Thread by @sweetbtstea

[By Poll Vote]

ODIE'S TINFOIL HAT TIME!

Tonight's Topic: Are Rival Companies Trying To Use ARMYs To Destroy Big Hit?

🤔

DISCLAIMER

This thread, like every other "tinfoil hat time" explores a particular conspiracy theory or claim. I'm not asserting anything in this thread to be 100% factual.

Feel free to take it with a grain of salt.

INTRODUCTION

When I announced this topic, two things happened. Some told me that it was absolutely timely because of some recent issues. The other thing? I had people creating accounts *specifically* to gaslight me.

😕

In actuality, this thread topic wasn't inspired by any issue directly involving trolls or "managerantis," but rather having come across a since-deleted post where someone asked if it was possible if certain accounts weren't antis per se, but company-hired stooges playing a part.

As someone who loves a good conspiracy theory, I thought it would make for a good "tinfoil hat time." Having people create brand new accounts to steer me away only made me more curious. And push my tinfoil hat down a little tighter. 😂

I'll admit that the idea that someone would volunteer or get paid by a company to infiltrate a fandom to sow seeds of confusion and derision seems a little fantastical.

Or at least it would be IF it weren't common enough for a term for this behavior to exist.

PART I. SHILLS-R-US

"Shilling" is an act by which an accomplice (paid or volunteer) is used to legitimize a company, product, or point of view. People who partake in this behavior are called shills, plants, or stooges.

A shill might write a fake product review. S(he) might join a political forum at the behest of a politician or political party to spew specific talking points. Shills can work in the direction of making you have unwavering faith in a product or brand or absolutely distrusting it.

Whether they're known as "shills," "plants," or "stooges," these people are never forthcoming about who they get their marching orders from and what their *true* goals are.

A shill doesn't even have to believe the rhetoric they're spreading if it's being done strictly for pay.

The thing is, the shilling isn't inherently illegal or bad.

For instance, some scientific or social experiments will make sure of an actor (confederate) that the subject isn't aware is part of the experiment rather than another test subject such as his or herself.

Also, there are brave men and women who go undercover as plants to bust criminals and/or break-up harmful criminal rings.

So when does playing the role of a stooge become problematic? When the goal is to manipulate and deceive people, often using unethical mental and emotional manipulation tactics in an effort to get them to behave in whatever way the people you're shilling for want them to.

For instance, consider the scandal surrounding the US 2016 election and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter that found themselves swarmed by fake accounts created to influence American voters.

intelligence.house.gov/social-media-c…

While political shilling or outright scams that involve accomplices are probably better known and more widely discussed, the use of shills by businesses is also an unfortunate reality, and with worrying consequences.

PART II. KNIVES OUT FOR BIG HIT?

As an ARMY, Big Hit's growth isn't exactly terrifying to me. It's to be expected given the massive success that BTS has enjoyed worldwide and how the company has started to expand as a result.

But if you're a rival company in the Korean idol industry (or in a different industry that BH has shown interest in moving into at some point), their rapid growth MIGHT feel more like this.

(WARNING: GROSS!)

Not only is Big Hit growing, but they're *expanding* beyond K-pop. Big Hit doesn't seem to be interested in putting its entire survival into the hands of K-idol music. It will likely release more groups, but also create marketable characters, social media apps, and mobile games.

(CREDITS: bighitcorp.com/eng/
hbr.org/2011/10/the-ri…
Netmarble + weverse promo)

The timing of this decision by Big Hit could NOT be more perfect as the news comes that the K-idol industry is in serious trouble due to rapidly shrinking investor faith.

m.koreaherald.com/amp/view.php?u…

Whether it's scandals, failed media play, or the inevitable outcome of a flooded market with an extremely high turnover rate, the idol industry has lost its shimmer.

Perhaps the decision to pretend that BTS' success was going to be felt industry-wide was a terrible one.

While everyone else is seeing their value bleed on the stock market, Big Hit is making its parachute full and golden for their anticipated move onto the markets.

And it's blatantly obvious that BH is filling that parachute with the long-term in mind.

Let's observe Big Hit's behavior in 2019:

+ They reported hired Chun Hye Rim, the brain behind the popular Kakao Talk character Ryan
(sedaily.com/NewsView/1VE5F…)

+ They hired a CO-CEO, Lenzo Yoon.
(forbes.com/sites/tamarher…)

+ They released apps for buying merchandise (weply) and communicating with ARMYs & BTS (weverse).

+ This year also saw the release of BTS World, a mobile app game featuring BTS members. ()

+ Big Hit began moving to make content available on a wider range of platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and even Korean television.

There was also, of course, the launching of the corporate website in March 2019, a move that some view as a definite sign the company will be headed in the direction of IPO sooner rather than later.

bighitcorp.com

As someone who's kept an objective eye on Big Hit, I have to say that the year to date (late 2018 until now) has been an especially active period. While chaos and dashed hopes envelope business rivals, Big Hit is clearly doing what it can to protect itself and place itself-

in the best possible position going forward.

...But if you're a rival business on the way down or otherwise threatened by Big Hits early moves to perhaps one day put itself in major-Korean-conglomerate territory, it might NOT be outside the realm of unethical business practices to do what you can to sabotage them early on.

It's not like Big Hit is a stranger to sabotage attempts. For instance, those rumors of saja*gi, aka buying copies of its artists' music to artificially inflate their chart numbers and make them seem more successful than they really are.

polsygol.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/saj…

Although BTS bore the brunt of the accusation as the subject of it, the accusation was leveled directly at Big Hit with claims THEY were the ones that committed the act.

Such accusations aren't just meant to deflate the image of the group; it is meant to shake trust in Big Hit as a brand, planting seeds that suggest the company is greedy and deceptive.

And these aren't the only type of accusations leveled at BH over the years.

Some of the most insidious accusations come by way of alleged experts, insiders, or fandom members with "information" distributed to ARMYs with seemingly one sole objective in mind: Undermine any possible faith the fandom has in Big Hit to disrupt the company's health + growth.

It's no secret that Big Hit's primary source of income is BTS, and that BTS' primary source of income is ARMY.

If you can distract ARMYs, stop this fandom from doing what it does best (supporting BTS), then you can begin to effectively attack and undermine any future BH goal.

PART III. PARANOIA AGENT

Let's say there ARE shills working for Big Hit rivals. I can't say with 100 percent certainty if I've ever encountered one (this is "tinfoil hat time" remember), but based on certain bizarre encounters and observations I've made...let me theorize.

You are a BTS ARMY. As a fandom member, your primary objective is BTS and ARMY. So then, why would you focus all of your time and energy into spreading anti-BH propaganda? How does spreading negative rumors about Big Hit help BTS or ARMY objectives?

I'm not saying "don't question Big Hit or try to communicate dissatisfaction (as a customer, that is your right)."

I am saying that it's odd that you have people who, as BTS (and Big Hit) have gotten larger have started pushing narratives where BTS would be better off failing.

We've seen people saying it would be better for BTS to have a flop comeback because then it would stop Big Hit from "taking advantage of their success" or pushing the idea that BTS' flopping would make it easier to "be free of Big Hit."

There are people who believe unironically that BTS have no money, that Big Hit has taken it all and that they were "blackmailed" into agreeing to stay with Big Hit another seven years.

And these rumors continue to spread without any evidence to back them up.

But what's ESPECIALLY interesting is that within the last couple of weeks, I've observed negative news articles and hashtags aimed not at attacking BTS or ARMY...but the reputation and growth of Big Hit.

I even had someone make a BS claim about ME while mentioning Big Hit. 🤔

If I were to entertain the possibility that these actions are related to shills, I'd likely examine their behavior and what they demand that ARMYs prioritize.

+ Do they encourage ARMYs to support BTS and ARMY in an emotionally healthy and positive way?

+ Do they engage in frequent fear and rumor-mongering? Do they seem eager to latch onto anything that smears Big Hit and undermines fandom trust?

+ Does their priority seem to be unordinarily attached to news that harms Big Hit and its future projects?

+ Do they encourage ARMYs to assume the worst and use fear of bad things happening to BTS to push their points across? And is this then tied to unwarranted claims of abuse and incompetence by Big Hit

+ Do they seem to have knowledge or connections that are unexplained?

They might not be a shill; they might just be a very dedicated troll. But if you can't say for certain, maybe it's best to step back from feeding your confirmation bias and fear and start to ask if you're not being used as a tool by some shady individuals. 👀

CONCLUSION

Do I believe there are company shills in this fandom? If there are, I wouldn't be shocked. It would be THE LEAST surprising thing we've caught K-companies accused of in 2019. 😬

All I'll say is that it's just another reason why I encourage you to think for yourself and to make sure the people you follow aren't trying to indoctrinate you into doing and thinking things that are deviate from typical healthy fandom behaviors.

thatAnd anyway, don't worry. ARMYs aren't going to leave BTS hanging to satisfy any cartoonish scheme even if one does exist. If ARMYs respond to anger by spending money on BTS, I think we can safely assume the majority of the fandom continues to prioritize their support of BTS.

/THREAD

Thank you all for READING!

QUESTIONS...

Have you ever had any strange encounters with people claiming to be ARMYs? If so what exactly gave it away for you that something about the person/account was strange?