SOCIAL MEDIA, CELEBRITY AND FANS:

A STUDY OF INDONESIAN K-POP FANS

Evi Farsiah Utami

0332987

Master Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the

degree of Master of Communication

TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY
2019

1
 Abstract

Korean Wave entertainment products like K-pop are increasingly enjoyed by worldwide
audiences and acknowledged as part of lived experience through the help of online platform.
Not only making the circulation and distribution of K-pop content easier and faster, social media
also insinuate a possibility for the K-pop celebrity to cultivate, preserve and sustain their
relationship with fans across the world. This study aimed to discover the current circumstances
between the celebrity and fans in the age of social media by examining the fans of K-pop group
BTS using the qualitative approach. In doing so, the study explored two elements that are
considered prominent in influencing the modern fandom practices, the social media dependency
and the notion of parasocial experience. The findings further clarified that the fans indeed
experienced the parasocial effect from the online contents and their dependency toward social
media also strengthened the parasocial occurrence due to the constant exposure of the contents.
This study further validates the notion that social media is becoming a prominent bridge for both
the celebrity and fans to be connected with each other on a seemingly intimate level.

Keywords: Parasocial Relationship, Parasocial Interaction, Social Media Dependency, Celebrity,

Fans, K-pop

Acknowledgement
The author wants to express deep gratitude to the astounding Dr Nurzihan Hassim as the research
supervisor in this study, for her patient guidance, generous feedback and enthusiastic
encouragement during the process of this research.

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Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................................4

1.1Problem Statement ..................................................................................................................5
1.2 Objective and Research Questions .........................................................................................7
1.3 Significance of The Study ......................................................................................................7
2.0 Literature Review.......................................................................................................................9
2.1 New Korean Wave Era ...........................................................................................................9
2.2 The Media Dependency of Fans ...........................................................................................10
2.3 The Parasocial Experience Between Celebrity and Fans .....................................................10
2.4 The K-pop Fandom Practices ...............................................................................................12
3.0 Research Methodology ............................................................................................................14
3.1 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................14
3.2 Sample of The Study ............................................................................................................16
3.3 Data Collection Instrument ..................................................................................................18
3.4 Data Analyses Method .........................................................................................................19
4.0 Analysis and Findings ..............................................................................................................20
4.1 The Extent of The Celebrity’s Influence ..............................................................................21
4.2 The Fans’ Social Media Dependency...................................................................................23
4.3 The Parasocial Experience in Social Media .........................................................................25
4.0 Discussion and Conclusion ......................................................................................................28

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1.0 Introduction

Since the turn of the 21st century and along with the advent of online media platform, South
Korea became the new king of Asia with its Korean Wave or also known as Hallyu immense
popularity. The Korean Wave term was first used in 2000 by a Chinese media outlet as a
descriptive label to illustrate the enormous and sudden burst of popularity of Korean
entertainment product in China (Hogarth, 2013). Firstly, Korean Wave began its penetration to
other countries through the export of K-drama and K-pop music. According to Jin (2018), the
initiation of Korean Wave was mainly started in East and Southeast Asia; it began with few
Korean TV dramas, such as Winter Sonata in 2002 and Dae Jang Geum in 2003, which then
followed by the craze over K-pop artists, such as BoA, Super Junior and Girl's Generation in the
late 2000s.

Korean Wave creates the ‘Korean' craze in the Asian countries with the similar and familiar
cultural proximity, such as Japan, Hongkong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and many more
(Jeong, Lee & Lee, 2017). Messaris (2016) study described how the infatuation toward Korean
Wave translates into a lot of great benefit for South Korea creative economy industries, started
from the continuous import of beauty products and the poignant influence of K-pop and K-drama
in global audiences’ lifestyle. As seen from Jin (2018) and Kwon & Kim (2013) studies, South
Korea advanced technologies and their adequate internet speed and reach helps accelerate the
spread of Korean Wave products to the maximum and K-pop was the most benefitted sector
since the proliferation of social networking sites because of the easy and practical online
circulation of K-pop flashy music videos. Jin & Yoon (2014) study also emphasized the
important fact that international fans mainly consumed K-pop music through the user-generated
type of social media platform like YouTube, after they learned about the popularity of K-pop
cultural forms from the other social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. These practices further
help K-pop to gain momentum into worldwide domination.

In a similar vein, the recent evidence for K-pop successful global infiltration through the
help of social networking sites can be seen from when an unprecedented K-pop boyband, BTS,
miraculously snatched the awards from Billboard Music Award (BBMA) as Top Social Media
Artist for two consecutive years in 2017 and 2018 (Lipshutz, 2017; Cirisano, 2018). After their
first international achievement in 2017, BTS continuously paved their way up in the United

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States. BTS became the first K-pop boyband to top the Billboard 200 album charts and this
prominent achievement was acquired with Korean song, instead of English song (Caulfield,
2018). Their achievements as a musician and K-pop artist were brought to them by none other
than their loyal fandom known as ARMY. The fans’ love and loyalty seemingly rooted from the
fact that BTS' members continuously nurturing their fans in a routine manner through their
ubiquitous social media account and channel. By January 2018, Twitter celebrated BTS new
milestone, as their official account hits a remarkable number of 12 million followers and makes
them the most followed Korean account in Twitter (Herman, 2018), and the number of followers
growing up until 18.5 million followers by March 2019. BTS' social media prowess has spurred
much of the group's successes. Through the power of social media, their fans made them what
they are now, a global superstar.

The recent milestones marked by BTS achievements as the representative of K-pop in the
late two years had already insinuated the discussions on how fans and celebrity can connect with
each other in a whole new intimate level and establish an even closer relationship through social
media platform, despite the distinct differences in culture and language. Many Korean Wave
studies already dwelled into the mechanism behind the dissemination of Korean culture, but none
of it related the K-pop context with the relationship of the celebrity, social media and fans. Thus,
the study explored the BTS’s fans in Indonesia using the media dependency theory, along with
the parasocial interaction (PSI) and parasocial relationship (PSR) conceptual framework to laid
down a path toward a deeper and better apprehension of K-pop fans’ practices in the age of social
media.

1.1 Problem Statement

Social media channels such as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are improving
the way in which celebrities communicate with their fans, as it becomes the ideal environment
for creating communities, establishing relationships and reinforcing values with many people at
one time, as portrayed in Frederick, Lim, Clavio & Walsh (2012) study. The findings emphasized
the notion in which fans from all over the world can develop a closer bond with their favorite
artist from different region or continent, as they can mingle and interact with them through social
media. According to media dependency notion, the extent to which individuals specifically

5
access a specific medium's information to achieve a specific goal impacts the intensity of their
dependency relations (Maxian, 2014), which translates to the possibility that the fans could think
of social media as a crucial necessity to indulge further into the online interaction between them
and their favorite celebrity. Agreed to that particular notion, Rosaen & Dibble (2016) findings
in their study also described how the reliability toward the media can strengthen the impact of
the other possible media effect that might emerge from celebrities’ interaction with fans on the
online sphere. Furthermore, Rihl & Wegener (2017) findings claimed that frequent social media
users can also form an emotional attachment with the celebrities or media persona featured on
the online platform due to the constant exposure, as formulated theoretically in the psychological
concepts of parasocial interaction and relationship. This shows that there is a correlation between
media dependency and the other effect that follows. Thus, it is important to highlight the
connection between the fans’ media dependency and how it correlates to the possible media
effect like parasocial interaction and relationship, as an effort to shed some light upon the current
circumstances of the K-pop fans in the age of social media.

Prior researches had already disseminated the consumption, progress, and mechanism
behind the successful export and penetration of transnational Korean Wave to other countries
(Hogarth, 2013; Kwon & Kim, 2013; Peichi, 2013; Jin & Yoon, 2014). Unfortunately, the
number of studies in which scrutinizing the Korean Wave content and the audiences remained
relatively limited (Jeong et al., 2017; Yoon, 2017; Oh, 2017; Jin, 2018), even more limited for
the study which correlates social media and K-pop fans (Jung & Shim, 2013). The previous scope
in Jeong et al. (2017) study focuses on the cultural value of the Korean Wave enthusiasts in
Indonesia, but the respondents did not actively participate in the K-pop fandom, and the previous
scope in Jung & Shim (2013) study mainly scrutinizes the social media distribution of K-pop
practices in Indonesia using the case study of Gangnam Style phenomenon, but it did not
specifically address the drives behind the fans’ devotion or the media effect that follows. This
indicates that there are a necessity and opportunity to conduct more detailed research to provide
deeper insights into the K-pop fans in Indonesia.

As explained above, compare to the huge Korean Wave market in Indonesia, the researches
done upon the relationship between social media, celebrities, and fans in the Korean Wave
context are still relatively insufficient. This study attempted to close the existing gap by

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exploring and unravel how the relationship between celebrity and fans are formed in the online
platform, in accordance with Yates (2015) suggestion that future investigation about the
relationship between fans and celebrity should be based on the interactive media offered via the
internet. Therefore, this study explored the BTS’s fans reliance on social media and how it
correlated with the media effect like the parasocial notion from the fans’ social media practice.
This study also went hand-in-hand with the recent evidence of social media’s prominent role in
K-pop and the latest phenomenon brought by fans’ obsession over the sensational K-pop
boyband, BTS.

1.2 Objective and Research Questions

The main goal of this study is to unravel the whole episode behind the fans and celebrity
relationship in the age of social media by examining BTS’s fans in Indonesia as the subject of
the study. In doing so, the study will explore the two elements that are considered prominent in
influencing the modern fandom practices, the fans’ social media dependency and the notion of
parasocial concept - parasocial interaction (PSI) and parasocial relationship (PSR) - that might
emerge from the celebrities’ online activities in the social media. In order to achieve these
objectives, the following research questions were asked:

RQ1: What is the extent of BTS’s influence on their fan?

RQ2: How is the BTS fan’s social media use pattern and dependency?

RQ3: Why BTS’s parasocial interaction enhances the parasocial relationship with the fan?

1.3 Significance of the study

The topic of this study considered crucial due to the scarcity of K-pop fans studies. The
fact that media dependency and parasocial notions are the possible variables between fans and
the celebrities has been studied for decades, but to relate it with the current Korean Wave
phenomenon will be considered as an interesting addition of scientific literature to enrich the
media studies in general. Furthermore, the result of the study will help to provide a better

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apprehension on the current circumstances of the modern K-pop fans in the developing country
like Indonesia. The whole study will also be an eye-opener for K-pop enthusiasts, as this study
will enlighten them on how social media has become an important bridge in their fandom
practices.

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2.0 Literature Review

2.1 New Korean Wave Era

Korean Wave has been understood as the predecessor of Cool Japan, the booming Japanese
popular culture era in the 1990s and early 2000s, but the spread and impact are far bigger and
monumental than Cool Japan (Hong, 2014) because instead of looking at it as a temporary
trend, the South Korean government recognizes Korean Wave commercial viability and
economic value. Kwon & Kim (2013) study claimed that for the past 10 more years, South
Korean government has implemented comprehensive and ongoing promotion programs for the
cultural industries as it is seen as an important contributor in the economic and political sector.

In a similar vein, Peichi (2013) claimed that Korean Wave has long been considered as a
central strategy to enhance and impose the Korean cultural diplomacy to other countries. This
became evident in the case of New Korean Wave or also known as Hallyu 2.0, which
designates a new development of Korean Wave in the late 2000s that was characterized by the
state support on the Korean entertainment industry and investment on high-tech internet
infrastructure (Jeong et al., 2017). Furthermore, South Korean government also take
advantages from the digitalization of free Korean Wave content by capitalizing the popularity
of Korean media culture in the nearby regional markets, like Japan, Hongkong, Singapore,
Indonesia, and many other East and Southeast Asian countries (Peichi, 2013). Derived from
Hogarth (2013) study, Korean Wave can also be seen as an alternative option for the Asian
people among the omnipresence of Western content in Asia, as the Korean entertainment
contents carry and reflect the similar Asian values and ethos, but represented in a more
‘modernized’ packages.

Jin & Yoon (2014) further stated that the new phase of the Korean wave in the 2010s,
referred to as New Korean Wave, appears to be more intensive in its popularity and extensive
in its dissemination. The reason was tightly related to the fact that global audiences are
increasingly enjoying popular cultural products such as music, film and other audiovisual
media content through online media, and Korean Wave content is riding on this momentum of
online cultural flows (Jeong et al., 2017). To conclude, New Korean Wave has been understood
as the global penetration of Korean popular culture, especially through social media platforms
and virtually connected fan bases (Yoon, 2018).

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 2.2 The Media Dependency of Fans

The advent of new social media definitely empowers celebrities and allows them to shape
the relationship they have with their fans, independently, outside the context and rule of the
mainstream industry. Hence, any people who want to know more about their favorite idol can
connect with them through social media. In one special case, the unexpected death of Michael
Jackson in which resulted in an online social phenomenon where his fans swarmed to the online
platform to confirmed the devastating news and expressed their griefs has perfectly illustrated
how the fans nowadays are very dependent towards the internet platform to reconcile the
relationship and declare the devotion toward their favorite celebrities (Lee, 2011). Lee (2011)
study described further that people can depend on online communities like fandom, in order to
seek comfort and emotional support, and apparently, it encourages a new culture of modern
fandom in which fans approach social networking sites as a critical necessity in life. In addition
to that, another study by Kim, Kim & Yang (2019) also claimed that the state of fans’
psychological well-being, like loneliness, is positively related to the higher level of
dependency toward the social media platform.

People with the certain psychological problem are found to rely heavily on the media
because the media delivers the opportunity to fulfill their interpersonal needs to form a humane
connection with other people, in this context, with the celebrities (Song et al., 2014). The
imaginary relationship the fans established with the celebrities through social media might
refurbish the overall state of their social and psychological well-being, despite it being an
illusory experience (Iannone, McCarty, Branch & Kelly, 2017).

2.3 The Parasocial Experience Between Celebrity and Fans

Parasocial interaction (PSI) and parasocial relationship (PSR) has been widely understood
as both the psychological and media phenomena concerned with the media users' relationship
with various media figures (Horton & Wohl, 1956; Frederick et al., 2012). Kehrberg (2015)
further explained that the nature of PSI and PSR remains definitively one-sided on the media
users' part and heavily mediated. While media users may feel and act as if they are in a
somewhat normal two ways connection, it is the media figures who control the message

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incorporated into the seemingly real interaction or also known as PSI. Unless the real contact
is made between the media user and the media figure, the relationship will always remain as
parasocial (Frederick et al., 2012). The power of PSI and PSR shines more on the age of social
media, as illustrated in Chung & Cho (2014) study, a celebrity who successfully established
elaborate and well-planned PSI can build a relatively strong PSR with their fans. Strong PSR
with fans means that the celebrity can be an effective brand endorser because the fans valued
their opinion, advice, and recommendation. In accordance with that statement, Rosaen &
Dibble (2016) also claimed that the PSR effect is stronger when similarities exist between
celebrities and viewers in terms of character traits and personal background. These explain
why the young age group is much more prone to the PSR than the older age group, as most of
the celebrities who heavily utilize social media are from the younger generation, as well.

More often than not, the online interactions and social media posts in the celebrities’ social
media account or channel were directed for the sake of image-making, in order to cultivate
love, attention, and loyalty from their social media followers or fans (Kim & Song, 2015). As
a matter of fact, such illusion of intimacy born from the constant forging of PSR between the
celebrity and fan has become a common practice in the online platform; a necessary online
marketing key to contribute to the celebrity's success (Kehrberg, 2015). Although PSR is
largely one-sided, media users will often engage actively rather than passively, in order to
interact with the media figures (Labrecque, 2014).

The findings in Gregg (2018) study illustrated that while under the influence of PSI and
later forming PSR with the media personae in the online platform, the social media users can
also experience a parasocial breakup as the consequence that follows after the sudden discord
with the media personae. The parasocial breakup contains negative elements like resentment,
sadness, and disappointment, which are very similar with the relationship breakup in a real-
life setting (Gregg, 2018), thus, can be a double-edged sword for the media figures. The
findings in Gregg (2018) study further supported the statement by Chung & Cho (2014) that
PSR itself is a great mimic of face-to-face relationship, to the extent where the parties involved
in the relationship sometimes failed to draw a concrete line between what is real and what is
not. Although PSR has the similar characteristics with the real relationship, it generally and

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typically non-reciprocal, as the media figures would neither personally know the audiences nor
have the obligation to maintain ‘real' relationship with them.

2.4 The K-pop Fandom Practices

Fandom definition can be understood as a serious but laid-back activity that is signified by
perseverance, long-term personal effort, self-benefits, a unique ethos existing within the
activity, and participants identifying strongly with their chosen activity (Abercrombie &
Longhurst, 1998; Lee & Yoo, 2015). Specifically, a celebrity fandom is a state of intense
adoration toward a celebrity that is expressed in feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. Since the
proliferation of the internet, online media platform created a broader spectrum for the fandom
practices and fans are now an important part in the celebrities' promotion activities. Galuzka
(2015) study summed up on the new roles that the fans can play in the age of online media and
globalization; sponsors, co-creators of value, stakeholders, investors, and filters. Among the
five possible roles, the most prominent one is the co-creators of value, in which the artist
allowed the fans to engage in a free labor of promoting and co-creating online content about
their beloved artist, like the content creation of meme, parody, fan fiction, reaction video, etc
(Galuzka, 2015; Kehrberg, 2015). This can be followed by indirect or even direct
communication by the artist to reciprocate the fans, which also known as fan service strategy,
where the act of giving becomes a glue that helps tighten up the relationship between the artist
and fans, and to sustain the community itself (Galuzka, 2015).

The same rule and notion of the modern fandom landscape were also applicable in the
Korean Wave context. Along with the fact that Korean Wave is reaching a wider audience now
across the globe through the help of social media, the fans are turning to the same social
networking tools to access Korean Wave content, as illustrated in Jin (2018) study. The
findings illustrated that the Korean Wave enthusiasts’ preference leaning more into social
networking sites as their tool to access and consume Korean Wave, rather than through
traditional media like television broadcasting, as almost every Korean Wave content like K-
pop, K-drama, and K-variety show are available and accessible from social networking sites
and other online platforms (Jin, 2018). For them, consuming Korean popular culture did not
translate to the possession of materials; rather, it implied the participatory processes. The

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amount of independent fan blog, fan site, role-playing SNS' account, English subtitle team, and
fan fiction are increasingly large these days, creating a new set of sub-culture inside the K-
fandom sphere (Oh, 2017). It can be concluded that Korean Wave content has become a cool
and modern lived experience, a phenomenon driven largely by the power of youth fan networks
on social media.

Jung & Shim (2013) study also found that YouTube platform has a crucial role in K-pop's
social distribution in the global market, due to its easy and free access to music content in both
audio and video forms. In a similar vein, Yoon (2018) study also claimed that the increasing
number of online K-pop music video clips have allowed global fans to easily access and remix
K-pop content. Since online media has become recognized as an important medium for K-pop
content circulation and consumption, the K-pop industry in South Korea has begun to
implement social media marketing by forming partnerships for live broadcast and establishing
official K-pop group channel with YouTube (Howard, 2015). Social media channels such as
YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook indeed play a central role in exchanging and receiving new
information about K-pop.

Another study by Yoon (2017) found that K-pop seemed to be appropriated by its overseas
fans as a resource for imagining different and alternative routes of globalization. By consuming
flashy, innocent, naïve and cute imagery of K-pop and its idols, the fans appeared to negotiate
and imagine a softer side of globalization in their cultural belief, which also seemingly works
as an imaginary escape from their daily lives (Yoon, 2017). As a matter of fact, many K-pop
and K-drama fans experienced a time when they were being looked down upon by other non-
fans as Korean popular culture often associated with the notion of low culture (Oh, 2017), but
it did not stop the cultural flow of Korean Wave, as the fans hold a firm belief in their own
likings. The fans’ firm belief seems to derive from constant exposure of the Korean Wave
content in social media and by the omnipresence of Korean products in their daily lives.

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3.0 Research Methodology

The following sections describes the research design, which includes the theoretical
framework, the sample design, along with the data collection instruments and the method of
analysis. Derived from the problem statement and the extant literatures, this study utilized both
the media system dependency (MSD) theory to analyze the fans’ dependency toward the social
media platform and the parasocial interaction and relationship (PSI & PSR) notions to analyze
the media effect that might emerge from the celebrity and fans interactions in social media
platform. Utilizing two different theory will works as a wholesome effort to achieved the
objective of the study.

3.1 Theoretical Framework

Interaction

Dependency

Celebrity Social Media Fans

Relationship

Figure 1: The proposed framework

Derived from the literature review, dependent social media users have higher chances to
establish parasocial relationship with the celebrities or media personas featured online due to
the continuous exposure of parasocial interaction in the online platform. This means that the
media dependency and parasocial notions are related with each other, and this study will utilize
that apprehension to examine the K-pop fans current circumstances in the age of social media.

Media system dependency (MSD) philosophical background has been applied to examine
the relationships between individuals and various types of media, including newspapers, radio,

14
magazines, and television, to explain how various media have different effects on individuals’
activities using the media. MSD theory states that the more the media could meet people’s
demands, the more likely they would depend on the media, thus, addressing the degree of
power media holds to provide information. As a result of that dependency, the media will exert
more influences and control over the users or viewers (Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur, 1976; Yang,
Ha, Wa & Abuljadail, 2015). The theory also posits that the more an individual is dependent
on a certain medium to have his or her needs fulfilled, the more important the medium will be
to that individual for other activities (Hahn & Kim, 2013). Lee (2011) study further elaborated
that the extent of an individual’s dependence on media to attain a goal is contingent upon the
information resources provided by the media.

The dependency relationship has been conceptualized as intensity dependency, referent

dependency, and goal dependency (Yang et al., 2015). Intensity dependency and referent
dependency refers to the strength or the degree of the attachment toward particular media and
the diversity of using media features. Although both intensity and referent dependency are
meant to be measured objectively, it can also be examined through thorough observation. On
the other hand, goal dependency can be measured subjectively as it refers to the goals that are
met such as a necessity on a particular understanding or entertainment (Ball-Rokeach, 1998),
which translates to how it requires an in-depth investigation. Thus, this study utilized those
three concepts of dependency relationship as conceptualized by Ball-Rokeach (1998) to be the
tools to disseminate the fans’ dependency toward the social media platform.

There is also a concern whether the concepts of traditional media dependency can be
applied to the online media, but the study by Maxian (2014) has proven that the flexibility and
seemingly two-way interaction afforded by mobile ICTs did not change the fact that the social
media are powerful because they control information individuals require for goal achievement
(Maxian, 2014), thus, aligned with the core apprehension of media dependency theory.
Media’s power is, in part, based upon the media’s ability to manipulate audiences’ emotional
responses, and that contributes to the parasocial notions that emerge on the social media
platform.

Parasocial phenomena are concepts that remains popular among those who study media
effects. In spite of the vast literature scrutinizing both parasocial interaction (PSI) and

15
parasocial relationship (PSR), Dibble, Hartmann & Rosaen (2015) strongly argued that the
similar concept of PSI and PSR are often fused together despite their different notion,
sometimes leaving the academic scholars in the state of confusion as to which concept is being
discussed. Ferchaud, Grzeslo, Orme & LaGroue (2018) further elaborate that PSI itself is an
illusory experience which occurs during media exposure situation when the media users
observe and perceive a form of PSI from a particular media figure as an intimate reciprocal
social interaction. Often times than not, the PSI gesture was initiated and directed by the media
figures themselves during the exposure situation. On the other hand, PSR is seen as a result
from multiple exposures of PSI, the accumulative experience which extends beyond the
moment of reception itself, forming a closer – but still one-sided – relationship (Rihl &
Wegener, 2017). Basically, PSR is the condition when the audience maintains a longer-term
emotional association with the media figure as if they know each other in real life and further
establish an illusory relationship that usually happens in real-life settings. Compare to the PSI,
PSR is more enduring and long-term, thereby it can also be understood as the media users’
motivation for the regular use of media services (Dibble et al., 2015). PSI and PSR theoretical
concept often used as a tool to disseminate and explain why and how the audience members
seek these illusional relationships, as well as how the media figures strive to create these
relationships with their audiences (Ferchaud et al., 2018).

3.2 Sample of The Study

This study adopted qualitative approach to carry out the research and the individual
interview as the instrument to collect the data. The qualitative approach selected to achieve a
better and deeper understanding of a social phenomenon or issue in natural setting (Morrison,
et al., 2012). Moreover, the approach of qualitative is not meant to be generalized like
quantitative approach, but rather to emphasize meaning, experiences, and views of participants,
which is suitable for the purposes of this study. Koerber and McMichael (2008) stated that
qualitative study utilized various sampling techniques, one of them is snowball sampling. A
snowball sample is simply one where the participants that are selected in the sample list, are
actually suggested by the other participants, which fits the approach and purpose of this study,
as there is a higher chance for a K-pop fan to know the other fan with similar criteria as them.

16
This kind of sample design is to provide accurate insights into the event or phenomenon under
examination.
The number of K-pop fans in Indonesia itself has experienced an exponential growth in the
late five years, due to the popularity of user-generated social media like YouTube, as portrayed
in Jung & Shim (2013) study. As seen from the chart below, the most recent survey conducted
by popular news portal IDN Times in 2019 illustrated that K-pop fans in Indonesia were highly
concentrated in East Java with the total percentages of 32.1 %, while the rest of K-pop fans
scattered quite evenly all around the Indonesian archipelago (Triadanti, Azasya, Barus &
Wardoyo, 2019).

K-POP FANS DISTRIBUTION IN INDONESIA

East Java
23%
West Java
32%
Central Java
5%
DKI Jakarta

16% Banten
18%
6% Other Regions

GENDER FANDOM
BTS EXO
Female Fan Male Fan Got7 BLACKPINK
WannaOne Others

8%
30% 26%

6% 19%
8%
92% 11%

Figure 2: K-pop fans distribution in Indonesia

Source: Triadanti et al. (2019)

The survey further affirmed that most of the identified K-pop fans were dominated by
female gender with 92.1 % and that more than a quarter of K-pop fans revealed to be BTS’s
fans at 26.4% (Triadanti et al., 2019). Therefore, the selection criteria for this study then

17
aligned with the recent evidence of BTS’s global popularity. The selection criteria in this study
then fell under the category of female fan of BTS who resides in East Java. In addition to that,
the selected participants are all a fan of BTS for minimum two years and the purpose of this
particular criteria is to extort more in-depth and accurate insights into their circumstances as a
fan of BTS in the age of social media. The total number of participants in this study are ten
female fans of BTS with various background, most of them are university students and
corporate workers, within the age range of 17 until 27. The summary of the research’s sample
is attached in the table below.

Research Method Sample Size Criteria of Sample

Selection
Individual Interview 10 Participants - Female
(Snowball Sampling) - Resides in East
Java, Indonesia
- Fan of BTS for a
minimum of two
years
Figure 3: The sample design

3.3 Data Collection Instrument

The qualitative individual interview is a face-to-face interaction between a researcher and
a participant, usually conducted in the location where the behavior of interest occurs in natural
settings because the context is very important in determining focus (Morrison et al., 2012).
Conducting qualitative research means getting people to discuss what things mean to them,
and this is more easily accomplished in natural settings than the artificial settings. The
individual interview duration lasted for approximately 20 minutes until 40 minutes, less or
more, and a set of open-ended question guide will be used. Popping (2015) explain that
building the atmosphere and pay attention to the surrounding of the interview place have direct
influence to the result of the interview. Therefore, the interviews were conducted in the cozy
K-pop café in Surabaya which located in East Java and were recorded in audio form.
This study also utilized a semi-structured interview question guide which allows for a
spontaneous response, in-depth insight and honesty from the participants point-of-view. The
individual interview questions guide itself was divided into three parts to discover the extent
of how BTS has influenced the fans’ life, the fans’ dependency toward the social media and

18
the parasocial interaction and relationship that emerge from their social media practices (see
appendix 1). All the questions function as a guide and not the detailed list of the question itself,
and thus can be modified according to the situation.

3.4 Data Analyses Methods

The data were transcribed word-by-word (verbatim) and then a series of the coding
framework were identified. The process of transcription will provide more ease in the analysis
of the data as well as offer the prospect to clarify passages of speech that are difficult to
comprehend. This study adopted a few steps from Schreier (2012) method of qualitative
content analysis (QCA). QCA is a method for describing the meaning of qualitative data in a
systematic way by assigning consecutive parts of the data to the main categories and
subcategories, thus, it is more methodical and flexible. The QCA method also focuses on the
selected aspects of the data to reduce the number of categories that might emerge from the data
as an effort to stay relevant to the research questions (Schreier, 2012).

Building the
Dividing
coding frame
Selecting materials into Interpreting
(main Main analysis
material the coding findings
categories and
frame
subcategories)

Figure 4: Steps in Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA)

Source: Schreier (2012)

The categories were identified and organized using the help of qualitative analysis software
ATLAS.ti. The categories from the analysis then interpreted in the findings in order to answer
the research questions. This paragraph clearly explained how findings from this study were
carried out in order to achieve the research objective, a better apprehension about K-pop fans
circumstances in the age of social media.

19
4.0 Analysis and Findings
In this analysis section, a set of codes were developed according to the collected data,
literature review and the theoretical framework. The main categories and subcategories in the
coding frame were done partly inductively and deductively, as some of the codes were initially
developed from the literature review and the theoretical framework and some of it emerged
from the collected data itself. The first research question was proposed to investigate the extent
of BTS’s influence in their fans’ lives and the author developed the key aspects of celebrity’s
influence, such as loyalty, consolation, inspiration and many others. The second and third main
categories are correlated with the proposed theoretical framework, in which media dependency
and parasocial notions are entangled with each other inside the fandom practices. A set of key
concepts like parasocial interaction, daily necessity, social networks, and many others are
developed to illustrate that apprehension. Summary of the 18 codes extorted from the data
analysis is described in the table below.

No. Codes Total Amount

1. Parasocial 22
Relationship
2. Parasocial 18
Interaction
3. Loyalty 14
4. Motivator 14
5. Media Sharing 12
Networks
6. Groundbreaker 11
7. Reality Content 11
8. Daily Necessity 10
9. Unconditional Love 10
10. Frequent User 9
11. Consolation 8
12. Social Networks 8
13. Superficial 8
14. Estranged 6
15. Moral and Social 4
Value
16. Inspiration 2
17. Occasional User 2
18. Performance 1
Content

Figure 5: The summary of codes organized in ATLAS.ti

20
 To answer each research questions, the top ten subcategories from the coding framework
were selected and divided according to the main categories where it belongs as an effort to
provide elaborate and systematic findings for each research questions.

Celebrity’s Fans’ Social Media The Parasocial

Influence Dependency Experience

Groundbreaker Reality
Frequent User
Content
Motivator Daily
Parasocial
Unconditional Necessity
Interaction
Love Media Sharing
Parasocial
Loyalty Networks
Relationship

Figure 6: The top ten categories

4.1 The Extent of The Celebrity’s Influence

BTS as a celebrity and active social media user has an indirect influence on their fans’
lives. The participants mostly identified BTS as that one exceptional group who successfully
become the pioneer or groundbreaker in most of the K-pop act. One participant stated that they
are breaking the K-pop artificial stereotype, as stated by Participant 9 (age 22) that the group
are producing their own music and composing their own lyrics which is very uncommon for a
K-pop group. This was agreed by Participant 1 (age 21), who noted that now it’s becoming
irrelevant to give a side-eye or belittle K-pop artists and their fans, due to BTS’s grand
achievements and prominent status in the international stage.
In early 2010, through the bits of help of user-generated media platform like YouTube, the
older generation of K-pop artists such as Super Junior and Girls Generation made a
breakthrough and gained recognition throughout the Asian regions. According to Jin & Yoon
(2014), this counted as the first step for Korean Wave to international acknowledgment, but
still failed to penetrate into the privileged market of America, due to the lack of general
knowledge upon the K-pop musicality and also, the barrier of language. At that time, K-pop

21
 lyrics mainly revolves around mundane love relationship or heartbreak ballad. Most probably
that is why many participants in this study look at BTS as the groundbreaker, as the boyband
dared to be different and always aspired to incorporate not just the love and relationship issue,
but also a social and mental health issue in their lyrics, something that is rarely seen in K-pop
scene. Participant 8 (age 23) further illustrated how BTS’ song delivers an important message
about difficulties in life and the burden to live in a competitive world, which she did not found
in other K-pop boyband before.
Their unique representation on music and relatable lyric seem to be the decisive drives
behind their fans’ amusement. Not only that, but this study also found that the extent of BTS’s
influence as an artist also reached out until a deeper and personal level, in which the fans saw
the boyband not only as an idol but also as part of their life-support system, a motivator.
Participant 6 (age 17) said that BTS’s lyrics had influenced her a lot. Whenever she feels
dejected, she will listen to BTS’s songs and gained strength from it. Ivaldi & O’Neill (2010)
stated that music works as a deviation from reality or a remedy to aid reality for most people.
Most of the participants in this study agreed that BTS had taught and motivated them to a
particular extent in their personal life.

“I’ve been struggling with anxiety but I was saved by the song Epiphany, the
lyrics go like ‘I should love myself more’, and that taught me an important
lesson. They motivated me to be more independent, that I shouldn’t depend on
other people for my own happiness. Instead, I have to seek for it within
myself.”
Participant 10 (age 24)

Furthermore, the way the fans saw BTS as part of their life-support system translates to a
form of unconditional love toward BTS. K-pop main appeal is the fancy mixture of the trendy
music and flashy choreography (Yoon, 2017), but it seems that BTS took it one step further by
fulfilling the most basic and primitive human needs of moral support through their carefully
constructed lyrics. If the aspiration matched between the music producer and the listener, it
induces a surge of familiar feelings (Ivaldi & O’Neill, 2010). Their relatable approach definitely
creates a make-believe path for their fans to develop a sense of closer relationship which exceeds
beyond superficial bond. Many participants feel that it is not right to demand or expect a lot from
BTS because their love for BTS are genuine and incessant.

22
 “The day when BTS is no longer popular will come eventually and if I only
support them through their heydays, I don’t think I can call myself as a fan. I
love them just the way they are. So, their achievements are not really important
to me. I fell in love with them, that’s why I want to support them as a fan. As
simple as that.”
Participant 4 (age 23)

In addition to that, Participant 2 (age 23) confirmed that even though BTS as a group will
not last forever, she will still support the members no matter what path they choose to take in
their future endeavor. Through the fans unconditional love, BTS attained both offline and online
support as a token of fans’ loyalty toward them. Many participants agreed that collecting all of
their albums and merchandises are considered as a minimum effort to show their affection toward
BTS. The interesting part is when all of the participants involved in this study are emphasizing
more in online support, rather than the offline. Along with BTS omnipresent activities in social
media, the fans also seem to favor the online platform as the medium to proclaimed their love
and loyalty toward BTS. Streaming their music and video content through Spotify and YouTube
are mandatory to practice and also trending BTS-related events through the hashtags in various
social networking sites. Some of the participants even allocated their time to be the admin of
BTS fan-account in Instagram and Twitter to show support and to share things with the other
fans. This marked a new era of the fandom practices in the age of social media which leaning
more toward the flexibility and interactivity of online platform.

4.2 The Fans’ Social Media Dependency

The second RQ is to examine the fans’ dependency on the social media platform that they
used. As BTS releasing most of their contents through online media, it is only normal that the
fans are also accessing the online media to retrieve, read and watch the contents. As a matter
of fact, eight out of the ten participants are identified as frequent social media user. As
illustrated from the findings in the first section, the participants look at BTS as a savior and
motivator, which indicates that most of the participants find solace in BTS to repel and aid
their own negative psychological state. This goes along with Song et al. (2014) and Iannone et
al. (2017) study who claimed that psychological wellbeing might influence the user’s
dependency on the media because it fulfilled their most basic goal, like needs to belong and

23
moral support. Most of the participants spent a considerably huge amount of time to obtain the
BTS-related information or content in the social media platform which suggests that there is a
form of dependency signified by the intensity of their social media usage.

“I think every 30 minutes or more, I would check on my phone, go through the

feeds on any social media and scroll up and down on any information about
them, like funny posts about BTS, meme or their fan-taken photos and videos.”
Participant 5 (age 25)

Not only as frequent users, but the participants also took the activity of seeking and
obtaining BTS-related contents from social media as their daily necessity. For instance,
Participant 10 responded that she needs to regularly access social media to keep up with all of
the information and content as she develops a fear of missing out things about BTS. In
accordance with that, Participant 6 (age 17) stated that it is necessary for her to check up on
the social media in a routine manner as BTS often suddenly released important content without
any announcement. These findings are closely related to the concept of goal dependency,
where dependency occurred and triggered by the goals that are met such as a necessity on a
particular understanding or entertainment (Ball-Rokeach, 1998).

“I do access and visit social media almost every day as BTS also released their
online content almost every day. Social media is the only platform where we
can feel a closer connection with BTS who live far away from us.”
Participant 7 (age 27)

The study further found an interesting fact that most of the fans preferred to access BTS-
related content through media sharing networks like YouTube and Instagram instead of
through BTS’s most famous social networking sites, Twitter. Moreover, BTS’s fans also access
VLIVE, a Korean media sharing platform, where BTS mostly conducted their live broadcast.
The lines between social networks and media sharing networks are blurring these days as
Twitter and Facebook also implemented live video and other multimedia services.
Nonetheless, most of the participants still favor and dependent toward YouTube, Instagram
and VLIVE for practical reason and the said media sharing platforms also provides them with
an abundance of multimedia contents than the social networking sites. This chapter further
solidifies that the fans are dependent toward various media sharing networks in order to fulfil
their goal to obtain BTS-related contents.

24
 4.3 The Parasocial Experience in Social Media
The third RQ is meant to discover what sort of interaction and relationship are developed
by the fans and celebrity in the social media. First, the study investigated the fans’ preference
on their favorite content from BTS. BTS continuously released hundreds of various online
contents in the online platform every year since the debut. The findings showed that among all
of the multimedia contents, fans hugely favored the reality contents like variety show, behind-
the-scene video and live broadcast more than contents related to their flashy persona as
celebrity, like music video, live performance video or dance practice video. This could be
instigated by the fact that reality show is suggesting the component of ‘realness’ to the
audience, thus cultivating more genuine and optimistic response from the audience as the
consequences (Shin, 2016).

“Because I can see that they are also a human being. They are not just celebs,
but also ordinary humans like the rest of us. And through Run BTS I can see
that BTS members are very humble, they don’t see themselves as celebs and
that they also appreciate us as their fans.”
Participant 4

“I like Burn the Stage because it captured how hard the members work for their
concert. And they are genuine to the core. I feel no barrier between us and them
as fan and celebrity after I learned how relatable their characters are.”
Participant 7

The reality contents such as Run BTS in VLIVE or Burn The Stage in YouTube Red, two
of the most frequently mentioned reality contents in the interview, has portrayed BTS in such
a way to make fans believe on that looking glass impression of how they really are in real life,
completely ignoring the possibility that it has gone through the editing process before the
content was released in the online platform. In addition to that, both of the platforms are the
semi-paid channel, which means that the viewers need to pay for subscription before they can
enjoy some of the contents released by BTS. Despite all of that, the fans willingness to splurge
and their adamant belief on BTS online contents are driven by the implementation of friendly
gestures inside that particular contents which can be categorized as parasocial interaction (PSI).
In the K-pop sphere, the term fan-service is referring to how the members of the group
exhibit a particular attitude that will make the fans think that their affections are reciprocated.
Mostly the fan service manifests into flirty gestures, for instance, winking, blowing a kiss,

25
smiling tenderly or addressing fans in an affectionate tone. All these gestures done by BTS
were taken in personally by the fans as the expression of love though they knew it was only an
imagination. Participant 10 admitted that BTS’s fan service in the online content triggers
fluttering feelings in her, but she did not take it in romantic ways. Participant 9 was very
straightforward with her answer, as she stated that she gets flustered and think that the members
are trying to flirt with her although she knew that it was just her delusion as the members did
not know her personally.

“… And every time I saw any content about them, my heart skips a beat. I
smile and giggle while looking at my phone screen because of them. Especially
that one time when Jungkook looks very seductive, his stare in the video … I’ve
totally fallen in love with him.”
Participant 1

“Because in a way, the friendly gesture makes me feel involved in their life,
that I’m not just a stranger. I feel appreciated if they made gestures like that,
though I know that it’s in no way possible that they know I exist.”
Participant 3 (age 26)

The fans were pulled in by the PSI because they felt like their feelings are reciprocated by
BTS. Furthermore, the illusory interaction between the celebrity and the fans has further
refurbished their relationship. As stated by Rosaen & Dibble (2016), parasocial relationship
(PSR) is an illusory relationship that emerges between the media persona and the audiences,
which usually mimics the relationship in a real-life setting. In this case, due to the PSI, the fans
saw and treat BTS as more than just a celebrity, but as someone who had a real presence in
their life, whether as a friend, family or even, lover.

“Watching their ten seconds video of full face shot in YouTube always gives
me the impression of video call with a boyfriend. I have no choice but to think
of them in romantic ways because they treat fans like a girlfriend.”
Participant 1

“I think of them in a very friendly way. Their gestures and the way they talk to
their fans are comforting and endearing to me as if I’m talking to someone I
knew for a long time. Like they're my own personal friends, like they're my
really close friends.”
Participant 2

26
 Participant 8 illustrated how BTS’s selfie photos on Instagram or Twitter has made her saw
the member as her boyfriend because that’s what a boyfriend does to reassure the girlfriend
that they are well and happy. Meanwhile, Participant 3 said that the cute gestures have made
her look at BTS as her own younger brother. Although Dibble et al. (2015) argued that PSR
can happen without any element of PSI, the PSI which was carried over by the multimedia
characteristic of the online sphere has increased and enhanced the PSR between the celebrity
and the fans. Overall, the findings in this section clearly showed that the fans experience both
the parasocial interaction and the parasocial relationship from BTS’s online content released
on the online platform. It gave a more sophisticated understanding of how the relationship
between celebrity and fans are formed in social media.

27
5. Discussion and Conclusion
The findings in the first sections showed that the fans look upon BTS as more than just a
celebrity, but also as a genuine companion in their own respective walk of life. Their relatable
multi-facet approach insinuated an incessant love or unconditional love which directly related
to the manifestation of loyalty toward the boyband. In this case, the fans referred mostly to the
online support like online streaming activity, which signifies a changing landscape inside the
modern fandom practice and further emphasizes the importance of social media in the celebrity
and fans relationship.
The prominent role of social media in the modern fandom practice was also seen from how
the fans are becoming more dependent toward the social media, as they saw it as an important
bridge which connected them to the celebrity they worship. As described before, the fans treat
BTS’s artistic presence as the motivator who offers consolation, which further confirmed Kim
et al. (2019) findings that media dependency is more likely to happen to a person in a negative
psychological state as they wanted to find a way out from it. The dependency notion was also
evident in the fans’ intense usage of various media sharing networks in order to fulfil their goal
of watching BTS-related content. As illustrated in Jung & Shim (2013) study, K-pop content
was always largely driven and empowered by media sharing networks like YouTube. For the
fans, media sharing networks like YouTube and Instagram works better in order to achieve
their goal rather than the social networking sites like Twitter, as media sharing networks
provided fans with the abundance options of multimedia contents.
The findings further illustrated that the fans experienced both the parasocial interaction and
parasocial relationship toward BTS, which was triggered by the fan service implemented inside
the multimedia contents. Although the fans experience the parasocial effect in various degree
and form, most of them agreed that the contents had sparked an illusion of reciprocal affection
known also as parasocial interaction which further influenced the make-believe perception of
the relationship they have with BTS.

28
 Figure 7: The relationship between media dependency and parasocial effect

As illustrated in Figure 7, fans experienced the parasocial effect from the online contents
and their dependency toward social media also strengthened the occurrence of the parasocial
effect due to the constant exposure of the contents. This study also further validates Rihl &
Wegener (2017) statement that frequent social media users usually form an emotional
attachment with the celebrities or media persona featured on the online platform. Besides that,
the study also discovered that social media is a prosperous land for the celebrities and other
stakeholders to cultivate more profits, as the fans willingly splurged on the online subscription
for the semi-paid social media, like YouTube Red, in order to obtained exclusive online
contents from their favorite artists.
It is important to bear in mind, that the findings in this study are extorted from the
perspective of the K-pop fans in a particular region in Indonesia, therefore, the findings in this
study can never be fully generalized. That also means that the findings might be more relevant
to the K-pop and Korean Wave context than any other genre. The findings from this study
might also be applicable to the region with similar cultural and grassroots characteristic with
Indonesia. After the in-depth investigation like this study, an empirical study with a bigger and
more elaborate sample might also be needed to support the findings found in this study because
this study used a relatively small number of participants in Indonesia.
As this study had already discovered the fact that the fans indeed experience the notions of
parasocial interaction and relationship from celebrity’s social media activities, the attempt of
future research might as well be focused more on the consequences of the possible parasocial
breakup. In the literature review section, the author has already included Gregg (2018)
statement that parasocial relationship is a double-edged sword, if it can be formed, it can be

29
destroyed, as well. As an interesting expansion of knowledge, the future endeavor in this topic
might disseminate the possibility of the consequences and risk that follows a discordance
between the celeb and the fans, a parasocial breakup.
This study showed that the fans experience both the parasocial interaction and parasocial
relationship in the social media and that their dependency toward the social media strengthens
the occurrence of the parasocial notions. This study also further validates the fact that social
media is becoming a prominent bridge for both the celebrity and the fans, as it becomes the
only platform where fans and celebrity who lives poles apart from each other are connected
and interacted with each other on a seemingly personal level.

30
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APPENDICES

RQ1: What is the extent of BTS’s
influence on their fan?
Who is BTS for you? Please explain
in details
How did you become a fan of BTS?
What are BTS’s
attributes/qualities/values which
sets them apart from the others?
Are BTS achievements important to
you? And why?
How BTS music has affected your
life? Please explain in details
How do you show your devotion
and affection toward BTS?
APPENDIX 1
INTERVIEW GUIDELINE
RQ2: How is the BTS’s fan social
media use pattern and
dependency?
Are you a social media user? If yes,
how many social media accounts
you have so far?
Which social media that you
usually access to keep up with BTS-
related information and content?
How often do you usually access
the social media to keep up with
BTS-related information and
content?
How do you feel after you obtain or
watch BTS-related information or
content on social media?
Keeping up with BTS-related
information and content are of
great importance for you. How
would you describe your
attachment toward the social
media that used by BTS? Please
explain in details
RQ3: Why BTS’s parasocial
interaction enhances the parasocial
relationship with the fan?
What are your favorite social
media activities/online contents
from BTS? Please explain the
reason.
(for example; selfie post, daily
routine video, live broadcasts,
performance videos, variety show,
interview videos, etc.)
How would you interpret BTS’s
gestures toward you in their social
media activities/online contents?
(for example; eye contact, blowing
kiss, smiling toward camera,
addressing fans, etc.)
Does social media activities and
online contents from BTS intensify
your feelings toward them? Please
explain the reason.
Would it be different for you as a
fan if BTS did not have any social
media account or channel? Discuss.
 APPENDIX 2
INFORMED CONSENT AGREEMENT
 APPENDIX 3
SAMPLE OF THE TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEW

File: Participant 1_21.wav

Duration: 00:29:12
Date: March 23rd 2019

Interviewer: Hi, Naomi. What is your full name?

Participant 1: Naomi Natassia

Interviewer: Okay. So, my name is Evi Farsiah Utami, I’m a postgraduate student from Taylor’s University and I
will interview you for my study about BTS and their fans, and all the data collected will be kept
confidential. Shall we start now? First question, who is BTS for you? Please describe.

Participant 1: Nowadays I don’t have anything important going on except for work, I just went home from work,
and then sleep, nothing to do. So then instead of letting my mind wander into sad things in my life, I
rather watch any contents from BTS … They are also my motivator in life, like when I feel sad, I
watch their contents and that will make me smile again.

Interviewer: Oh okay, okay. How did you become a fan of BTS?

Participant 1: Oh, it all begins three years ago. I used to like Infinite and then my boyfriend at that time told me that
Infinite is just like any mainstream K-pop boyband out there, and then he showed me BTS’s music
video from YouTube, the title song is Danger. I saw it and instantly acknowledge that BTS is indeed
different than any other K-pop group. Starting from their energetic dance and their unique faces and
appearances, though the members are not as handsome as the other K-pop artists, like the K-pop artist
from SM. But because of that, BTS left an impression to me and they are not easy to be forgotten, as
well.

Interviewer: So, you thought that their unique appearances are their quality?

Participant 1: Yes, actually yes, all of my friends also acknowledged that BTS have unique quality. (pause) For
example, like the K-pop artist from SM Entertainment, they are all handsome, but they have similar
vibe and are monotone, but its different with BTS. BTS can express their charisma and the emotion of
their songs in their choreography, and that’s what makes most of the fans vouched for them. They are
really cool, like, totally cool.

Interviewer: So then are all BTS’s achievements important to you? If it’s a yes, why?

Participant 1: Its actually really important. I often met people who despise the fact that I’m a K-pop fan, and I
wanted to prove that BTS is not just like any other K-pop boyband out there. I often uploaded their
achievements in my Instagram story so everyone can see, like now, they are often invited to perform
in US and other international stage, and I often told all of my Instagram friends to vote for BTS so
they can win the award. So far, that’s how I support BTS.

Interviewer: I see. Maybe you have any other thing to add?

Participant 1: Well, basically, I want them to be seen as an equal musician to the western artists.

Interviewer: Hmm. So, their achievements are important for you because you want them to have higher status than
any K-pop boyband? Or, the same status with the western artists?
Participant 1: Well, many K-pop fans here in Indonesia are treated as bummer, just because they like K-pop,
because K-pop still seen as fake, childish or uncool, and I want those people who judge us like that to
understand that BTS is different, they are not just like the mainstream K-pop artist.

Interviewer: So, you think their achievements can break the stereotype about K-pop in general?

Participant 1: Yes, absolutely. For example, many people here like Justin Bieber, the western artist, but nowadays,
many people also like BTS, although they are not familiar with K-pop in the first place.

Interviewer: Hmm, okay.

Participant 1: And that’s what makes me proud as an ARMY

Interviewer: Okay, very good. So, does their music influence you in any way? For example, their lyrics, or the way
they carried their music, or their music genre, does it influence you in any way, even to the smallest
aspects in your life? Please explain.

Participant 1: I don’t really pay attention to the translation of their lyrics, but I do pay attention to their ballad
songs. Like the song called The Truth Untold, it suits my melancholic mood. It helps me going
through hard times. Basically, I’ve listened to all of their songs, from their hype songs until their
unknown songs, and none of them were bad. All of it were awesome. Even the song that is known to
be lacking like … Um .. What is it .. What is their most unpopular song in your opinion?

Interviewer: (laughing), Spine Breaker?

Participant 1: Spine Breaker is pretty good! (laughing) .. The melody stays in my head for a long time! (laughing).
Well, even Taehyung’s solo song, Scenery, is so easy listening for me even though the song is in
difficult jazzy tune.

Interviewer: Isn’t it because you fancy them, that’s why you think that each and every piece of their song is
awesome?

Participant 1: (pause) Not really. I’m a pretty objective music listener and I’m also a Spotify premium member, so
sometimes I just skipped through the songs I don’t like in the Spotify playlist, like, sorry to say, like
the songs from Astro’s album in the Spotify.

Interviewer: And why is that?

Participant 1: Well because for me, I listened to K-pop song because of their beat, and if it fails to interest me, I will
skip it.

Interviewer: So, what is your conclusion then? How does their music influence you?

Participant 1: Their music is like an encourager for me. When I feel dejected at work, I listened to their songs and
all of a sudden, my mood is getting better.

Interviewer: How would you show your devotion and affection toward BTS, then?

Participant 1: Like I said before, when they are nominated for an award, I will vote for them through online voting
portal, sometimes I even have to borrow my friend’s phone to vote for them. And I will also snap a
story and uploaded it to my Instagram, I told my Instagram followers to vote for BTS, too.

Interviewer: Do you buy any BTS’s merchandise or their physical album?

Participant 1: I just ordered the merchandise last week, the ARMY bomb light stick.

Interviewer: Why don’t you buy their physical album?

Participant 1: Well I know that by buying their physical album will raise their rank in the Korean music chart like
Gaon and Hanteo, and it will also affect their profit as well, but I’m more interested in merchandise
because I can collect them as unique collectible item. And I know even without me, their profit will
be as high as ever. Even the pre-order for their upcoming album in April already breaking the
previous record sales.

Interviewer: So how would you show your devotion then? You vote for them to win the award and you will also
gather all of your friends to do the same, to do the mass voting for BTS?

Participant 1: Exactly. That’s how I show my love for them.

Interviewer: Okay. So, you are also a Participant 10quent user of social media, right? How many social media
accounts you have now?

Participant 1: Well I have an account on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and then VLIVE.

Interviewer: Facebook?

Participant 1: No, no, I’m not into Facebook. I do have an account there but rarely use it.

Interviewer: So, which social media platform that you usually access to obtain BTS-related information or content?

Participant 1: Um, Instagram? Usually it’s from the fan-base accounts in Instagram. Although BTS is not really
active on Instagram, but their Instagram fan-base accounts are all really prominent and have huge
number of followers. They usually uploaded BTS newest fan-taken photos and videos, or their airport
fashion photos, a bunch of random things like that. And sometimes the accounts also uploaded short
videos from BTS’s concert, so we can steal a glance toward their live performance. (laughing).

Interviewer: Other than Instagram?

Participant 1: I usually access Twitter, also. The first platform I usually access is Instagram, and the second one is
Twitter, because BTS is totally active on Twitter. Usually, all the link for award voting were posted
through Twitter. YouTube, also.

Interviewer: So, YouTube comes first or Twitter comes first?

Participant 1: Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and for VLIVE content, usually I know about the content in the V-live
platform from the fan-account Instagram posts or story, and only then I will access V-live, though I
also have an account there.

Interviewer: But if you have an account in VLIVE, the application will automatically notify you if they have live
broadcast, right?

Participant 1: Yes, but I purposely did not turn on the notification, because I made the account in V-live only for the
voting purposes, not really for their live broadcast, because anyhow the International fans needs to
wait for the translation to be uploaded later to understand what they are talking about in their live
broadcasts. Sometimes, I will just visit YouTube a few days later and someone already uploaded
BTS’s VLIVE broadcast along with the subtitle there, as well.

Interviewer: Oh, I see now. And how Participant 10quent do you usually access all those social media platforms
in order to obtain or watch BTS-related information or content?

Participant 1: Every day without fail!

Interviewer: Everyday? In a day we have 24 hours, how many hours will you spent in a day for it?

Participant 1: Usually at work I spent about two hours and then three hours at home. Five hours, more or less. But
its not like a fixed daily routine for me. Whenever I have Participant 10e time or feel bored, I just go
 through the social media and find something about them. Sometimes, I spent my lunch time at work
by watching BTS’s content also.

Interviewer: How do you feel after you read or watch any BTS-related information or content in those social media
platforms you mentioned before?

Participant 1: Well, I feel happy of course, and like I said before, they are my boredom-killer. And .. yeah, I feel
happy. I simply feel happy after that.

Interviewer: Do you feel satisfied or maybe do you feel energetic after you read or watch the BTS-related
information or content from the social media platform?

Participant 1: Well I don’t know how to explain this. Well, my bias in the group is Jungkook. And every time I saw
online content about him, my heart skips a beat. I always smile and giggle while looking at my phone-
screen because of that. Jungkook looks so sexy after the water-slap game in the newest episode of
their variety show, the way he looks at the camera, wow. I smiled like a silly person after I watched it,
I’ve totally fallen in love with him.

Interviewer: That means keeping up with newest BTS-related information or content through social media is
actually important to you?

Participant 1: Yes, yes, it’s very important.

Interviewer: And then how would you describe your own attachment toward those social media platforms you
mentioned before? BTS have an account on almost every social media platform, right? How would
you describe your attachment toward those social media that are used by both BTS and you?

Participant 1: Well, let’s say my other ARMY friend uploaded any BTS-related content from YouTube or V-live on
her Instagram story, then in a hurry, I will visit those sites and check them all out myself. It triggers
me in a way. It directly affects me. If I don’t have time, or maybe when I still have tons of work to do,
I still keep the curiosity inside of me and will definitely check it out later.

Interviewer: So, is it safe to say that you are actually attached to those social media and relied on it a lot?

Participant 1: Yes, actually yes. But I can still put a brake on it, but its true that I depend on social media a lot, in
order to know everything about BTS.

Interviewer: So, what are your favorite social media activities or online content from BTS?

Participant 1: Content? Activities? For example, like?

Interviewer: Their online content and social media activities, let’s say like the selfie post in their twitter account,
or maybe their daily routine videos, live broadcast, or their performance videos, or their variety show
like Run BTS or Bon Voyage, or maybe their reality show, Burn the Stage. In general, they have a lot
of online contents. What is your most favorite one?

Participant 1: I like their variety show, Run BTS, because they are all so hilarious in the show.

Interviewer: Ah, so you can see their authentic-self there, in the show?

Participant 1: Yes, they are all so funny there. In contrast with their reality show which shows their hard work and
friendship behind the stage, Run BTS is funnier and entertaining. They always play hilarious game
there. So, I prefer to watch Run BTS rather than other contents from BTS. But to be honest, most of
the ARMY actually loves the contents from BTS’s official fan café. But their official fan café was
established in Korean language and I don’t know how to join the fan café site. My bias, Jungkook,
always posts something on fan café site every Friday. So, the registered fans on the fan café site can
have somewhat exclusive online conversations with him. All the ARMYs around the world compete
 with each other to login or register to the fan café because of that benefit. But, because I don’t have
any information on how to enter the fan café site, I just let it be. (laughing).

Interviewer: Oh, I see now .. So, your favorite content is the funny variety show, like Run BTS?

Participant 1: Yes, my number one favorite content is Run BTS and then followed by their live performance and
music videos. Basically, I like them because they are so cool, so manly.

Interviewer: Um, okay. You said that you like them because they are cool and manly in their live performance
videos, right? When you watch their live performance videos, there must be a moment when you and
the BTS members are locking eyes with each other, although, actually they are locking eyes with the
camera. Or maybe when they do their live broadcast, they always talk and make various lovely
gestures right toward the camera. How do you interpret those kinds of gestures? Does it feel real?

Participant 1: Well, to be honest, I know they do not even know that I exist, but every time they do things like that, I
have no choice but to feel like as if I’m in the middle of a video call with my boyfriend. Although I
know it’s not real, but it feels like I’m talking to my illusory boyfriend.

Interviewer: You know that its not real, but your heart still fluttered?

Participant 1: (laughing) Yes, but it’s not equally the same to all members. I responded in that kind of manner, only
to the few members I really like, not all of them.

Interviewer: So, does all of those social media activities and online contents from BTS intensify your feelings
toward them?

Participant 1: Absolutely! They Participant 10quently released their online contents! The other K-pop boyband
don’t even bother to release a routine online variety show like BTS, their fan service is not as strong
as BTS. I felt that BTS spoiled and pampered their fans a lot through all of those interesting contents
so the fans will not feel lonely.

Interviewer: So, you agree that all of their social media activities, like their selfie posts, their live broadcasts, will
make your infatuation toward them stronger?

Participant 1: Yes, I agree, big time. They still remember and fancy us, though I know that they are really busy with
their concert schedule, unlike the other K-pop boyband, let’s say like EXO. (laughing). They have a
very minimal fan service. (laughing).

Interviewer: I see .. So, is it safe to say that you feel an emotional connection toward them because of BTS’s
strong fan service in the social media? As if they have real presence in your life?

Participant 1: Yes, yes. I will put it this way, BTS always updated their social media and walked us through their
daily live, as if they have the obligation to report their activities to us. They don’t have to do that but
they still do it! So, I really appreciate that attentive manner and I feel totally spoiled by them!

Interviewer: You appreciate that because you feel as if they are aware and acknowledge your existence?

Participant 1: Yes. Although, I am completely aware that they do not know me and do not even know that I exist.

Interviewer: Now, last question. Let’s imagine something now. Let’s say BTS didn’t have any social media
account or channel, would it be different for you as their fan?

Participant 1: One thing for sure, if they did not have any social media account, they wouldn’t be able to promote
and be as big as they are now. I know them from the social media! And I feel that social media brings
them closer to me. If they didn’t have any social media, I think I would feel totally distant with them.
I wouldn’t feel as close as I am now toward them. Without our interactions in social media, the
relationship between us will stay as merely the celebrity and the fan. Nothing more.
Interviewer: So, thanks to social media, you were able to feel closer to BTS?

Participant 1: Yes, through social media I am able to enjoy their creative contents and I can show real support for
them because I can vote for them for the awards through social media, as well.

Interviewer: Okay, then. That’s my last question and the end of our interview.

Participant 1: Oh, really? How fast! (laughing)

Interviewer: Thank you for your time. And thank you for your consent to join this study, as well. I will keep in
touch with you. See you again next time.
File: Participant 10_24.wav

Duration: 26:54

Date: April 4th 2019

Interviewer: Okay, good afternoon. Your full name is Raditea Farah Participant Frehatsari?

Participant 10: Yeah

Interviewer: How should I address you?

Participant 10: You can call me Fre

Interviewer: Can you speak louder, Participant 10?

Participant 10: Okay

Interviewer: Alright. So, my name is Evi Farsiah Utami. I’m a postgraduate student at Taylor’s University and
I’m taking the course of Master of Communication and you are here as my participant for my
study about BTS and their fans. Can we start now?

Participant 10: Sure

Interviewer: Sure. The first question is totally easy for you as an ARMY. So, who is BTS for you? Please
explain in details.

Participant 10: BTS for me?

Interviewer: Yeah

Participant 10: It’s not an easy question for me (laughing) So, Bangtan Seonyondan is like an emotional support
for me. So, when I’m sad or not really feel well, I can watch them and they can make me feel
better. So, they are not just artists, but they also like a friend I’ve never met before.

Interviewer: So, they are like your life companion?

Participant 10: Yeah, something like that. They make me feel less lonely in the journey to love myself, maybe?
(laughing)

Interviewer: Okay. Alright, that’s very good. So, how did you first become a fan of BTS?

Participant 10: Ow, It’s an interesting story because … I like K-pop since 2008, when I’m on junior high school. I
was a fan of SS501, if you know –

Interviewer: (overlapping) Oh, yea, I know (laughter)

Participant 10: Yea, but I’ve been a casual listener of BTS since before WINGS era. I watched their Fire music
video and instantly fell in love with them because they are so cool. But, after the beginning of
Love Yourself era, I wasn’t in a great condition. I’ve been struggling with anxiety and then
hearing some songs in Love Yourself album make me feel better about my life. They teach me
how to love myself, they make me feel better about life in general.

Interviewer: Alright. So that’s how you first become a fan of BTS. Did you come across them through
YouTube or through your friends, maybe?

Participant 10: I accidentally watch the Fire music video through YouTube recommendations. Yeah, that is how I
first knew them.
Interviewer: Um, when exactly did you declare yourself as an ARMY?

Participant 10: Ow, around the start of Love Yourself era, actually. DNA –

Interviewer: (overlapping) DNA?

Participant 10: Yeah (laughing) The DNA one. But I’ve been a casual listener for a long time already.

Interviewer: So, you said that you feel better after you listen to their song, you feel like you can love yourself
after that, so, what are their attributes, qualities or values that actually sets them apart from the
other K-pop boyband

Participant 10: Ah, yeah. It’s the way they have this, um, messages in their entire discographies. For example, in
Love Yourself era, there is song called Her, and then Tear and then Answer, which represent a
whole story plot! This story plot accompanied people in rough time, it encouraged people to love
themselves. They also have special bond with their fans, they love their fans so much, they said
that their fans are the reason why they can love themselves and they are also our reason to love
ourselves, so it’s a special bond (laughing)

Interviewer: So, for you it’s not like a one-sided feeling, but reciprocated feeling?

Participant 10: Yeah, yeah. Its reciprocated.

Interviewer: So, you thought that those two attributes you mentioned before are what sets them apart from the
others?

Participant 10: Absolutely.

Interviewer: Do you have any other things to add, maybe?

Participant 10: Um … they also wanted to make this world a better place through their lyrics, and they also
compose and produce their own songs and that’s so admirable for me.

Interviewer: Ahh, alright, alright. Okay, we can say that BTS is not just a K-pop boyband, right? They are a
global boyband now through all their global achievements. Are all those achievements actually
important for you as a fan?

Participant 10: Not really. I mean, I’m proud that they achieved all those achievements because they clearly
deserved it. But for me, the fact that they still want to make music for us, and give their voices to
us and be a shoulder for us to cry on, like Namjoon’s lyrics on their newest song, Persona
(laughing), that’s enough for me. But of course, they deserve all the achievements.

Interviewer: So, do you think it’s important or not?

Participant 10: Um, not really for me. Maybe for other people it’s important, but for me, it’s not.

Interviewer: So, maybe is it safe to say that as long as BTS happy, then you will feel happy, too?

Participant 10: Yes! That’s exactly how I feel but I don’t know how to put it into words. So, it depends. If that
achievements makes them happier, then it’s important for me (laughing).

Interviewer: So, you’ve listened to all of their albums, so far?

Participant 10: Yeah! I think so (laughing)

Interviewer: What’s your favorite song?

Participant 10: My favorite song? It’s the song from Love Yourself:Answer album, Love Myself, it’s such a soft
song. For the older song, I like Just One Day and Hold Me Tight.
Interviewer: Ah, so you like their ballad songs rather than their upbeat songs?

Participant 10: I guess so, yeah.

Interviewer: So, you said that you’ve listened to almost all of their songs, right? So, how BTS’s music has
affected your life, in a way? Positive or negative way, please explain in details.

Participant 10: So, like I said before, I’ve been struggling with anxiety and their Love Yourself album series
influenced me the most, in a positive way. So, I have this anxiety due to a separation, my world
used to revolve around this person and I was separated with him. I was devastated and totally
miserable. At that time, I related myself to the song called Save Me by BTS, the lyrics goes like
this “I need your love before I fall”, and then after that the Love Yourself album released and I
listened to it, especially the song Epiphany, the lyrics goes like “I should love myself more”, and
that teaches me an important lesson. The only hero who can save me is myself. So, I shouldn’t
depend on other people for my own happiness. Instead, I have to seek for it within myself.

Interviewer: Alright, so their music influenced you in a positive way. Is there any negative influence, so far?

Participant 10: Negative influence? No, I don’t think so! They are so positive

Interviewer: Alright. So far, how do you show your devotion or affection toward BTS?

Participant 10: Of course, I support them by buying their physical albums and I stream their music videos when
they released it in YouTube. I also want to contribute good things to the society, because BTS
teach us to make this world a better place, to make other people happy, so I want to share their
goodwill. I don’t want to promote hatred. I want to create a better world to live.

Interviewer: Pretty good, that’s how you show your devotion toward them?

Participant 10: Yeah, I want to promote BTS’s wisdom and social values, and I hope those values can sit and
permeates in our modern society.

Interviewer: Alright. So, you’re a Participant frequent user of social media?

Participant 10: Yeah

Interviewer: How many accounts do you have, so far?

Participant 10: I have two accounts on Twitter, one account on Line and Instagram. So, four, in total.

Interviewer: What about YouTube?

Participant 10: Oh yeah, I also have one in YouTube.

Interviewer: What about VLIVE?

Participant 10: Ow yeah, that one also! I have an account there, it’s not a premium account, though (laughing)

Interviewer: Which social media that you usually access to keep up with BTS-related information or online
content?

Participant 10: Daily, its YouTube and Twitter. After that I use Instagram, but still I mainly use Twitter and
YouTube. Oh no, wait, I mainly access YouTube, Twitter and then Instagram.

Interviewer: So, how often do you usually access those social media to keep up with BTS-related information
and content?

Participant 10: For YouTube, I can access it for six hours per day. But, that’s accumulative, so it’s not like six
hours straight.
Interviewer: What you usually do when you access YouTube?

Participant 10: Just scroll up and down through the YouTube feeds, because mostly I followed BTS-related
channel in YouTube.

Interviewer: Hm, then you only have your personal account on Twitter or it’s a fan-base account?

Participant 10: I have two accounts, the fan base account and the private one.

Interviewer: So exactly how do you feel after you watch or obtained any BTS-related information or content
from those social media?

Participant 10: It makes me happy. It makes me feel like as if I knew them. I know that they are okay, they are
fine. Makes me feel excited to know about it. I feel reassured that they are also happy and fine.

Interviewer: Do you feel any satisfaction or contentment after you watch or obtain the information or online
content from BTS?

Participant 10: Indeed, it satisfied my curiosity. But I’m not really curious about their personal life, it’s more like
a necessity for me? Yeah, so I feel satisfied because it’s necessary for me to know about them.

Interviewer: So, is it safe to say that keeping up with BTS-related information and contents on social media are
actually great importance for you?

Participant 10 : I think so (laughing) I just realize it now (laughing)

Interviewer: So, how would you describe your own attachment toward the social media platform that are used
by both you and BTS?

Participant 10: For me personally, I did not actually think that I’m totally addicted to it, but I need it to keep up
with all of the information about BTS. So, it’s not that I have to access YouTube and Twitter all
the time, but I kinda need it regularly. I think I have this fear of missing out if I don’t visit the
social media regularly.

Interviewer: FOMO? Fear of missing out? (laughing)

Participant 10: Yeah (laughing) I don’t like to missed out about BTS. So, I develop the habit to unconsciously
access Twitter every day. I don’t think its healthy (pause)

Interviewer: It’s okay, it’s normal. There’s nothing unhealthy about it. That’s just the way it is now in social
media age. So, it’s not like some kind of addiction, it’s just necessary for you.

Participant 10: Yeah, it’s necessary for me.

Interviewer: Um, okay. You realize that they always release tons of online contents every year. I think almost
hundreds of it. What is your favorite social media activity or online content from BTS?

Participant 10: Social media activity?

Interviewer: Yeah, their social media activity and online content. For instance, their selfie post maybe, or
random videos that they post in their Twitter account which often less than ten seconds, or dance
practice video, their live broadcast from VLIVE, variety show like Run BTS, or reality show like
Burn the Stage. What is your favorite?

Participant 10: Well, maybe my favorite is when they randomly have the live session in VLIVE. The live
broadcast they do together. It’s always fun to watch.

Interviewer: Why is it fun to watch?

Participant 10: Because I saw them being all happy and interact with each other, show their love to each other, it
makes me happy to watch that kind of content from them. Even though I don’t know what they are
talking about because I don’t speak Korean.

Interviewer: But you still watch the live broadcast?

Participant 10: Yeah (laughing) I still watch it, even though there was no subtitle, yet. For an hour I watch the live
session although I don’t have any idea about their conversations, and I laugh when they laugh
(laughing).

Interviewer: What about their music videos or live performance videos?

Participant 10: Their live broadcast is my favorite, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like the other contents. I like
them all. They are performers, so of course I would love to watch their performance videos. I’m
looking forward to their upcoming album and new music videos this April.

Interviewer: Oh, believe me, you’re not the only one (laughter) So, yeah, you said that you like their live
broadcast, right? You like their interaction with each other in that online contents, right?

Participant 10: Yeah

Interviewer: Okay, in those live broadcasts, let’s say like Hoseok’s birthday in February, they sent a lot of
lovely and friendly gestures in that particular content, like eye contact, smiling, blowing kiss and
lovingly addressing the fans, right? How do you interpret those kinds of gestures?

Participant 10: I don’t know how to put this, but it’s like they wanted to makes us feel loved? So, they wanted to
interact with us. They wanted to say that they love us, their fans. I would interpret their gestures in
those online contents as their appreciation toward fans. I do acknowledge that when they did those
kinds of gestures, some kinds of feelings emerge inside of me, but not like a romantic feeling. I
don’t see BTS in romantic ways .. more like friend? They are my babies! They are also the figures
who accompany me in my hard times. (laughing)

Interviewer: (laughing) So, does this social media activity and online content from BTS intensify your feelings
toward them?

Participant 10: Yeah, yeah. Every day I love them even more. When I thought that I couldn’t love them even
more, they prove me wrong. Every time they released an online content which is full of adorable
gestures, showing their love to their fans, I just fall for them even more.

Interviewer: So, let’s imagine some things now.

Participant 10: Okay (laughing)

Interviewer: If from the very beginning BTS did not have any social media account or channel, would it be
different for you as a fan?

Participant 10: Ow. Um. Yeah, maybe yes. I love them because of their personality, they did not hesitate to show
their vulnerable side to us. I could feel it from their online content and Twitter post. They did not
hesitate to update and walk us through their daily live, I know it’s not an easy thing to do. If they
don’t have any social media, maybe I will just casually stan them, but I will not be able to love
BTS this deep.

Interviewer: And what else? Do you have any other thing to add?

Participant 10: Um, maybe, that’s all? I think that’s all from me.

Interviewer: So, it would be different for you because?

Participant 10: If they didn’t have any social media then they will not have this platform to connect with their
fans, and that also means that the fans will not be able to feel closer to them. The relationship
between BTS and the fans will not be as intimate as it is now.

Interviewer: So, that’s my last question.

Participant 10: Oh, yeah? (laughing)

Interviewer: And I think we can end this interview now. You’ve answered it in a detailed manner, it’s very
clear and I’m thankful for that. I think that’s it from me. Thank you.

Participant 10: Okay. Thank you.