of like 15 or 20 groups you “stan” then wouldn’t that mean you stan that “ult” group over the others and you’re probably more of a casual fan of the others? Make it make sense. Because by that logic I stan BTS, TXT, Le SSerafim and P1Harmony but BTS is my “ult.” I participate in all of their comebacks by streaming, I follow them all on social media and I know their names. This is where I start to get a headache because I asked the multi stan poster what is the difference then between stanning and being a casual fan and they said stan means superfan and casual fan is self-explanatory. Ok, then why did half of the multis in the comments sound like they have “ults” but are more so casual fans of all the other groups they mention. "Enthusiastic casual fan" is what I like to use when people ask me if I’m a MOA. I say no but I love and support TXT as a casual fan who streams with MOAs and supports their comebacks even though I don’t know all of the inside jokes, backstories, or the deal behind the PPulverse. 

     It would be funny if ARMY decided to stan one of these groups that multis try to push on single group stans all the time. I know exactly how that would go. Let me share my gift of foresight with you. First, they would be excited to have us stanning whatever nugu group is the group du jour that is trending at the moment. The streams and hype surrounding the group would be through the roof. They would win on music shows and use that for their fan wars. The chosen group would rise up the ranks quickly off of ARMY clout. It would all be cute until they couldn’t get concert tickets because they sell out in five minutes because of ARMY. When merchandise sells out in under an hour and when albums sell out meaning they can't collect their precious exclusive photo cards because they have to wait on restocks of albums and they will be complaining. They will end up hating us even more and will probably move on to the next, next big thing. They will make the excuse that the group they wanted us to stan is now too mainstream because too many people are into them. They don’t get to be in this exclusive “we stanned them at debut” club anymore. That’s another odd thing I notice, how quickly a group can be abandoned by some multis. People actually ask what group they should stan this summer or this year and take suggestions from other people online. I could never ask people who I should become a “super fan” of because that’s something that should come from your heart. What resonates with you the most? What group’s lyrics and overall message is one that suits you the best? That’s how I choose though it feels like BTS chose me at the right moment. 

    I'm a single group stan. I don't say that as a flex or to act like I'm better than multis. I say it because I don't need people coming into my comment section telling me to stan another group because BTS is friends with them, or to be nice if I expose voting cheating of another fandom (I stan groups not fandoms), or when mentioning BTS in general getting whole thesis pages written in comment sections begging me to listen to other groups. What other people listen to and the artists they stan is none of your business. The sooner people realize that the better off it will all be. Go touch grass and enjoy real life before it passes you by while you're busy worrying about something as trivial as how many groups someone else stans.