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

Stop Reading And Sharing Posts From Korean Gossip Blogs

     Due to recent events surrounding unethical news reporting by Korean media, I thought now would be a good time to address why ARMY needs to stop giving gossip rags attention. I know we still somewhat need to know what is being reported so we can send emails to Big Hit legal team about it, but as far as using them as sources- DO NOT DO IT. These gossip rags do not have the best intentions and all of them tell lies and start malicious rumors about BTS members. I thought I would look into the biggest offenders of the lot and look at who they are and why they are so terrible.

Koreaboo

     I'll start with Koreaboo since they are one of the absolute worst blogs out there for Kpop news/ gossip. The name itself should be a red flag. The term koreaboo is actually very similar to a racial slur that has been used against Black people so the word itself makes me cringe. I won’t say what word but I’m sure you could look it up. Koreaboo is a term some people use for those obsessed unnaturally with Korean culture. Some throw it around to anyone who is interested in Korean culture and that’s not right. It’s xenophobic to make fun of someone for being interested in other cultures. If that person likes K-dramas, K-pop, and Korean food that doesn’t make them a koreaboo. If they appropriate the culture then it would (but damn I really hate that term and lose respect for people who use it). That would mean people who fetishise Koreans like Oli London. Regular fans don’t count as koreaboos. These people decided to name their blog after a derogatory term. Red red flag!

      So who is the owner of Koreaboo? Its CEO is Flowison Shekar. The COO or chief operating officer is Omega Chen. They’re Berkeley and Stanford tech bros. Basically rich dude bro types who went to prestigious universities. I would be embarrassed to churn out the rubbish that they do and have people know that I was actually pretty well educated. You would never know that seeing the garbage bin slime type of posts they push on their blog. They really went to two of the best schools in the United States only to become owners of a notorious gossip blog that takes shots at K-Pop stars. Oh but they founded K-Con so that counts for something I guess (not!).

     According to Pitchbook, Koreaboo is an “information service” and that makes me laugh. That’s like calling Mcdonald’s a gourmet eatery. We can all use flowery language if we want to make something sound better than it is. "Misinformation provider" is a more accurate term. Maybe they don’t have a category for blogs or gossip rags. 

     Koreaboo is funded by angel investors and venture capitalists. All that reminds me of is the K-drama “StartUp” and the show that used to be on HBO “Silicon Valley” because they are based in California. Venture capitalists and angel investors make investments in startups at various stages to fund their development and they get a stake in the company. Apparently their writers are paid well, upwards of $60k plus a year. Of course with all the people clicking on their clickbait articles and trashy stories they probably aren’t hurting for money as most blogs make money from advertising. They have the readership to charge a lot for ads to run on the site. According to Rocket Reach they have about 40M users who visit the site. It's also probably why they don't seem to be afraid of getting sued. They have the money to afford legal representation and to afford to take a financial hit if they lose.

     Koreaboo is one of the biggest offenders of spreading clickbait and misinformation. They put out hundreds of articles on the Yoongi e-scooter situation, each full of more misinformation than the last,  and made it abundantly clear that they are not to be taken seriously as journalists. But you know when they have tons of money to throw around and they know that there’s an area that people are interested in (K-pop and Korean culture) and that interest keeps growing, they figure they will cash in on it one way or the other. They trash the whole industry with toxic clickbait articles defaming artists. Fans still read it for entertainment knowing that it’s all lies and they know people will still read it. Kpoppies use it to post their mean comments on Twitter for fan wars and here comes some ARMY getting offended and sharing it as if it was truth and spreading it to Threads. Some of us left Twitter to avoid all of that only to have to deal with it all over again in a space we all hoped would be an ARMY safe space. It’s better to screenshot and email articles to Big Hit than to share on social media. If you feel the need to talk about it then it’s best kept in DMs and group chats than being shared on socials. On Threads someone with 80 followers might post a Koreaboo article to say how horrible it is and how they shouldn't treat people that way. If someone comes along to react to it and comments and that person has say 500 followers that now has a reach of 582 people. It grows as people like, share, and comment. Your followers see everything you reply to FYI. 

Pannchoa 

      Pannchoa is another of the gossip rag blogs that specializes in stories related to K-pop idols and K-drama actors. Pannchoa translates Korean forum comments and articles from Korean sites. Their articles/posts are always clickbait and are pulled from The Qoo, a Korean forum site and a couple of other Korean forums. They have a disclaimer on their page that says that none of the articles posted reflect their opinion. I guess this is to try to cover their asses if they get sued but that technically does nothing. They are facilitating the dissemination of misinformation and flat out lies so they are liable still. By translating these articles from other sites into English, they are making it easier for others to read them. They make sure the Korean only articles gain a bigger audience. 

     I poked around the site while writing this post and I noticed they have a comment section on one of their anti-Suga articles that has hundreds of antis on it and one or two real ARMY defending him. What I got from that was that these hater comments being passed off as K-ARMY are really antis from other fandoms. The way they talk is like haters and not like ARMY so there’s a lot of cosplaying as ARMY going on. I tried to leave a comment but they ask for your email address and they need to verify your email address before they will allow a comment to post. I refuse to do all of that. They want proof that you are a human and to have access to you later via email yet they allow malicious comments to stay up on the site.
    I haven’t been able to find anything on who actually runs Pannchoa but from what I have seen is that it’s a small group that does the translations. There are rumors that they got sued earlier this year but I didn’t see anything confirming that. If they got sued, I would hope they would learn their lesson and shut down completely. The chatter around it was interesting though because there were comments where a few people were happy and wanted all K-Pop gossip blogs to go away. Then there were the ones who wanted them to go away but realistically noted that they would just resurface later anyway because there will always be readers. I also saw a comment where someone said “Pannchoa was my morning news! My morning coffe [sp], my breakfast.” The type of people who eat, sleep, and breathe gossip are the ones who keep these blogs alive and running. It’s sad because if it was all good news and true news it might not get as many views because of the drama seekers who love to see other people struggle and go through difficulties.

     In my opinion, Koreaboo and all the blogs/ “news sites” like it need to go away. Yesterday wouldn’t be soon enough for me. Either go away and stay away or start writing real news and being a reputable source of information. I know it can be done. I doubt they ever will though because there will always be people who read it and enjoy the fact that it is trashing idols and actors. It’s cyberbullying but monetized and dressed up to look like a legit business and online publication. It’s sick what these people get away with. ARMY needs to stop sharing and quoting these articles even if it is to bring awareness to their malicious posts. If you see something mean defaming BTS just report it to Big Hit (email to protect@bighitmusic.co.kr). No one else has to see it. If you have to talk about it, keep it to your group chats or individual DMs-basically off of Threads or Twitter feed. The more you comment or share there are more people who will see it. The more people who see it the more people who may believe the hype and lies and continue to spread them.

     Some people like drama and thrive on it because that gets them attention. I’m not talking about antis and trolls here. I mean seemingly normal people, fans, some ARMY. They think it’s cute to use comments from haters and clap back then post it. You’ll usually see it a lot from shooter accounts on Twitter (shooter is the term used for fans that fight in fan wars online) and now I’m starting to see it on Threads and I really don’t like it. Other than trying to get attention, I don't see a reason to clap back at someone who is probably never going to see your post. And bringing a screenshot of a post from Twitter to Threads to drag someone is just stupid. Everyone sees it but that person. If they did see it all that is going to do is start fan wars and if you came to Threads from Twitter for that then I suggest you go back. Threads ARMY moves differently. We don't do fan wars in case you didn't get the welcome memo.

I want better for ARMY. Namjoon said in one of his live streams that ARMY has changed and that’s not a good thing to me. I think we have an opportunity with Threads to build ourselves up to be a better ARMY. We can combat misinformation without spreading it. We can send tabloid article screenshots to Big Hit legal team for investigation without plastering them all over social media.  If you feel you have to talk about it, it’s best to just keep conversations to your DM and group chat. I’ve had ARMY moots DM me on Instagram and run things by me to ask if they should send to Big Hit and ask how to send it or for a template. I don’t mind that. It shows we are doing the right thing for our 7 and that’s the most important thing because that’s why we are all here. Our goal as ARMY is to support and protect BTS. Lies and rumors don’t protect them. Stopping them from spreading does.

     

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.

Bullying Other Artists Online Needs To Stop

     Depending on who you talk to, BTS ARMY is either a toxic fandom and one of the worst in Kpop or one of the best, most organized and dedicated, loving fandoms. I have seen a lot since I became ARMY and I believe the latter. ARMY is an amazing fandom that I am proud to be a part of. I am even happier being ARMY knowing the community that we have started on Threads that is focusing on being more positive and having hard conversations but keeping them civil. That’s why this topic of cyber bullying other artists needs to be addressed as well. I know the majority of this won’t apply to the real ARMYs reading this but the solutions will so bear with me for a moment. 

     On July 26, 2024, Fred Jewelry announced that they had signed Chinese actress and singer, Guan Xiaotong as their second jewelry global ambassador. The 26 year old Xiaotong is very popular and is considered the Nation’s Daughter in China. She comes from a family of actors, has been in a ton of films, and has won several awards. Fred Jewelry made an announcement on their official website but I found out via their Instagram feed. Of course many ARMYs like myself followed Fred Jewelry's Instagram because of Kim Seokjin’s becoming their first global ambassador ever. My first thought seeing Guan Xiaotong was, “wow she’s gorgeous.” Then I went to the comments and that quickly changed to “damn it here we go again!”

       I was annoyed at the comments complaining that people wanted to see Jin and asking where he was. There were comments saying that Fred weren’t using Jin enough despite him having dropped a full campaign with W Korea a week prior and that whole series being all over YouTube and social media. He also has a page on the Fred site where you can shop the exact looks if you are financially equipped to do so (and assuming they are in stock with BTS being the “sold out kings” that they are). If they wanted to see Jin as an ambassador for Fred there was plenty of newly released content for them to watch. The problem was they decided to go on this woman’s announcement post and be rude which is unacceptable behavior.

     The accounts I noticed doing this didn’t seem to be ARMY. They seemed to be Jin solos. Going through screen names and profiles told me as much.  I went to Threads and asked for ARMY to go to the post and leave positive comments to drown out the bad negative ones. Leaving fresh positive comments and liking the other positive comments makes the negative comments get pushed to the bottom as least popular. ARMY went and left positive comments and now you have to scroll to get to the bad ones. Some of the solo accounts called out the other ones that were being rude and told them that they were potentially damaging Jin’s image by being disrespectful to Guan Xiaotong. It makes perfect sense that a jewelry company would have both male and female spokespersons because they sell jewelry for men and women. Even if it is mostly unisex, buyers want to see what it looks like styled on both men and women. A larger ring on a man may look too gaudy on a woman whose hand might be smaller and likewise a smaller ring may not be as noticeable on an man who may have a larger hand. You get the picture. 

     This was a milder version of something that happens way too often. Last July when Han So Hee starred in the video for “Seven” with Jungkook, her comment section on Instagram was bombarded with negative comments. Besides strings of vomiting emojis, people were commenting accusing her of dating Jungkook (not that it was any of their business anyway even if that was true), openly admitting their jealousy (which in my opinion is not a compliment and makes the commenter look bad), and accusing her fans of shipping her with Jungkook which they argued that they disapprove of (as if they have a choice in the matter). There are over 168 thousand comments on her post for “Seven” and luckily the good comments did a great job of drowning out the bad ones. If you scroll far enough you will still see a few. The ones that mean well in trying to reprimand the negative commenters are still there and are annoying as well because of the ones where ARMY is specifically mentioned and called toxic. Yes some of the comments were ARMY however there were solos and shippers (whom ARMY doesn’t claim) and a few people from other fandoms who want to make ARMY look bad. The post she made the same day about something else also has negative comments on it as well as comments intending to do damage control but still seeming to make the situation worse by calling out “toxic ARMY.”

A small portion of the comment section of Han SoHee's Instagram on a post from the set of the "Seven" video where she starred as Jungkook's love interest.

     Another such incident that was uncalled for was one involving pre-MHJ drama NewJeans. There apparently was a record for streaming that they had broken that was previously held by BTS or a member of BTS individually. When some ARMYs found out about it they took to the official Instagram account for NewJeans and left comments attacking them. Of course as usual there were solos and other fandoms involved--some other fandoms not even bothering to change their screen names or fully change their bio details as they cosplayed as ARMY.  This was as bad as the hate that was thrown at Han So Hee only this was directed at teenagers. They are literally children who did nothing wrong. Streaming is on the fans to take care of and if they out streamed ARMY then that’s on ARMY to take responsibility for. Either congratulate them or say nothing at all. I don’t care whether you like them or not. There are other Kpop groups (and non K-Pop artists for that matter) that I don’t like that place higher or break records that BTS holds or beat us on the charts here and there. I keep my mouth shut and stream. I would never leave hate comments on another artist’s page. Records are made to be broken and another one will eventually replace that one. We need to learn when to hold nasty comments and channel those into positive things like streaming and voting and otherwise supporting the guys.

      Leaving nasty comments makes us look bad as a fandom, even if we aren’t the ones doing it. People with BTS member names as their display name, a little 7 in the display name, or a photo of BTS members as their main photo end up representing ARMY. People don’t always stop to go through an account to determine if the person seems to be ARMY or a solo. I usually do if I have time but that’s just me.

When there’s a slow news day in the tabloid world where K-Pop is concerned, these tabloid “journalists” will pull comments and posts and everyone speaking in a capacity that seems like ARMY to them is ARMY. They write their articles/blog posts and they won’t differentiate between solo or anti or ARMY if they see a picture of BTS on a profile or the name of a BTS member being used in a screen name. They will take any posts that seem relevant to whatever story they are running and use them and because the posts are public on a social media platform (posts or comments) they can be used without permission. So say a random tabloid did a story on the cyber bullying of NewJeans by ARMY they would use that as their title to get attention and they will pull these comments and assume everyone making them is ARMY. They may not even pay attention to all of the ones telling people to stop being rude. Even those sometimes look bad once the bad ones get scrubbed from the account (deleted in large numbers by admins) because they tend to not go back and clear the ones admonishing those making negative comments. If you didn't know there were negative comments there, the comments scolding others for making them let you know there were negative comments left before they were removed.

     As ARMY we represent BTS when we are on the internet. It is up to us to control what our image is as much as we can. We can’t really do a whole lot about haters except block, report, ignore and not engage with them or their content. We can control what we choose to post and decide that rudeness and bullying is not acceptable. Reporting and blocking when we see it in these circumstances on other artists' posts is the best way to handle it. These comments would be reported to the platform and not to BigHit legal because they only handle legal issues for BigHit artists. The platforms may not do anything but it’s a good idea to report anyway. Call on other ARMYs to drown out the negative comments with positive ones and to like other positive ones. Liking and replying positively to other positive comments pushes them to the top and pushes negative ones to the bottom so you have to scroll to get to them. You don’t have to like all other artists, I mean I certainly don’t but being respectful is free. As JHope says in “Equals Sign,” “it costs you nothing to be kind.”

 

BTS Privacy: How can ARMY help protect it?

 Airport Mobbing     

 Imagine you are a K-pop idol. You are on a plane headed home from your tour and you feel awful. Your body hurts from all the intense dance routines. You want a massage. You have been on a strict diet for months in preparation for this tour for both stamina reasons and visual reasons (unrealistic beauty standards you are expected to meet). The plane food is lacking but you plan to have that massage and eat a big dinner then take a long nap once you get home. You take a deep breath and get ready for the part you hate the most about airports -the press and fans. The plane lands and you put on dark shades because the flashes from all of the cameras hurts your eyes. You took something for muscle aches and hope it kicks in soon. You pull a baseball cap over your messy hair and plaster on your best fake smile. You hope no one gets hurt. You think the fans swarming the airport is dangerous and you have addressed this with your fans. Nothing seems to change and they get more and more aggressive each trip. You trust your security team and leave it up to them because it's their job to make sure things go smoothly. 

     This is just my imagination of course but I feel like this must be what these celebrities go through at the airport. I feel bad that they have to put on a happy face and wave and pose to appease a bunch of entitled fans who shouldn't be there in the first place. No one should be at the airport unless they are staff (of the airport or stores or restaurants etc inside), travelers, people saying goodbye to travelers, or picking travelers up. 

It is in the guidelines to BTS ARMY fandom membership that fans are not to be at the airport. There are a lot of things in these official rules that are ignored by fans and when Twitter or Threads ARMY bring it up we always face opposition ("it's the culture"). I highly recommend all ARMY visit the ARMY etiquette linked in this post and in my post about resources. I've realized that a lot of what we talk about is already there in black and white reposted via Weverse from Big Hit. The link is for a US ARMY fan base but the rules apply to all ARMY no matter where you are. 

     When we ask ARMY not to go to the airport it's for safety and privacy reasons. BTS should be able to travel without feeling like they are putting fans in a position to potentially be harmed because people don't know how to act. Fans get too wild sometimes and push and shove each other and the ones there from fan sites that are there to take and sell pictures (obtained without consent) will push and shove to get that one shot they want. Fans swarm these artists and their bodyguards have to watch them and the fans in order to keep their clients safe. I've seen footage of an actress getting swarmed so that she could barely take two steps at a time without stopping because of the crowd around her. A sasaeng followed behind Jungkook with her suitcase when he stopped for a second to bow and security quickly pushed her out of the way. We often joke that security should be just yeeting people out of the way, but recently security teams for a K-pop boy group and an actor both were under fire for pushing greedy fans. My opinion on that is that security is doing their jobs and if these fans would stay away from the airport they wouldn't have to worry about getting manhandled by security. If security did nothing and an idol got hurt they would still be blamed so they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Do you do your job and get in trouble for it or risk not doing it and still get in trouble for it?

     BTS ARMY started the Purple Ribbon Project at the airport where they would go and create a barrier between the fans and the artist. They would hand out purple ribbons and line up and link together to keep the crowd back. Namjoon mentioned in an interview that he liked that ARMY did this. ARMYs often ask if we should bring this back whenever there is another incident of BTS being mobbed at the airport. The original creators of the Purple Ribbon Project have said on Reddit that it would not be something that they would bring back now. The goal is to get fans to stay away from the airport and stop mobbing these artists whenever they travel. Having ARMYs bring back the project would be sending people to the airport to do damage control and it would be against the goal of not having extra people there. People would also try to get into the project as members or organizers just to get close to BTS and that would be counterproductive to have people that joined just to break the rules.

     BTS have all discussed not liking the drama at the airport. Taehyung thanked fans for giving them their privacy on a past trip to Hawaii. ARMYs pretended not to see them at the airport and kept things calm. Jin mentioned using a private exit for safety reasons when he got to Argentina (to perform with Coldplay before his enlistment) only to return to South Korea and be swarmed by fans at the airport. What can we do about the airport mobbing? We can encourage ARMYs to not go to the airport and to support the guys on their public schedules like meet and greets and concerts, not on their private schedules. We can stop engaging with unauthorized content from the airport. That means stop sharing fan site photos (you can tell them by watermarks and from the menu markings that often show up in their photos from the camera). If the people swarming the airport to get photos cannot sell those photos and don't get likes on their photos or videos when shared on social media then they may stop going. People go so they can get photos and videos to sell or post online which is against ARMY guidelines. Unfollow stalker accounts. Some are big fanbases that seem to have the scoop on everything so people follow for info not asking how they got it. 

Unauthorized Photographs

     Speaking of unauthorized photographs, all photographs taken on private schedules without permission are prohibited (see ARMY guidelines). That goes for the Yoongi photo that was going around last week and all of those military photos that people sneak and take without their permission. I'm still undecided about the ones the other soldiers take and post because it's likely that they know the photos are being taken but not necessarily that they will be on social media. I try not to engage with those as much if I am confused about them. Yoongi however, said as he was enlisting that he didn't want there to be any photos of him taken and posted. Fans who share those are clearly doing so against his wishes. We all miss him too but the rest of us are willing to wait for them to post the pictures they want out and allow them to have the privacy they deserve by not sharing something they don't want out. He was not on official business but out on a private schedule at a movie. Following them and taking video on private schedules is unacceptable behavior.

     Following family and friend accounts of BTS members is also a bit odd to me. It almost feels like using someone to get to their popular friend or family member. I trust BTS to post and share with us what they want us to see and we need to stay in our place as fans. I don't follow any of their family members or friends unless those friends are also in the industry and they have collaborated with them (which is not the same thing). Their friends and family have their own lives and businesses to run and often have pages set up for that purpose. Jungkook's brother has a clothing line and so does JHope's sister. They have their own brands to represent that have nothing to do with their BTS siblings. Jimin's dad runs a restaurant and apparently often posts about Jimin. I wouldn't know because I don't follow him. I just see things when people who follow his page post. I always think of things from a protective standpoint. If I was a celebrity would I find it weird if people followed my father's Instagram looking for insider info on me? Yeah I would. I would want to keep my friends and family safe from fans should they decide to get rude.

     And getting rude and stalking friends and family certainly happens. JHope's sister was getting spam on her live streams by people who thought it was fun to post "Yoongi marry me" in her comments. That was just rude and embarrassing to ARMY because she's an influencer and a business woman who was talking about products at the time I believe and a played out joke that was wearing out its welcome with ARMY showing on her feed makes us look bad. RM has had a friend he posted pictures hanging out with (a friend who is also in the industry) get hate spam on Instagram to the point where he locked down his page. I think the haters were speculating that they were in a relationship (not their business anyway) and they sent hate messages to this man. These things reflect poorly on ARMY and are just hateful and juvenile. Some ARMY follow Jungkook's brother and end up sharing pictures from his account. I feel like if they were supposed to be out then Jungkook would share them on Weverse or on his Bam IG. If you follow them for your own reasons and don't share what they post, that's better in my opinion than following them to get info on the members then reposting it. 

Stalking and Private Information Leaks

     I was scrolling Threads a few weeks ago and I came across a post that was a picture of a house with the caption "Jungkook's new home." I immediately took screenshots to send to BigHit legal team and checked out the account to see if they had posted anything else about it. I didn't see anything else on their page but as I scrolled further on the main feed there was a TikTok that someone had shared with the same house saying it was Jungkook's new home under construction and there was a shot of a fence or something with a sign on it that looked official. I took a screenshot and got the link to that too. I don't think it is technically illegal to post someone's home online but what reason would anyone have to share that information other than seeking attention or to do something they shouldn't do. This could put him in a dangerous situation assuming it is his home. He has already expressed being upset with stalkers who have sent him food delivery, stood outside of his home, and even had a stalker join the same boxing gym as him after standing outside taking video of him through the window. She apparently took the footage for her Patreon account where she was stalking him then posting exclusive footage and charging for it. If this isn't his home and the posters were posting for internet likes and follows then think about the current or potential new tenants. They are going to be stalked by fans looking for Jungkook. That could put their family in danger. It would be such a nuisance to have random people hanging out around the outside of your home at all hours hoping to see someone who doesn't live there.  

     We don't share personal information about the members. This should be common sense and self-explanatory yet there are people working for airlines, train stations, and other places who leak information about the travel schedules of the guys. Sharing private information puts them in a vulnerable situation with stalkers and they have had some dangerous situations with them in the past. As you can see in this video from ARMY YouTuber Jose Ochoa, V had a stalker last year who followed him into the elevator of his building. She was obviously very disturbed because she thought she was going to marry him and even had a marriage certificate she tried to get him to sign. That ultimately was how she was caught because she put her real contact info down on the form and authorities were able to arrest her. How did this person even get his personal address information? People may think sharing this stuff is fun and cute because they get likes and follows out of it but you don't know if someone else is going to take what you share and do something harmful with it. You may think sharing a picture of a house that supposedly belongs to BTS is harmless but all it takes is a Google photo search to find the neighborhood and address or close enough to it for a stalker to figure out the rest. 

** Update 6.12. 2025 Jungkook just was released from the military on 6.11 and had a stalker trying to break into his home. The woman waited apparently hours and was arrested and let go. This needs to stop.

What Can ARMY Do To Protect BTS

    As a fandom the things we do reflect on the rest of the fandom and BTS. It’s our duty to follow fandom rules (and as I said before yes there are rules and they are linked in this post for anyone who wasn’t aware of that. I didn’t always know either.) . It’s our duty as citizens also to make sure we aren’t doing anything that endangers other people as well. So how can we protect BTS’s privacy and make sure they feel safe with ARMY?

1. DO NOT GO TO THE AIRPORT TO CHASE IDOLS! Unless you are picking someone up, work there in some capacity, are official press with a press pass (not a blogger or fan site), or are traveling you have no business at the airport. Crowds of fans are a safety hazard and can also cause problems for other travelers. You do not need to be there in the way. 

2. Stop consuming airport content. If the content is no longer popular then people going there to get video and pics of idols will have to figure out other content and less people will go to the airport to try to get pic and video for attention. 

3. Stop sharing unauthorized photos. These are any photos that were not shared by Hybe, the guys, any official sources like brands they have endorsements with or shows they have been on, and people also in the industry. Posting their locations while they are on private schedules can be dangerous. People with ill intentions will know where to find them on their private time.

4. Never share any address, phone number, or travel information for the members. If you see anyone sharing it take screenshots with their info and get links to the page where the info is and send to BigHit legal New Hybe Report Link

     If we work together we can see to it that they are a bit safer every day. At the core of all of this is that real ARMY treats BTS like the human beings they are and respects them and they respect ARMY. 

Hate Campaigns Against BTS and What We Can Do About Them

photo credit: Shamia Casiano via Pexels

(Note: I was going to post this tomorrow morning because Monday is the day I decided to post new posts. Given the current situation with Tae now being targeted by fake activists and them dragging Namjoon into it through his IG I am so mad I figured I would add to this and post today. We have to band together as ARMY and fight for our artists.)

  Some of the most evil, disgusting, malicious lies I have ever seen anyone tell about another human being came from antis on Twitter and were directed towards BTS. Before I got into BTS which drew me into the K-pop world, I never knew that people sat around behind the computer and just made up lies about singers. Gossip rags, sure, but I didn't think regular people did things like that. Gossip writers do it to sell magazines and it's trash so people know not to take it seriously. I knew that this kind of thing existed in politics but the extent of fan wars in K-pop has got to be next level garbage.  

     In July 2015, BTS faced death threats online from antis during their Episode II: Red Bullet tour stop in New York. They performed for about two hours and the show was cancelled after staff noticed death threats on social media being made against RM. One of the tweets was a hand holding a gun with the caption saying something like they were on their way and RIP RM. There was a fan meet scheduled that was also cancelled. It's one thing to say you don't like a group's music or you don't like their style but threatening to murder someone is on a whole other level of crazy. It takes a special kind of psycho to do some of these things.

         A year later they faced the Break Wings project. This coordinated hate campaign was started by several other fandoms when BTS's album "Wings" was released in 2016.  I'm not naming fandoms here because I don't want to get into fan wars but if you follow the links or look into it on your own there's plenty of information on who was involved. This was the big incident where they were accused of inflating sales of their albums. This subject was revisited once again this year as a part of the whole Min Hee-Jin fiasco. They were investigated for sajaegi (boosting chart rankings through illegal means using artificially inflated album sales) twice and were cleared of any wrongdoing both times. Here is a link to a Pinterest account that kept receipts from that time including group chat conversations and tweet screenshots. These fans basically got jealous that their groups were being outdone by BTS who were only three years old at the time and escalated their jealous lies into a sajaegi investigation. 

     Break Wings failed miserably but it still left a mark on BTS and the fandom emotionally. I feel like finding out about this and other hate trains against them and how they have come through it strong and with integrity intact makes me love and respect them more. This is also why some ARMY don't feel the need to befriend other fandoms and that's perfectly fine because nothing says we have to be friends. We owe these other fandoms nothing. What I do feel though is that I will be civil and not engage in fan wars.  

      The malice aimed at RM (Kim Namjoon), the leader of BTS, has seemed to increase off and on whenever a member of BTS (whether it is him or not) releases an album or single. Jimin is the member with the latest release and last week I was hearing about a hate campaign antis started against Namjoon on Twitter. It reminded me of the cancel campaign that a certain fandom of a girl group started against Namjoon over a Frank Ocean song. They tried to paint him as Islamophobic because he shared the song (which is in no way anti-Muslim and neither is Namjoon). When it was pointed out that the group they stan also liked the 12 year old song, shared the same song on social media, and had even attended a Frank Ocean concert they ignored it. A Frank Ocean fan page came into the picture to drop the truth complete with notes on the interpretation of the song. A couple of TikTokers joined in and added their lies to the fire saying Namjoon wrote the song (he did not) and trying to connect him to unrelated social issues going on between religions in South Korea at the time. The next time Namjoon went live the comment section was full of harassing comments asking him to apologize to Muslim ARMYs for sharing the song. He said he wasn't apologizing as he had done nothing wrong. I was so proud of him at that moment for standing his ground because people like being loud and wrong and acting self-righteous when they jump on these hate trains. They were wrong and were explained in detail why they were wrong and they decided to be willfully ignorant because hate and anger to these kinds of people (antis) is a way for them to project their personal issues onto others. 

     BTS have faced so much malice and hate from the beginning and it continues. Not getting into politics but all those fake performative activism campaigns people have been spamming on Weverse began as hate campaigns from other fandoms too. These never were genuine calls to help and if they were, they would never have been all over our space for BTS. They would use larger platforms and do things like set up fundraisers for donations or start letter writing campaigns to political leaders and not spam our fan letters pages trying to make idols say something publicly that they want them to say. They are using politics and religion to distract us from voting, streaming, and buying merchandise (particularly streaming). Before you engage  any activity that is aimed at hurting the boys, ask yourself what the motivation is. I have seen the tweets and group chats planning this too and they have long since been copied and sent to Hybe. Here is an article that explains why all of this performative activism aimed at forcing celebrities to talk is useless. This says it better than I ever could. Thanks to the ARMY who sent me this article.

     As I am editing this now, there is a hate train going against Taehyung on Weverse. Tae posted some old photos of him on vacation and in one of the pictures he is holding a McDonald's french fry package that is used in children's Happy Meals. The comparison to how large his hand is and how small the package is is so cute. Of course our usual suspects the ever annoying pain in the ass performative activists have made their way back to Weverse to protest Tae and his McDonald's package that's from 2022! So I guess they are going to go back and attack every single post of anyone that shares MCD or Starbucks from the dawn of time. Be serious. This is all so out of hand. ARMY's are on it reporting to Hybe BigHit but these people are so absurd. They come in with these gas lighting comments that abusers use against their victims saying "we love you but..." and "I support you but..." --no one cares! Weverse is not the place for their fake activism and our guys do not deserve this. 

   When I found out what happened to Tablo of Epik High (a close friend of BTS who collabs on "All Day" with RM and was in an episode of Suchwita with Yoongi), it made me really sad and angry, but I have so much respect for him and how he persevered through having netizens try to destroy him. Someone started the whole hate campaign against him in a chat room all because they were jealous of him going to an Ivy League school and getting two degrees. Jealousy over a brilliant rapper who is a genius who tells it like it is but at the same time is a kind sweet guy just living his life. Sounds like someone else we know and love (Namjoon).  

     So who are these people and why to they do some of the evil things they do? We use the terms "antis" and "sasaengs" to describe haters. They come from every walk of life just like proper fans do. They often "token stan" a group or artist to hide their hate behind liking another artist. Say a hater decides they don't like "A" and want to make hating on "A" their whole personality. Instead of hating on "A" outright they decide to stan "B" so they just look like a passionate fan. They may not even pay attention to "B"'s music or content. They just pretend to stan them so they can justify their hate towards "A" and find others who will agree with them because as they say, misery loves company. 

      BTS was not with a company that was one of the Big 3 at the time they debuted (top 3 rich successful Kpop agencies/labels) and Big Hit was close to bankruptcy. They pulled themselves out of that through hard work and dedication. The main groups that were big 3 that had been on top at the time took offense to that. 

I say groups here because some of these groups actively participated in the accusations hurled at BTS. They were treated by their seniors (older artists in the same field) like the younger step siblings that were never supposed to have nice things and when they earned those things (strong organic sales, loving dedicated fans, national and international recognition) the ones used to getting praised got jealous of the new kids and their fandoms ganged up to attack. 

     What confuses me and always will about the whole thing is that coming from nowhere and working hard to be successful and succeeding is supposed to be ideal. From what I know of Korean culture, how Koreans fought to reclaim their land after the Japanese occupation, and how the economy was able to boom in a short time to become a force on the world stage, BTS's success should be seen as a thing of pride and basically how people should be living. Hard work and dedication and a love of what you do for a living. It baffles me that there have been tons of netizens and media ready to take them down for doing what every one tells their kids to do - work hard and you can achieve your dreams. I guess ultimately it boils down to jealousy and the people who are not where they want to be just decide to use their frustration at their own failures or perceived failures as a reason to dump their negativity onto other people. Celebrities become a target because no one expects them to fight back. If they do, especially in Kpop culture, they may be seen as rude or disrespectful to fans.

     There is a K-drama on Netflix called "Celebrity" and in it there is a group of women who are rich influencers competing with each other for social media dominance. There is an outside person pulling the strings and controlling who gets to be on top of the social circle of these women. The last few episodes really made me think about Kpop fan wars and how you never really know who is behind the keyboard. The lifestyle and psychological profile of the anonymous person seems dead on what I think antis are like in real life. 

     It's hard not to jump in and argue back with haters and defend BTS openly when they receive hate. All that does though is give the trolls what they want and that's an audience and engagement. Some "shooters" (people who fight trolls back on the internet on the behalf of their fandom) will say that they are just "returning the same energy." I used to agree with that though I never used to participate. What I noticed is that it's useless. They don't want to learn from their mistakes so calmly correcting them does nothing and as the saying from Lemony Snicket goes, " If everyone fought fire with fire, the whole world would go up in smoke." I've seen antis take a small comment back to them and escalate that to death threats and threatening to expose user information. It's not worth all of that drama in my opinion. I would much rather see these people get sued by Big Hit/ Hybe and have their accounts suspended or banned permanently from the platforms they spread hate on.

     Whenever you see malicious comments, photos, plans to attack or disrupt Weverse or any space frequented by BTS and ARMY you can report these things to Big Hit/ Hybe's legal team and they will review it and seek legal action. They update us periodically about cases in the works and cases that are finished. This is why you will see ARMY getting excited about certain "This is Big Hit" notifications and talking about karma being an ARMY along with those announcements. People think that free speech means saying what you want to without consequences and that's wrong. You can certainly say whatever you want but you are never exempt from the consequences whatever they may be.

     Here's how I send Big Hit reports:

1. Take screenshots of all the evidence that antis are talking negatively about BTS (don't bother with small scale stuff like "flopping" and "they suck" because that's not what we mean). Anything threatening their sales or streams (boycotts), threats against their lives or families lives, saying they inflate sales illegally, any accusations of criminal activity, allegations of plagiarism, and anything else that defames their character including political posts harrassing them to speak on this or that. It's still harrassment 
2. Keep a list of links for every screenshot you have. These antis like to run their mouths then go private or lock their accounts, some even temporarily deactivate to try to avoid the consequences. This is why we get screenshots first for proof then links because links may disappear later.
3. Keep it off of the timeline. Posting on your page to rant about it or share to others to block the person or report only spreads it. Unfortunately this is how things work. You'll get people commenting under your post asking what happened. Keep the conversation to DMs or group chats only. Being curious is natural but giving in and talking about it in your comments makes others aware of it and is one other post about to added to the lot. 
4.  Send info to Hybe/Big Hit via this new portal to report info Hybe Reporting Portal (updated 09/2024) Fill out the form as much as you can. In Chrome browser you can easily automatically translate the page to English or other languages. 

     I think there will always be antis because there will always be a jealous hater somewhere. The more successful and the nicer you are the more they seem to pop up. The way we handle them by collecting info to send to Big Hit, reporting, and blocking rather than engaging with them is better than wasting time arguing with some brainless troll on the internet. We get the satisfaction eventually of the Big Hit legal emails reassuring us that they are taking legal action against these offenders. Maybe one day they will learn if they can't be nice to say nothing at all.