Media Asia

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More than K-pop fans: BTS fandom and activism

amid COVID-19 outbreak

Rubal Kanozia & Garima Ganghariya

To cite this article: Rubal Kanozia & Garima Ganghariya (2021): More than K-pop fans: BTS
fandom and activism amid COVID-19 outbreak, Media Asia, DOI: 10.1080/01296612.2021.1944542

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2021.1944542

Published online: 15 Jul 2021.

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MEDIA ASIA, 2021
https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2021.1944542
COMMENTARY
More than K-pop fans: BTS fandom
and activism amid COVID-
19 outbreak
RUBAL KANOZIA AND GARIMA GANGHARIYA
I
n 2020 when the whole world started shutting
down owing to COVID-19 outbreak, the defin-
ition of “normal” has changed. People being
unable to go to work, crippling businesses, and
frontline workers trying to contain the spread of
virus have become the new norm. There is chaos
in countries like India, Bhutan, Laos, and Nepal as
they currently face a deadly second wave of
COVID-19 (Hong et al., 2021). Various individuals
and organizations have come forward to help peo-
ple affected by the pandemic. There are widespread
fundraising events, charity campaigns, and other
related activities taking place on social media.
K-pop fans are major contributors to charity
during COVID-19. K-pop is a genre of music from
South Korea usually with boy bands, girl bands,
and solo artists who sing and create music with
highly synchronized dance choreography. It consists
of electronic, hip-hop, pop, rock, and R&B music
(Sherman, 2020). Because of COVID-19, the K-pop
industry was affected, just like other pop culture
businesses and entertainment industries of the
world, when various scheduled concerts and tours
got cancelled. Many artists’ debut and comeback
got delayed. Music television shows started record-
ing without audiences. The K-pop industry began
streaming concerts online so that audiences could
still watch performances. Even the fan signings and
............................................................................................................................................
Rubal Kanozia is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mass Communication and Media Studies, Central University
of Punjab, India. Garima Ganghariya is a PhD scholar at the same department and university. Email: rubal.kanozia@cup.
edu.in
© 2021 Asian Media Information and Communication Centre 1 v MEDIA ASIA
fan meetings took place online to keep the fan-idol
relationship alive via video streaming apps like
VLIVE. The idols, on the other hand, started com-
municating with their fans through social media
platforms such as Instagram and Twitter
(TheQoos, n.d.).
Fans of various artists have been associated
with activism and charitable activities. The BTS
ARMY, however, has grabbed the attention of the
global media due to the bigger scale of its activities.
While it is one of the powerful fandoms on social
media capable of breaking records when it comes
to streaming songs, it is also taking the lead when
it comes to charity (Moon, 2020). Like BTS ARMY,
fans from other K-pop often contribute to philan-
thropy. Such charitable acts have been done in the
past. In 2012, for example, the Taiji Mania fan
group raised funds around $35,000 for the World
Land Trust. The band Seo Taiji & Boys is legendary
in K-pop as it was the first band to experiment
with mainstream Korean music and add rap and
hip-hop in their songs, giving social messages with
focus on teenagers (Cho, 2012). To celebrate the
birthday of the artist, Kang Daniel, the organization
“Danity” also raised 12.1 million for the Miral
Welfare Foundation (Kmall24, n.d.).
In 2020, Indian EXO-Ls from Manipur, a state
in North East India, adopted a girl to fund her
education until college to honor the birth of the
daughter of EXO’s Chen. TWICE’s India fanbase
contributed to a charity that provided sanitary nap-
kins to women in need (Mane, 2021). When the
Philippines was hit by the Typhoon Ulysses (known
as Vamca internationally), the Filipino BTS ARMY
raised funds to help heavily affected communities
(Tubiera, 2020). On April 24, 2021, the BTS Indian
ARMY raised over `2,000,000 within 24 hours to
help the people affected by the second wave of
COVID-19. The call for the fundraiser was made
on April 23, 2021 by the BTS’ fanclub, BANGTAN
INDIA which posted a donation link on Twitter
urging the fans all over the world to help India in
crisis (Yadav, 2021). The K-pop fandom can there-
fore be hailed as one of the most giving and kindest
fandoms as K-pop fans take their efforts for charity
to a whole new level by following the efforts of
their idols who actively engage in charity
(Kmall24, n.d.).
During the pandemic, several K-pop artists
have donated money and health supplies to help
certain communities. Many artists took to online
concerts and events to raise funds. In April 2020,
artists like MAMAMOO, April, Kim Jaehwan and
B.O.Y joined hands to raise funds for the humani-
tarian organization GoodNeighbors via the “Live K
Concert” (TheQoos, n.d.). BTS and its label Bighit
entertainment (now HYBE) extended support by
donating $1,000,000 to the charity initiative by
Crew Nation which aimed to support the live
entertainment personnel (Press Trust of
India, 2020).
BTS and FANDOMS
Fandoms are groups composed of fans that con-
sume and admire a text, celebrity, pop culture,
sports, and games, among other aspects. Fans
throughout the changing media landscape have
become well-integrated (Booth, 2010). The
advancement in online technology has affected
these fan communities in terms of communication,
creativity, knowledge, and organization (Bennett,
2014). Today with the increase in internet speed
and accessibility, fans have been competing over
2 v RUBAL KANOZIA AND GARIMA GANGHARIYA
access to subjects of interest to the point where
there is now a social hierarchy within a fandom
(Hills, 2002). Another important feature of fandom
practices is the vested interest of fans in the prod-
ucts, as well as in events which the artist, celebrity,
or object of fandom have endorsed, participated in,
and lent their support. The brands like to associate
themselves with an artist or group to make their
products reach a wide audience. In some ways, the
companies target the fans of these artists as they
are aware that, out of loyalty, fans would either end
up liking the product, buying it, or at least spread-
ing the word about it through word of mouth or
social media. Social media is glorified with celebrity
endorsements more than ever because it can reach
the masses in no time. Some examples of popular
celebrity endorsements that paid off drastically in
online mode are Taco Bell and Snapchat celebrity
Shaun McBride (aka Shonduras); Calvin Klein and
Justin Bieber; and Samsung and Ellen DeGeneres
(Weinstein, 2016).
Today, fandoms are not only associated with
the success of their favorite artists, cinema, music,
novels, or any other object of interest. They have
also evolved as a new force in politics and social
justice (Ekin, 2020). Mostly in K-pop fandom the
social media hashtags are trended for philanthropy
and creating awareness around social issues. These
empowered fans take up political causes. Most
recent is the BTS ARMY’s fundraising for the Black
Lives Matter movement in the US after the police
killing of George Floyd under “One in an Army”
charity project. Week before, the ARMY overtook
the hashtags such as #WhiteLivesMatter and
#AllLivesMatter on social media through flooding
of K-pop fancams. The app iWatch was crashed by
ARMY with fancams of idols after the Dallas police
appealed on Twitter to the citizens to report and
share videos of any illegal protests. The app was
swarmed with numerous one-star reviews along
with the #BlackLivesMatter hashtags (Madden,
2020). Similarly, in the Tulsa rally of then US
President Donald Trump, K-pop fans booked sev-
eral tickets and did not show up on the venue after
the call for the protest against Trump was made on
TikTok and Twitter. This shows the digital power
of fandoms to contribute to the fight for social just-
ice (Wu, 2020).
With the dissolution of Future Forward Party
(an opposition party that advocated greater democ-
racy and was critical of the military-backed Thai
government) in Thailand, support poured in from
K-pop idols as well as Thai K-pop fans. These fans
spread the word on social media, as well as made
donations to cover the cost of protective gear for
the protestors, court cases, bails, and legal assist-
ance (Rawnsley, 2021). It is through the organising,
mobilizing, and fundraising efforts of the K-pop
fans that K-pop fandoms have been expanding their
influence beyond the musical arena.
One of the best examples of how fandoms
have built their presence online and made opti-
mum use of technology is BTS’s fandom. As of
May 23, 2021, BTS official account has 41.9 million
followers on Instagram; BTS’s parent company
HYBE LABELS has 5.63 subscribers on YouTube;
BTS Twitter handle @BTS_twt has 35.6 million fol-
lowers; and BTS official Facebook page has over 18
million followers.
ARMY
One of the largest fandom groups existing today,
ARMY (official fandom of the K-pop boy band
BTS) stands for Adorable Representative MC for
Youth. ARMY was formed on July 9, 2013 following
BTS’s debut on June 13, 2013. (Tina & Utami,
2020). BTS which means Bangtan Sonyeondan or
Bulletproof Boy Scouts is composed of seven mem-
bers: Kim Namjoon aka RM, Kim Seokjin aka Jin,
Min Yoongi aka Suga, Jung Ho-seok aka J- Hope,
Park Jimin aka Jimin, Kim Taehyung aka V, and
Jeon Jungkook aka Jungkook (Chon, 2020). In just
eight years, BTS has achieved a feat in the history
of K-pop gaining worldwide dominance. The
release of BTS’s new single “Butter” broke the
record for the maximum number of views within
24 hours on YouTube and the biggest music video
premier that was held previously by the same
band’s 2020 single, “Dynamite” in May 2021
(Bandwagon, 2021). In 2020, BTS became the most
3 v MEDIA ASIA
followed band on Twitter (Herman, 2020) and has
topped Twitter’s list of most popular artists for
four years since 2017 (Chan, 2021). In 2019, BTS
became the first K-pop band to present at the
Grammy Awards whereas in 2020, BTS became the
first K-pop group to perform at the Grammys
(Choi, 2020). In 2021, the band earned its first
Grammy nomination (Mitchell, 2021). BTS also
became the first K-pop group to perform at the
Wembley Concert, UK’s largest stadium in 2019 in
front of 60,000 people (Ahn, 2019). Since 2017,
BTS has appeared and performed on TV shows like
The Late Show with James Corden, Jimmy Kimmel
Live, The Ellen Degeneres Show, America’s Got
Talent, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,
and Good Morning America. Simultaneously the
band performed in award functions like the
Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs), American Music
Awards (AMAs), and Grammys (Herman, 2018). In
2021, BTS won in all four nominated categories
(Top Social Artist, Top Duo/Group, Top Song
Sales Artist, Top Selling Song) at Billboard Music
Awards (Aniftos, 2021; Sharma, 2021).
The ARMY is a transformative fandom, which
involves remixing of the elements from the original
media in a fan culture to form a new media (Stitch,
2021). For example, when the behind-the-scenes
footage of a music video came out, many fans
made a new collection of the clips of their favorite
members of that band. With huge online presence,
ARMY showcases the characteristics of a tribe
existing in the digital world: digital intimacy, non-
social sociability, transnational locality, and organ-
izing without the organization. ARMY functions via
social media with no central leaders, and yet suc-
cessfully coordinates and manages various projects.
Whenever there is need, ARMY members make
the call for action, spread the message while the
other members follow up to act on the cause
(Chang & Park, 2019).
Charity
When fandoms unite for a cause (e.g., activism
while relating to any form of pop culture), it takes
a form of participatory culture which is evident
among the younger generations in recent years who
mostly engage online passionately (Brough &
Shresthova, 2012). In the online realm where there
are low barriers to a participants’ entry, there is a
coexistence of both popular culture and participa-
tory culture which is the enabling factor in
enhancement and cultivation of civic skills (Jenkins,
2006). This might be a reason why ARMY contrib-
utes to civic causes. These fan activities work due
to the intense engagement that fans share with the
text at individual levels. This sense of engagement
among the fans is witnessed when the fans show
ample amount of participation in strong discussions
and think deliberately about the qualities of a text
(Bennett, 2012). For example, whenever clips of a
new BTS song is released on YouTube, fans share
this news on other social media platforms and give
their reaction, show their admiration, and even
come up with theories related to the theme or con-
cept of the new MV (Music video). They also pay
attention to details of the video, particular mem-
ber’s role, portrayal, background music, set, chore-
ography, and other aspects. The strength of the
fandom grows when the fans share their media
experiences, develop a sense of community, and
express their urge to help. (Kligler-Vilenchik et al.,
2012). For example, BTS ARMY contributed to
Black Lives Matter Movement and led a campaign
on Twitter using the hashtag #MatchAMillion after
BTS donated $1,000,000 to the cause. It raised over
$1,000,000 (Tubiera, 2020).
But fandoms did not always have a positive
impression. They were infamous for toxic behavior,
fan wars, idol worship and immense hate for the
other celebrity competitors and other fans.
According to Kim (2015), K-pop industry fandoms
were usually seen in a negative light as followers
were considered mere fanatics. But when fans and
their respective fandoms started to engage in activ-
ities such as philanthropy, activism and supporting
social causes, this preconceived notion regarding
the notorious fan behavior appears to be changing.
Today these activities are becoming increasingly
common in the K-pop industry as fans make efforts
for charity and philanthropy not only for civic
4 v RUBAL KANOZIA AND GARIMA GANGHARIYA
engagement but also for promoting the artists
(Jung, 2012). During their favorite artists’ birthday
or song release anniversary, many fans raise funds
and contribute for the social good. For example, on
BTS V’s birthday, his American fans contributed to
more than 90 donations. And to express his grati-
tude, BTS V went live on the app VLIVE and
thanked fans for all the charities that he received
from the ARMY worldwide. (Championt, 2021).
BTS fans also imbibe BTS’s music involving social
commentary and messages pertaining to youth,
self-love, dreams, and struggle. The connection
between the ARMY and BTS therefore keeps get-
ting deeper (McLaren & Dal Yong, 2020). What
appeals for the ARMY is the perceived authenticity
of BTS which they acquire when BTS members
share their personal stories and experiences of
overcoming obstacles, thus inspiring the ARMY to
also rise to the occasion (Kim & Chung, 2019;
McLaren & Dal Yong, 2020). This kind of intimacy
and closeness is seldom found in other fandoms.
ARMY most of the time aspires to build a
positive image in front of public as well as in their
idols’ eyes because they see themselves as the face
of BTS. ARMY strives to be seen as exemplary fans
having an overall good influence (Lee, 2019).
Tinaliga (2018) suggested that when fans reflect on
their values and roles within a fandom, there is
development of policing structures that ensure
positive contribution of fans to the community.
ARMY as a group is purposive (Hackman & Katz,
2010) as the major purpose for ARMY’s existence
is BTS. Though ARMY is a group having enormous
variety of social forms, its composition and mem-
bership is nebulous as many fans have annual
membership and many fans identify being an
ARMY without having any membership. There is
still the existence of gatekeeping (Kinderman, 2020)
because one needs to take an exam to join Weverse
(the official community where fans interact with
the artists).
The impact of BTS and its fanbase ARMY on
the world should not be overlooked. BTS from its
debut days has been associated with various philan-
thropic activities for humanitarian causes,
emergency situations and youth empowerment.
Undoubtedly, the deep connection between the
band members and the ARMY is the main driving
force for the worldwide attention the band has
received in recent years (Goss, 2020).
The relationship between BTS and ARMY is
one that speaks of the collaboration and interaction
between fans and artists. While supporting BTS,
the fans undergo a journey of self-realization, learn-
ing socially responsible behavior, involvement in
community engagement, and developing positive
self-image (Chang & Park, 2019). Goss (2020) said
that through interacting with BTS on social media,
ARMY gets deeply influenced as they see BTS as
their role models and hence engage in activities
such as charity. Due to the humanitarian nature of
BTS’s fandom and immense positive impact, even
Billboard has declared ARMY as the best fandom
(Koreaboo, 2017).
Conclusion
In the K-pop industry which is a highly manufac-
tured industry, BTS has carved its niche by becom-
ing the most talked about K-pop act. The major
force behind the success of BTS would be the
highly devoted fans. The fans known as ARMY
organize themselves on the digital platforms and
come together to support their idols in whatever
way possible. Unlike the traditional fan and artist
relationship which had limited interaction, BTS
members and its fandom ARMY often interact with
each other on social media. Some fans even get
luckier when they get recognized by BTS on
Weverse app and other social media platforms.
Through the dialogue that occurs between the fan-
dom and the object of fandom, the bond is
strengthened. BTS since their debut in 2013 has
always acknowledged the role of ARMY and
expressed love for the fandom. Be it the coining of
terms such as “I purple you” (an expression for
everlasting trust and never-ending love) by BTS
member V or the speech given by BTS leader RM
in the United Nations regarding self-love and
acceptance, BTS members have expressed their sin-
cere feelings toward the ARMY. BTS, through
5 v MEDIA ASIA
songs like “Magic Shop”, “Mikrokosmos”, “Young
Forever”, “Boy With Luv”, and “Butter”, has show-
cased the connection they share with ARMY in the
lyrics and music video backdrops. Meanwhile,
ARMY has been very liberal in expressing the
admiration, love, and respect for BTS on social
media sites, especially Twitter. ARMY has been
tirelessly working to make BTS gain recognition in
different countries through streaming and trending
their music, defending BTS, and doing charity in
name of the band.
Aside from effectively supporting BTS on
social media, breaking records by streaming the
music on YouTube and other music platforms, the
activity ARMY engages most enthusiastically is the
act of charity. As BTS has been spreading the mes-
sages about positivity, self-love, self-empowerment,
inclusivity, and youth struggles, the fans resonate
with BTS. These fans look up to BTS as their role
models and when they see BTS members engaging
in charity and taking up social causes, the ARMY is
inspired to do the same. It is noteworthy that
though one of the significant reasons why the fans
take up charity is for the publicity of their favorite
artists, one cannot undermine the positive impact
of such large scale of charity. Fans being passionate
individuals have inherent characteristics of activists,
hence they take up collective action and support
social causes. It is nowhere to say that everyone in
the K-pop fandom likes to donate, but apparently
even if some of the handful fans contribute to char-
ity, the amount raised and the impact are huge
specifically in case of ARMY as the numbers are in
millions. Recently, the engagement of K-pop fans in
politics is gaining attention from media as the fans
have been instrumental in supporting certain cam-
paigns such as the #BlackLivesMatter in the US.
This participation from the side of K-pop fans is
one of the glimpses of the infinite possibilities of
the dynamic nature and diverse compositions of
the K-pop fandoms. Whether the fans are support-
ing political or non-political causes, charity remains
an indispensable activity within the K-pop fandom
as it fuels the movements and campaigns toward
social change.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by
the authors.
ORCID
Rubal Kanozia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-
2890-1244
Garima Ganghariya http://orcid.org/0000-0003-
1552-1506
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