Thread by @sweetbtstea

MOUTHFUL INCOMING! Breaking Down The Delusion Causing Certain Companies & Fans To Overestimate Their Ability To Match BTS & ARMY's Past & Current Successes

(An Impromptu Thread)

INTRODUCTION

I didn't expect to do a deep dive into the media play fraudulence, annoying entitlement, and plain old delusion causing people to vastly overestimate their chances of replicating what BTS and ARMY worked together to achieve.

Yet, here I am.

I would have addressed it sooner, but I was on a break. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Now that I'm back, I have a few thoughts/theories as to why there is this wave of delulu washing up on our shores, and why it will likely not morph into anything meaningful any time soon.

I. THE DOUBT BEFORE THE DELUSION

I still remember the 2017 naysayers claiming ARMY were kidding ourselves if we believed BTS would ever make a real dent in America.

An entire generation of K-pop failed; how was BTS going to be any different?

underskored.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/why…

Even now, these people simply cannot accept the difference between coming to America due to high demand and fandom support (BTS) and simply showing up (practically everyone else).

For those who *don't* know the difference, a demonstration:

BTS & ARMY were doubted, laughed at, and treated as cringe every step of the way to the top by people who just couldn't believe we could set out to make BTS *that* group.

If it wasn't outright cruelty, it was concern trolling by people who cynically assumed the worst.

Flash forward a few years, and you have people just outright assuming that BTS and ARMY bled, sweated, and cried for can be theirs and their alleged faves with almost no real effort.

It's fascinating watching the *same* people who spent Y-E-A-R-S betting against BTS and ARMY suddenly flip-flopping like the tuna in Jin's meme song. Either companies are planning for Billboard out of the gate or fans are claiming their faves have achieved "world domination."

SIDEBAR BITCH MOMENT:

A walk-on role in the background of someone else's movie is not "world domination."

Just because ARMY uses words and phrases does not make them free real estate for cosplayers.

Please and thank you.

II. DUNNING & KRUGER WOULD PERHAPS LIKE A WORD...

It turns out there is a concept in psychology that could explain the attitudes of people who vastly overestimate their capabilities when compared to their peers: The Dunning-Kruger Effect.

"[The] Dunning-Kruger effect, in psychology, a cognitive bias whereby people with limited knowledge or competence in a given intellectual or social domain greatly overestimate their own knowledge or competence in that domain relative to objective criteria."

SOURCE: britannica.com/science/Dunnin…

This isn't to say another fandom couldn't help their favorite artist or group rise similarly to ARMY. The problem is when one completely ignores what our fandom had to go through (and continues to go through) to get there.

You see the finish line but *not* the obstacles.

Could the cognitive bias associated with the Dunning-Kruger Effect be entirely to blame? Some may argue yes, which is why I mentioned the theory.

Personally, I suspect a combination of other culprits.

III. ASS OUT OF U & ME

Despite my perpetual shade and reading, nobody can say I didn't spend a good amount of time between 2017 and 2019 trying to warn people about the negative outcome awaiting those trying to ride BTS's coattails to global success.

odiegotablog.com/bts-army/bts-r…

BTS's influence and impact go FAR BEYOND the charts. They're practically Korean diplomats, having appeared before and spoken before the United Nations multiple times.

Their charity work and ability to influence fans to donate MILLIONS to causes around the world is amazing.

I can only compare it to the reality of the human eye only seeing 0.0035 percent of the rainbow of radiation. That narrow sliver of visible light is how we see the universe.

They're viewing a narrow sliver of our experience, and so can't comprehend 99.9% of our reality.

The K-pop industry, media, and far too many K-pop fans just assume, after YEARS of doing nothing but doubting, mocking, denying, and flop shading, that they can now have everything BTS has from the jump.

Because if some non-Big 3 "nugu" group could do it, anyone can, right?!

The assumption that anyone can copy/paste what BTS & ARMY have without our hard work is downright laughable. The companies aiming for Billboard before their groups can even get a fandom together aren't doing these kids any favors.

It's time to address the elephant in the room.

IV. NO DREAM WORKS WITHOUT TEAMWORK

ARMY is a terrifyingly massive fandom at this point. We are not perfect, and we don't always get along, but one thing we have mastered is prioritizing BTS's success as much as possible.

If you don't believe me, ask yourself why BTS seems to be among the only acts on the planet that isn't remotely impacted by music leaks.

You're talking about a fandom that routinely pays for free music. It's just how we operate.

#PUTDDAENGONITUNESPLZ

ARMY is an extremely disciplined fandom. Perhaps the most disciplined in music history. And this is WITHOUT fan club presidents and chapters. (I'm definitely showing MY age here.)

Without that discipline, we wouldn't have been able to ably promote BTS or recruit newer fans.

But most important of all, ARMY rely heavily on communication and accurate information across the fandom, including communicating with K-ARMY and Korean-speaking ARMY.

There's a reason our translation accounts are CONSTANTLY under attack; they are far more efficient-

and HONEST than practically all other translation accounts for other K-idol groups.

Gen 2 K-pop fans will never tell you this, but that gen was largely kneecapped by deliberate miscommunication and withholding for information by Korean idol fans.

For all the talk about what other Gen K-pop groups deserved, these people would rather be salty at BTS and ARMY than acknowledge there was deliberate sabotage. K-idol companies did not provide any space for foreign fans; they just want and wanted their money. Nothing more.

It's no secret that K-idol fans and K-netizens hate foreign K-pop fans. These I-fans often do themselves no favors when they speak ignorantly and arrogantly about social issues in Korea, prioritizing idol music over whatever situation is playing out.

These groups do not have agendas that sync up; they are often only using each other, and so cannot be bothered to connect emotionally or formulate strategies that would result in meaningful financial success.

Let alone make any measurable sociological global impact.

The k-idol industry can pay lip service to BTS-level success and idol fans can go on about who "deserves" what, but if they aren't making any effort to understand or respect each other, to be a team in any sense of the word, then they're just blowing smoke all over social media.

CONCLUSION

You can mime that you are building a bridge, but I wouldn't advise taking a step out into the void. Luckily, I don't think we'll see much other than miming away. If only they could be as silent as actual mimes.

BTS and ARMY enjoy genuine relevance, organic success, and achievements set in stone that will stand the test of time. Others can tell themselves this is easily had, and they may even kid themselves into believing.

But without the actual effort, it will always amount to NOTHING.

/THREAD

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