Thread by @odettemarch

By Poll Result: ARMY Is *NOT* A K-pop Fandom...So What Are We?

(PART 1)

INTRODUCTION

I know some people might see the title as either a "hot take" or an attempt at controversy, but I'm sincere.

In my mind, ARMY hasn't been a K-pop fandom since 2018.

This same year, BTS dropped "IDOL," in which we get the iconic line, "You can call me artist/You can call me idol"

I think it was at this point that there was a lot of discussion and even controversy over what category BTS was meant to be in (and we know the West loves putting artists of color in boxes, but that's another thread for another day). But so much for ARMY.

I did find that curious because ARMY was undergoing a significant change in identity and function right alongside BTS.

And there's nothing to say we can't go through still more changes in the future.

For now, it's safe to say we're not a K-pop fandom.

So what ARE we?

I'm going to try to pinpoint this by the end of this two-part thread. For now, I want to focus on the traits that firmly lift us out of the "K-pop fandom" lane, where we haven't been for years now.

I. The 2018 Demographic Shift

The reason I pick 2018 as opposed to 2016 or 2017 is because I feel most comfortable arguing that by this year, most ARMY were not remotely K-pop fans.

And this is significant because if the majority of the fandom was not associated with K-pop, it-

would play a huge role in the shift in fandom behavior, thought processes, and priorities.

It was at this point that ARMY began to shift our aspirations from Idol music show wins to Hot 100. To BTS being the biggest K-pop group to the biggest group in the world.

The ambitions grew with the fandom, and this causes something else to happen: a lot of K-pop fans left.

II. The K-pop Exodus Nobody Talks About

We actually had a good amount of people disassociate themselves with ARMY and BTS because they didn't like that BTS was becoming, in their minds, less and less of a typical K-pop boy group.

It's not abnormal for OG and early fans to-

move on from an artist or group that changes too much for their liking. We still get a lot of loud ex-ARMY going on about how BTS "sold out" or just isn't the same and there's no denying that many of these people were K-pop fans who wanted a K-pop group experience.

So, I'd argue that as a lot of non-K-pop ARMY were entering the fandom, quite a few K-pop fans were moving on to other groups. By 2019, it was clear that ARMY priorities had evolved beyond K-pop because most of its fans did not see us or BTS as limited to that niche.

III. The Noona/Hyung Takeover

Another thing I glimpsed in late 2017, early 2018 was that a lot of Korean articles about BTS, despite never making it to the front page of Naver, had a Korean readership mainly in their 30s and 40s.

I found that these older Korean fans were very supportive of BTS as a throwback to the Gen 1 era of K-pop. That is, the era of K-pop before it was subverted by greedy, soulless music corporations.

And so, NOT the demographic typically associated with K-pop fandoms.

This is true outside of Korea as well, with a lot of foreign BTS fans being in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond.

In addition to a wider age range, since 2018, ARMY is more concerned with being a global fandom and valuing our international fan community.

But I have brought up age before because I think having a fandom that skews older is a major factor in why we are not a K-pop fandom: Not only are the majority of ARMY at this point not "K-pop fans," but our priorities and behaviors are far too different.

IV. Identity

Okay, time for an actual hot take: I'd argue that what separates ARMY from the K-pop bubble is that we have our *own* identity. You notice how we get acknowledged in print as "ARMY" and not "K-pop fans?"

Most K-pop fandoms don't have that, not internationally.

We are proactive in managing our community, and we are very insistent on resisting labels, especially those we correctly perceive as inaccurate or detrimental.

We value our identity because ARMY had a huge hand in developing our own community and identity.

ARMY is made up of people from all over the world, in every time zone. And we all consider ourselves ARMY. It helps tremendously that there is a connection between Korean ARMY and non-Korean ARMY and that we all believe in BTS as a group and fight for their future TOGETHER.

It is important to say this, and I know it might make some people mad, but I don't care: ARMY was the game-changing fandom in which it wasn't K-fans who fully and solely enjoyed the perks of having the fandom identity while foreigners were treated as second class citizens.

Before BTS and Big Hit and K-ARMY, this second-class view of non-Korean fans was supported throughout THE ENTIRE K-pop industry, acted out by K-fans who rejected and refused to trust I-fans. And many I-fans accepted this and would even justify the expectation of getting devalued.

V. So, ARMY is NOT a K-pop fandom

BTS ARMY is not a K-pop fandom. Our demographics do not align. Our behaviors and priorities do not align and have not aligned for several years now.

We are too self-directed with a wider age range.

We are the square peg to K-pop's round hole.

So I've talked a bit about the observation of demographics, behaviors, and traits that make it clear, at least to me, that ARMY is not a K-pop fandom.

In part two, I take another look at these traits and behaviors to try to figure out a more logical label.

Or if it exists!

/thread

Thanks for reading!

Also, I'm curious, so I'll pose the question to you: Do you think ARMY fits the profile of a K-pop fandom?