BTS ARMY rules Twitter trends, but what outsiders may not know is how Twitter is the ultimate tool for BTS ARMY to create positive change in the world.
If this wasn't a research blog, I could insert a fancam and enough would be said. That is the power of Stan Twitter culture. It offers tools the community learns how to use to the extent that the practice becomes innate. BTS ARMY Twitter has practices that distinguish themselves from the whole of Stan Twitter through their mobilization activities.
For Cultural Rhetorics 494, a class I took in undergrad for my rhetoric concentration, I was assigned a group project where we had to analyze a cultural artifact by articulating how that artifact showcased symbolic cultural practice. Because all of the students in my group were either fans of K-Pop or were once K-Pop fans, we agreed analyzing Stan Twitter as used by BTS ARMY would be a great study in cultural artifacts.
If I were to expand upon this study, I would connect the rhetorical aspects to my growing communications knowledge such as the PESO Model, and look into how fandom communities like BTS ARMY have a natural instinct in fulfilling each media type. While it is to be expected that BTS's company utilizes pr tactics to present the artists, it is necessary to understand how fans can generate their own pr for the group.
Fandom, even to people who understand a specific fandom's practices, may not know or feel empowered to join in on the communications, but BTS provides fans with the motivation to make positive contributions through Twitter. The most notable points of BTS ARMY activism include when the fandom took a stance in the Black Lives Matter movement by donating over $1 million to BLM organizations and when fans put together charity drives for various occasions.
The way the fandom mobilizes through Twitter specifically can fall under the shared media and owned media categories of the PESO Model because ideas to take action in the name of BTS can come from any ARMY, and when it's a largely agreed upon action, the reach can reach virality. While there have been noteworthy moments of fandom activism, I think there are some untold insights into the particular steps for how virality can occur in specific instances.
For example, a New York Times article titled "Why Obsessive K-Pop Fans Are Turning Toward Political Activism" provides an analysis on how K-Pop fans have mobilized during a time of political polarization, and despite the negative connotations of "obsessive" the article lays out the outsider and insider perspective to how fandom activism is viewed. Locals, a term to describe fandom outsiders, are confused why K-Pop fans feel the need to contribute to political discussion. The opposing insider views quoted from @BTSResearch explains the passion behind the fandom that propels them to act. In the case of BTS ARMY, the "Love Yourself" message from BTS resonates to the extent of actualizing how loving oneself means having the capabilities of loving and wanting to support others.
The quantitative data provided from hashtags can show numerical value to BTS ARMY and their causes; however, I believe further qualitative research that investigates the how and why through a communications lens can further exemplify why it is necessary to take fandoms seriously. The influence that can be generated by everyday people speaks volumes for a number of reasons, and a reason that I would like to point in future research is the pr implications of fandom movements.
Not everyone has to understand Stan Twitter. Not everyone has to like Stan Twitter. But there is more to the community than "obsession", though not every person in the fandom is on the same page, further investigation into the rhetorical practices showcases methodology where BTS ARMY will manage itself when toxicity arises.
Moreover, research into BTS ARMY activism presents a challenge of knowing the fandom narrative as well as cataloging all of the cause-based donations in tandem with outsider and media perceptions, but such research is worth the potential challenges in showing the gravity of fandom economy in entertainment pr.
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