Thread by @odettemarch

#BTSARMY Weapons: Beating An Industry At Its Own Game, Part III

Hi! 👋🏾 Welcome to the third and final part of my "BTS ARMY Weapons" thread series.

If you haven't read the first two parts, you can check them out below:

PART I:

PART II:

The "secret" weapon to ARMY is something that may or may not seem obvious depending on how long you've been with the fandom and, most importantly, how much you actively paid attention to the NATURE of our fandom evolution over the years.

Exactly how DID ARMY go from a very small fandom to an absolute collective titan?

In my opinion, the secret weapon that made it possible was this:

Our terrifyingly efficient ability to absorb, adapt and evolve.

I've struggled to try to put this observation into words (...resulting in several rewrites), but the best way I can explain it is this:

ARMY consumes a breathtaking amount of media and information.

We then, collectively, begin to adapt in order to ensure the best possible strategic outcomes.

Considering the global nature of our fandom, the many languages we speak, the various walks of life.

This is damn near miraculous.

It is hard to get on the same page as someone who is in the same room as you, speaking the same language.

But ARMY manages to get it together and keep adapting and changing, even though so many of us are spread across an entire country and around the world, and will never meet.

If there is something we don't know, either we collectively learn until we master it, or if there are people within the fandom who know, that information gets passed around until we master it.

The third alternative outcome, which is perhaps the most impressive, is that if that knowledge or need doesn't already exist within the fandom...WE WILL GO FIND PEOPLE WHO HAVE THAT KNOWLEDGE AND SOMETHING SOMETHING, THEY ARE IN THE FANDOM NOW. 🤣

Now, why is this secret weapon so amazing?

Because it allows ARMY to function in the completely opposite way of most other fandoms of a similar size, fandoms ruled by gatekeepers actively opposed to change who habitually and enthusiastically attack all newcomers!

Gatekeepers often are found at the center of fandoms and they are heavily resistant to two things: change and growth. These fans do not want the artist/group to change and they don't want new fans to "take over" and assume newer fans are all bandwagoners and insincere.

(This is especially true of male-dominated music spaces, but that's another topic for another day).

At a point, newcomers get driven away and for whatever reason, there stops being that new lifeblood that keeps a fandom active, growing, and, most importantly, CURRENT.

ARMY avoided this trend and approach because it never served us. We are not interested in keeping out new fans and stagnating. We do have our behavior norms and code of conduct.

We're not a fandom that favors gatekeeping, cliques, and stagnation; we remain open & flexible.

CONCLUSION
I can understand why ARMY is hugely intimidating to an industry that's used to bullying and buying its way into getting what it wants.

No matter what is said about or done to us, we pretty much resist and have everything we need to counter these toxic efforts.

I also hope that ARMY can appreciate that with all of these things going for us, we are each part of an amazing community.

Also, remember that it took many years and some really tough growing pains to get here.

Don't take anything for granted, but also know that at the end of the day, our best and biggest resources are each other.

You're never truly alone as an ARMY and if you ever feel that way, just know that you have a whole community rooting for you.

/END