K-Pop fandoms: the complex community built from a love of music
Co-written by Amanda Lopez and Verónica Bastardo
Hallyu or the Korean Wave in music isn’t a recent concept. The soft-power of South Korea in the cultural market has been in constant increase circa 2007 with the international success of music acts like Girls Generation. The year 2012 gave us the worldwide phenomenon that was ‘Gangnam Style’ by PSY, and 2017 marks Hallyu’s initial peak with BTS winning at the Billboard Music Awards and performing at the American Music Awards. This introduced the flow of many more Korean pop artists in different genres to a global audience. However, what’s the big “secret” of the success of this industry? While we don’t have the full answer, we sure know a key and indispensable part of it: fan community and organization.
On the internet you’ll find a decent amount of derogatory posts about K-Pop fans with a negative sentiment that even the media pushes. There are Quora forums asking “What K-pop fandom should I be scared of?”, subreddits talking about how scary stans are, and that viral tweet that began a meme from 2019 that said “I only fear BTS stans and no one else”. A large part of that fear comes from how passionate and organized these communities are — from defending their idols from targeted hate to charting their music, sharing fancams, and translating their latest updates — the list is endless for how much these communities do.
One of the avenues that shows the versatility of K-Pop fans is the written word. Within fandoms there are researchers, journalists, creative writers, and so on. In December 2020, Wooseok Ki, graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, published K-Pop: The Odyssey: Your Gateway to the Global K-Pop Phenomenon. The book is a comprehensive resource for the reader to gain a foundational understanding of K-Pop. The overarching themes deal with the artist, the industry, and the fandom.
Ki dove into the world of K-Pop fan culture while researching for his book. He noted that fandom culture is not something that can be learned from news articles, “You have to be participating in the fandom activities or at least making friends within the fandom in order to understand what’s going on.”
By participating you’ll notice the serious level of organization within these fan communities in order to operate as a supportive arm of their idols. You’ll also see a diverse audience whose interests and ways of connection are as vast as the world itself. A key character inside these spaces is the figure of “translators”, a sort of back-bone for non-Korean speaking fans, whose work is essential to bridge the language gap, specifically for lives or content that isn’t officially translated by Korean labels.
“It is something so different that most people haven’t seen up until that point. Because first of all, it’s a foreign language for the majority of international fans. It’s a language that they don’t understand so they have to put in the effort to dissect it,” Ki said.
The translator’s universe is filled with small, big, individual and collaborative accounts mainly on twitter and focused on one artist or group by profile, which are leadered and curated by fans. Hyun, a K-Pop fan who works as a translator for P1Harmony and ENHYPEN in two different fanbase accounts, says that as Korean-American her main motivation to translate was a way to reconnect with her enthic background, “translating really helped me to learn more about Korean culture because I get to know the context behind everything and it helped me practice my Korean, so that’s why I started it as a hobby.”
Eunjoo, a translator teammate of Hyun who works in three more fanbases for groups NCT Dream, BTOB and The Boyz, explained that she started some translations accounts recalling how she felt with English music before learning the language itself.
“When I started listening to American music before moving to the United States and really learning English, me and my friends would watch a lot of interviews and videos without knowing what they were saying, and Korean wasn’t really popular at the time, so there weren’t many Korean translations that we could look at. So once K-Pop became more popular and more groups got in the media, I kinda realized that international fans could have the same problem I had with American music all those years ago.”
Accounts like Update_TheBoyz, which have a large number of followers and update/translate about a very active group, operate as a team with several members with post schedules and a bit of inside hierarchy in order to provide accurate information and avoid as many mistakes as they can. It is unpaid work and a hobby for them, but they take their process seriously and care about the commitment of the team members.
“The trust factor is an important part. Like an evaluation before having full access, put them to translate a few things or talk to them in Korean, to check they’re not using Google Translator. Also, everyone has to get along. It isn’t just work in the group chat, but casual things too, to build up that trust”, explained Eunjoo.
There are also smaller translation accounts run by just one person but the same amount of work and passion goes in each new update. Talking with Sai, the admin of the @chebulsubs — account dedicated to translating content from Korean girl group Cherry Bullet — “I try to be as fast as I can while translating, juggling college and translating for the girls is a little hard but I manage.”
However, she has an interesting way of organizing and updating the content in order to make it easier for fans and herself, “I divide content by the social media platform it was uploaded on and by the members. I use their hashtags so it is easier to find.”
It’s because of the amount of dedication K-Pop fans put in their activities that Ki described the fan culture as a vast world that can be overwhelming for people just entering it.
“I think being in a fandom, there is an authenticity factor. You can’t just be a fake fan and write an ethnography because deep down you’re going to cringe and say ‘I don’t get what’s going on with these guys.’ But if it’s an organic process then you start to empathize why fans feel this way because part of you feels this way as well.”
It might seem random and confusing to arrive at the K-Pop stan social media world and find yourself with people translating Twitter or Instagram updates and live streaming from their idols, or to see accounts dedicated to quote lyrics of their songs at random times of the day, updates about their upcoming events or research about their fashion choices — this last one being very popular among K-Pop fans.
There are multiple instances where articles of clothing were sold out after being worn by a Korean idol once fanbases identified the item. Examples of that are BTS’ V DOSSY pajamas after posting a picture in Twitter in May 24th 2020 updated by @bts_stylish, Blackpink’s Jennie black ALYX dress after her Instagram update in July 19th of 2019 shared by @blackpinksstyle, or Red Velvet’s Irene FLEAMADONNA blazer in her airport fashion on January 24th of 2020 identified by @styleby_rv (now @stylebyrv5).
In the conversation with Ki he talked about how social media has connected K-Pop and everyone around the world and this phenomenon with fashion items is an example of it.
“Fashion is a big part of K-Pop and a lot of fans get inspired with Korean idols’ style so hopefully I can help them follow that style” explained the owner of Stylebyrv5.
Their account is one of the main sources of clothes and accessories related to Red Velvet from their wardrobe in official promotions, to members’ personal social media updates and even airport fashion (a popular most-expected look among fans when traveling was a thing before the pandemic).
“Finding the items is very satisfying but I especially love it every time someone tells me they actually want to buy something they saw on my post!” Stylebyrv5 said.
The “finding the items” part is one of the main challenges the admins of these types of accounts face when creating content. Stylebyrv5 explains that depending on the item the research can take 10 minutes or hours, “It gets easier the more you do it though, get familiar with the idol’s personal style, what brands they wear and where to look for them.”
This process shows that fanbases go through a detailed and careful process to properly curate information for other thousands of fans and followers who trust them.
In terms of organization Jae, admin of Gidlefashion on Instagram, prioritizes the content by posting the most recent events outfits first “and then any other pieces I find along the way from older events, I’ll post them scattered in between.”
This method allows for a wider range of outfit reference and each post includes the brand and price, which allows for more specific information for interested fans.
“It can be overwhelming at times…the pressure to post every outfit and be the first to do it. I personally sometimes struggle balancing the account with life in general like work, family and studying”, Jae added.
This is a sentiment other fanbases face while running their accounts given the amount of followers most of them have amassed, and the fact that there are humans behind every username. Content mistakes, life itself and teamwork can be a challenge too.
“But we tried to cope up and find a solution. Whenever we face a lack of active admins, we immediately post a form for recruiting new admins; and when we make mistakes, we post statements and apologies”, explained Hanie, who is also part of the @Update_TheBoyz admins team.
However, there is a fulfilling side,of course: the learning process, making friends and having fun.
“I really enjoy running this account and learning about fashion as I go is an added bonus. Through this I’ve discovered (G)I-DLE’s music and as silly as it may sound, this group has helped me through some of my darkest times,” shared Jae.
“It may be tough and makes you feel anxious at times, but translating is fulfilling. Not only do you get to practice translating between different languages, but you also get to meet a lot of fans all over the world who share the same interest as you.” J spoke about the stan twitter world experience as a translator for the boy group Stray Kids.
“I met a lot of friends through this account, such as fellow translators and fans from other countries, and I am really thankful as they made my fangirling experience so much better and exciting.”
The K-Pop fandom spaces are far from being just this idea of an intimidating place where random people scream and fight over idols. In fact, you’ll mostly find a diverse and committed audience coming with creative activities and dedicating a valuable time of their lives to something they love, where they find other people to share their passions with and where they tell their own stories, experiences and realities, far from the biased lens of the traditional entertainment media.
“I guess that was the main reason why I started translating — to spread love and positivity,” J said.
Another way fans are able to spread positivity and support their favorite idols is through emulating the choreography and passionate dancers form teams. In recent years, K-Pop dance covers have become more and more popular as intricate choreography has become a bigger focus in the K-Pop industry. Teams like Prism Kru, a Chicago based team formed in 2013, have even had members who were able to perform as backup dancers with BTS when they toured in the United States.
Sally, founder of Prism Kru, emphasized the sense of community she feels from being involved in the team.
“If you’re a K-Pop stan, it’s kind of lonely if you’re just by yourself. You always want to have K-Pop besties so you can go to cup sleeve events together every weekend and attend concerts together,” she said.
She also noted that as these fans are able to meet one another through activities, they also go on to make their own events. An example of this is the Happy Taeyong Day cup sleeve event Sally held on June 26 and 27 in Chicago to celebrate the NCT member’s birthday. Cup sleeve events, which are popular celebrations for K-Pop idols birthdays and achievements, allow fans to not only purchase the drink with the special cup sleeve featuring the idol, but also meet one another offline, take photos, and make friends.
Sally describes it as a “for the community, by the community” type of event. While it was her first time hosting one, she had attended previous ones and helped other friends host theirs.
“It’s super fun. You’re happy to see people come to your event and meet new people,” Sally said. “I just really love meeting new K-Pop fans and meeting new friends in general. My ultimate bias is Taeyong so I just wanted to do something special for his birthday and find other fans who also like him. It’s kind of fun, like just throwing a birthday party for someone.”
Reflecting on his experience in the K-Pop community and research for his book, Ki noted that the Korean music industry has always had fan clubs and fan cafes, but today’s level of international prowess is both unforeseen and unprecedented.
“Social media has really connected K-Pop — is connecting everyone around the world,” Ki said. “We’re living in an age where you don’t have to travel to another country to share ideas anymore. There’s this very serendipitous moment where it’s happening in an age where people are already interconnected and it helped it.”
