Twitter and K-pop Fandoms
Fandoms have been around since the beginning of time. Being part of a community where you can share your same interests and happiness with love for a group makes the K-pop fandom unique. Having a group of people who wants the best for you, whether that be happiness, learning to love yourself-pop or Korean pop, is a music genre from South Korea.
Within the last couple of years, the K-pop community on Twitter has seemed to increase due to K-pop making its way into the mainstream radio and music industry. With the rise of Korean pop music, there are fandoms, and new members want to get to know the band or group more and maybe even become part of the fandoms. With the K-pop fandom itself, there are many sub-fandom groups. Think of the term fandom being a hierarchy; within the hierarchy triangle, subcategories represent a different brand or group. Within each of those fandoms, there is a hierarchy of how to become a “stan.”
I highly recommend checking this website out to know the guide on how to stan a group.
As a K-pop fan myself, I wanted to talk about K-pop fandoms on Twitter because I have always been fascinated with how the community on the app can go from being a good safe, happy space to one where you might question if being part of a fandom is worth it. While most fandoms are kind and will happily accept you into the fandom, some can be strict and toxic to the point where you might either distance yourself from the Twitter community all at once or stop interacting with the group.
Below I have attached a couple of screenshots of some fandom accounts being negative.
In the photos above, a group of people aggressively and negatively tells another K-pop fan that they are wrong for liking multiple fandoms. The two bullies tell the person that they do not even stan famous K-pop boy band BTS. For not stanning or wanting the best for the boy band BTS, the two-members attacked them into supporting BTS and only BTS, or else the person is not a real fan.
Account Rainbow Kpop made a quote I found interesting to describe best how toxic a fandom can be, and it states, “A toxic fan is one who puts down other artists just to support their faves, gets overly aggressive about everything and tries to shove their faves content down your throat.”
With every bad thing, there is a good one. A few things that make me happy to be part of fandom those being, we bring issues occurring in the world to light, we encourage to speak on taboo topics such as mental health, and we are a community like family. Just as much as we love the idols we love, we love our fandom members just as much.
Being able to bring awareness to issues occurring in the world or within the community is what makes fandoms awesome. With the app Twitter being carefree and allowing you to post information how it is, it is helpful to inform you on anything ranging from an organization needing help to help stop racism within the music and entertainment industry. Many fandoms encourage you to ask for help if you have a mental illness. If you need someone to talk to, there are many group chats within the Twitter fandom community to become a part of. By being part of a group, you become part of this family that wishes you great things just as they would their idols they stan. Do not think that fandoms are just a group of people fangirling over idols; it is much more than that. It is a group of people who are there to listen to you in a time of need, support you during the good and bad times, and want you to be happy and healthy mentally and physically. These fandoms encourage you to try out your new hobbies, to help you learn the Korean language.
While Twitter is a site for entertainment and news, this app allows you to be a part of fandoms that you have always liked or wanted to be a part of. It is fantastic to see how a group such as K-pop fandoms can bring awareness to issues to encourage speaking on taboo topics. The K-pop fandoms are always to keep each other happy and well. We continue to share stories from the K-pop industry and watch them grow together.
Questions to Consider:
- Are you in any fandoms? If so which one?
- What do you think of the K-pop fandom?
- What are some qualities you like about the K-pop fandom?
- If you could change one thing about the fandom what would it be?
