Thread by @odettemarch

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

(PART 2)

If you haven't already, you can read the first part of this thread here:

https://twitter.com/odettemarch/status/1503926506925576192

Also in Pt 1, I asked if readers felt ARMY fit the profile of a K-pop fandom. Here's the poll result:

https://twitter.com/odettemarch/status/1503941192781869057

And now, on to Pt 2!

VI. Not Easy To Define

As you saw in Part I, it was very easy for me to come up with explanations and traits to justify my assertion that ARMY is not a K-pop fandom at present and that we haven't really ticked those boxes since as late as 2018.

The tough part for me was finding a fitting label or more accurate identity.

...Or so I thought, but more on that later. 😅

Musically speaking, ARMY tastes are varied, ranging from hip hop to metal to EDM. Indeed, our tastes go well beyond pop, K or A.

So this wouldn't be the best way in which to label ARMY, because it's never going to be a matter of everyone having a singular, niche taste.

It's also hard to peg the fandom down according to demographics.

It's not a situation where ARMY could be whittled down to any particular group. After all, we deliberately expanded our ranks in such a way that almost anyone could be ARMY or feel welcome.

So rather than look to specific genres or demographic traits, My over-thinking self looked what *type* of group we could be. 🧑🏾‍🤝‍🧑🏼🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑🏾‍🤝‍🧑🏻

And then it got interesting.

VII. Is ARMY a "nation?"

If you're a baby ARMY, you may not have heard the running joke about "Namkanda" and ARMY as its own country.

But "President Namjoon" jokes aside, how much does ARMY, as massive and interconnected as many of us are, satisfy the definition of a nation?

For much of human history, we've thought of nations as existing in the physical world, often on massive swaths of land. But in the 21st century, many of us spend a great deal of time online.

We work, play, date, argue, and build communities in digital spaces.

With so much human interaction taking place "in the cloud," we may have to start thinking about the possibility that we could potentially have created communities large enough to qualify as nations, with the resources to boot!

It's entirely possible to be a nation and not be recognized as such officially. With that being the case, I think you *could* make the argument that ARMY is a kind of "digital nation."

I think that we ARMY have a concrete and common enough social identity while also allowing room for the individual, that maybe we can get away with thinking of ourselves as part of a new kind of nation.

VIII. Is ARMY our own society?

Merriam-Webster defines society as "a voluntary association of individuals for common ends" or "a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests."

Definition:
merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soc…

I especially liked the definition of a society as "an enduring and cooperating social group whose members have developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with one another."

This definitely seems to fit us well.

Now, while terms like "nation" or "society" can work for defining as massive and interconnected a group as ARMY, what I ultimately found was the most fitting definition for what we are individually *and* collectively has been staring me in the face this whole damn time.

IX. Our government name

Yes, I am completely serious. If you go word by word, ARMY perfectly defines us, and also explains why we "Adorably Representative M.C.s for Youth" were always destined to stand apart and go beyond the category of "K-pop fandom."

Adorable.

When you "adore" something or someone, you feel an incredible sense of love and respect for it/them. If there is anyone on Earth that truly adores ARMY, it's BTS and ARMY members ourselves.

I have spoken time and again about how our sincere emotional investment in BTS and the ARMY fandom has played a major role in our decision-making, spending, and how we view the members. Most importantly, the investment is obviously *mutual*.

In the name, in the VERY NAME of our fandom, is the foundation of a promise: To be loved and respected from day one. I'd argue that consciously and subconsciously, we understood and have not stopped giving that back.

Representatives.

We go forth speaking up for BTS and ourselves. We often REPRESENT them in the way we promote them, in the way we push for others to give them a try.

We are absolutely connected to BTS, we are spoken about in relation to BTS, but we never stop trying to push that light and that shine on to BTS and make sure they get the recognition that we feel and know they are due.

Masters and Mistresses of Ceremony (MC)

Typically, an MC or master/mistress of ceremonies is the "conductor of ritual gatherings" or "a person who introduces speakers, players, or entertainers."

Ultimately, what MCs do is handle major events, hosting and entertaining guests, and make sure things go off without a hitch. They guide situations with wit and humor, keeping things schedule.

Above all, they ensure the talent is appropriately introduced, hyped, and recognized.

For Youth.

It's true that ARMY is made up of people from all walks of life, but one of the most important things is that ARMY provides the youth with an opportunity to not only be represented but to *represent themselves.*

The entire concept of ARMY is to love yourself, to love your youth, and not feel you must abandon your youth to be heard. I'd also go as far as to say this is a community that encourages you to accept all of yourself, rather than abandon parts of yourself "to fit in."

Put it all together, what you have is a highly respected and loved group of people that go before BTS with loud voices that command attention as we prepare everyone to see and hear them when they come back with something new-

while always and proudly giving the youth an opportunity to better know and love themselves.

X. What separates ARMY from "K-pop fandom?"

ARMY could qualify as a nation or a kind of society, but everything that we are and need to define ourselves is already in that "government name."

And it also explains WHY we were destined to move on from being a K-pop fandom.

In receiving adoration, we are receiving a promise of emotional investment that is sincere and unique and practically demanding of reciprocation, which we've obviously given.

This isn't something that begins and ends with visuals and the superficial of the idol world niche.

As representatives and MCs, we are pretty active and even self-governing. Meanwhile, many fandoms are paralyzed if there are no active promotions, going into a kind of hibernation.

By comparison, we can't stay still. Something is always going or happening in our community.

ARMY may use KST to sync our fandom clocks, but we're always active across various time zones, engaging, discussing, hoping, crying, laughing...BEING.

Our identity began with the name that BTS gave us, but we actively live in it as part of our daily lives.

Lastly, youth is not something we take for granted.

Often, K-pop fandoms and K-pop itself have a high turnover rate because they treat these groups as temporary distractions not destined to be in your life for more than a few profitable years.

Being forever young doesn't mean stopping the clock on the body, but the mind. Maintaining the hope and imagination and promise that comes with always looking forward toward a future that you get to define, no matter your age, it will always ALL be ahead of you.

This hope and belief is sincere, and so it is automatically elevated above a niche that doesn't really believe in the youth it, ironically, leans so hard on to get as much money out of it as possible before they move on.

ARMY will never outgrow BTS; they're ours forever.

XI. Conclusion: ARMY is not a typical fan community. (Also, BTS love us to death, and it's in the name.)

Did my soft ass sit here and cry when it dawned on me just how deliberately we were named, and how the acronym fits us so well? Yes, yes I did. 🤧

I also learned a valuable lesson about overthinking and how the answer to your question is sometimes staring you dead ass in the face. 💀

Every explanation as to why we are not and will never fit into the K-pop fandom niche is in the name. It always was. 🔫👩🏾‍🚀

What I'm left with is the hope that we continue to move in a positive direction where we take nothing for granted and appreciate how far we've come.