The Reality of the K-Pop Stan Community: Understanding the Discord Between Fans – Rithy Thach
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature of the K-pop industry its fan communities on X/Twitter, and how these fandoms that come together in hopes of celebrating K-pop idols together can turn into a competition between community members – creating a negative space for social media users instead. This paper will discuss the adverse effects that K-pop has on platforms such as X/Twitter, such as the utilisation of social media to grow and promote the industry in hopes of garnering dedicated fans to come together can instead promote and encourage harmful habits within ‘K-pop stan communities’. Overall, the points presented in this paper aim to highlight that, even with good intentions such as promoting harmony between K-pop fans, the usage of social media can bring negative consequences to the industry and its fans.
Introduction:
When it comes to promoting celebrities with garnering new fans as a goal, utilising social media platforms is essential as it allows for positive engagement and the growth of their fanbases – but it also has the possibility of causing harm to existing fans and dividing fan communities (Malik, 2023). Korean popular music, more commonly known as K-pop, along with other forms of South Korean media – such as TV shows and movies – have been made immensely popular worldwide thanks to the ‘Hallyu’ phenomenon – which translates to ‘the Korean Wave’ (Lacap et al., 2024). One thing that makes K-pop unique to other genres of music is the fact that the artists – referred to as ‘K-pop idols’ – rely heavily on building parasocial relationships with fans to build a stable and loyal fanbase, meaning entertainment companies (labels behind K-pop idols, e.g. JYP Entertainment, SM Entertainment) focus primarily on making sure their artists present themselves as a ‘perfect’ image on social media platforms for people to look up to (Lacap et al., 2024). Hence, the utilisation of social media platforms, such as X/Twitter, are perfect for the K-pop industry and its idols to use and promote themselves on due to the already established ‘K-pop stan community’ on the platform (Malik, 2023) – with the term ‘stan’ originating from rapper Eminem’s song of the same name, combining the words ‘fan’ and ‘stalker’. The K-pop stan community on X/Twitter is largely built upon parasocial relationships and celebrity worship due to the false self-presentations these idols produce as a marketing tactic, meaning disagreements within the community can cause online harassment and cyberbullying (Sandrila, 2023). While K-pop fan communities on X/Twitter share the intent of bringing people together to bond over their mutual admiration of idols, the encouragement of celebrity worship and fanatical behaviours can easily cause divisive conflict and harm to these same communities – ultimately undermining the original intent these fanbases had.
Discussion:
As visuals, physical appearance, and personal image in general are huge aspects of the K-pop scene, the entertainment companies managing these idols/idol groups are often the ones who are in control of what gets posted onto their social media accounts. However, when these companies’ main goal is to make a profit off of their signed artists, how these idols are represented on social media may be a marketing tactic to favour the K-pop agencies (Cai, 2021). This brings into question the self-presentation of idols – with self-presentation meaning the way in which people portray themselves to others, usually with the intention of making a desired impression to their audience – in this case, the K-pop stan community (Strimbu, 2019). As K-pop entertainment companies usually have an image in mind for their idols and their respective groups, they heavily monitor what gets posted. This is a major reason as to why newer K-pop groups rarely ever have individual social media accounts for their group members on platforms such as X/Twitter and Instagram, as it is a big risk and could ruin their public image – which could harm their popularity. As such, the K-pop market can be filled with idols being forced to represent themselves in a way that isn’t authentic but instead manufactured by their labels – a clear example of false self-presentation. While false self-presentation may not be a bad thing on its own, K-pop fans may have the tendency to fully accept these carefully curated images as the hard truth – believing that what they see on social media is the reality for these idols. As South Korea is known for having physical appearance as an important part of their culture, most (if not all) K-pop groups have a member placed into the ‘Visual’ role – which is designated to the member who fits the Korean beauty standards the most out of the group (Wu, 2020). This usually is narrowed down to having a more ‘youthful’ appearance – meaning pale, clear skin and a slim body are highly valued not only within the K-pop industry but in South Korea as a whole. This emphasizes that visuals are arguably of equal importance – if not more so – than vocal and dancing skills when it comes to the current groups and trends in K-pop (Wu, 2020). Both K-pop idols and their companies are known for touching up and editing photos in order to make them seem ‘prettier’ and more in line with the Korean beauty standards – usually slimming down the nose, making the body skinnier, etc. When this ‘perfect’ image is the only thing fans on social media are able to see, this can raise their expectations – and when fan communities are built off these unrealistic expectations, it’s questionable if these fans are really rooting for the idol or just their imagination.
False self-presentation is dangerous in the K-pop community, as the manufactured ‘perfect’ image these idols put out can cause fanaticism/fanatic behaviours amongst stan communities – even when the intentions are meant to be good. Fanaticism can be defined as the belief in a fanatical object/person, where this attitude results in enthusiasm, emotional attachment, and also a feeling of love for said fanatical object/person which others may seem ‘extreme’ or ‘excessive’ (Eliani et al., 2018, as cited in Ardhiyansyah et al., 2021, p. 68). Since these behaviours can be seen as excessive or extreme in nature, it can drive people to engage in aggressive behaviours – especially online. This can be things such as verbal aggression against others who don’t share the same opinion as the fanatic, or to those who disagree with them in general (Ardhiyansyah et al., 2021). Since K-pop relies heavily on building parasocial relationships between idols and fans, this easily explains the prevalent presence of fanatics and fanatical behaviour seen in the K-pop stan community on X/Twitter. K-pop stan communities on social media often encourage this fanatical behaviour amongst other users, with the intention of promoting these idols and encouraging them to do well in life – however, it can also be fuel to the online harassment fire. For example, when it comes to cases of cyberbullying within the K-pop fan space, the offender may feel provoked when encountering a post on the platform that belittles, criticizes, or spreads fake information regarding their favourite idols – responding to said posts in hopes to defend the idol (Sandrila, 2023). It should also be noted that aggressive behaviour and/or cyberbullying may occur even when unprovoked, as fanatics may think that idols really are the perfect, flawless singing & dancing machines they see on social media – with arguments starting over things as little as when fans offer their own constructive criticism or their own harmless opinions on K-pop idols. It has reached the point that in both South Korean and Western media, there is a running joke to not critique or say anything remotely negative about the K-pop scene – as doing so could place you in the target of online harassment from fanatic K-pop fans (Rashid, 2022). A case where this is seen in action comes from entertainment reporter Juwon Park. When Juwon Park, on X/Twitter, had questioned why BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) and TXT (Tomorrow X Together) – both leading K-pop boy groups under the same entertainment label, Big Hit Music – had worked with artist Bobby Chung, who was accused of sexual assault against two women, Park became the target of online abuse from K-pop stan X/Twitter accounts which did not conclude after weeks (Rashid, 2022). The importance placed on wanting fans to engage in fanatical behaviours may benefit these entertainment companies, but it does not do much for the fan community at all – as it does not connect fans together, but rather divide them and spark meaningless competition over the idols.
K-pop fans coming together to root for and admire their favourite idols isn’t harmful at all – in fact, it can be a good way for these people to connect and bond over their common interests. However, in the K-pop industry – where competition is rampant between other entertainment labels and idol groups – competition can also arise between fan communities and lead to ‘fan wars’ – where fan communities argue and attack each other on the belief that their favourite idols are better (Purba, 2022). There is no denying that K-pop fans won’t like every idol they come across – and of course, there are bound to be people who dislike certain idols. When these fans will go to extreme lengths to both praise and defend their favourite K-pop artists, they may not shy down from belittling other idols in hopes to elevate the reputation of their favourites. The rise of social media has changed the way that fan wars can occur, as they no longer need face-to-face interactions – but instead allow people to post whatever they want on platforms like X/Twitter, enabling users to write messages or post with the intention of sparking fan wars with other fan communities (Purba, 2022). The K-pop industry also focuses a lot on awards and music charts, and fans often want to see their favourites receive lots of prestigious awards and/or also be seen at the top of the music charts to feel a sense of pride in their favourite artists (Purba, 2022). Consequently, when there are multiple fan communities rooting for their respective artists, the competition between one another can spark disagreements and harassment – leading to fanwars. While fan wars are often depicted as two different fan groups arguing against one another, fan wars can happen within the same fanbase – showing the true divisive nature of the K-pop stan community. For example, back in 2020, BLACKPINK – one of the most popular K-pop girl groups worldwide under YG Entertainment – released their music video (MV) for the song ‘How You Like That’ (Purba, 2022). The MV featured a statue of Ganesha, which is God from Hinduism, where its use in the video made Hindu ‘BLINKs’ – the name given to fans of BLACKPINK – feel insulted as they had felt their religion was being mocked, and raised protests to both the group BLACKPINK and YG Entertainment (Purba, 2022). On the other hand, there were also BLINKS who felt as though the matter wasn’t something that should be taken as offensive, and that the protests demanding action to be taken on the matter were uncalled for (Purba, 2022). This only resulted in fanwars occurring between BLINKs, showing the discord between fans in a community that was formed in hopes of connecting them together to share their interest in the K-pop group BLACKPINK.
Conclusion:
While it’s great to join a community with others to bond over a mutual interest in K-pop, the downsides and negativity these fanbases carry out can bring into question the state of the industry and how it promotes behaviours amongst fans. The toxicity present within such fan communities that revolve around the K-pop industry can make it unappealing for others to join, thus harming the overall image of these fans and forming a negative stereotype. It’s important for these K-pop stans to realise that the way idols are presented on social media platforms, like X/Twitter, are merely just highlights or part of a highly strategic marketing tactic that aims to attract fans – an essential step in preventing the formation of obsessive parasocial relationships. As parasocial relationships and fanatical behaviours form as the basis for the toxicity seen online within these K-pop fandoms, it’s important for these fans to realise that the divisive nature of the fan community can be changed into a more harmonious state by changing the way that they see idols and other K-pop fans.
References
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