essay about bts army

Find anything you save across the site in your account

How BTS Became One of the Most Popular Bands in History

I’ve long been hesitant to write about BTS. When reporting on South Korea, I resisted the expected topics: Korean skin care, plastic surgery, dogmeat, and, yes, K-pop . I absorbed Western critiques of K-pop’s girl and boy bands: that they’re fluffy, manufactured, and exploitative of their members—as if the same weren’t true of New Kids on the Block. But, earlier this year, BTS became inescapable. The group was everywhere, and everyone seemed to be into them. To continue ignoring the BTS phenomenon was to risk missing something bigger than Beatlemania.

I first glimpsed the swell of hallyu , the Korean wave, a decade ago. In the winter of 2012, I was writing a story about Latina day laborers in Brooklyn who cleaned Hasidic homes before the Sabbath—when women’s work accumulated to the point where outsourcing became necessary. I had heard that many employers paid low wages or didn’t pay at all; some workers reported verbal abuse and sexual harassment. Standing among the women on a street corner in a black puffy coat, I tried to make conversation in my terrible Spanish. One morning, a worker approached me and asked, apropos of nothing, if I was Korean—not “Chinese or Japanese?” This precision was new. When I said yes, she beamed. “My daughter—she loves Korea,” she said. “She loves K-pop.”

E. Tammy Kim discusses her reporting on BTS .

The woman took out her phone and had me speak with her daughter, Karina, a young mother and deli worker in New York. Karina wanted to learn Korean so she could better understand the lyrics of boy bands such as Super Junior and SHINee. I agreed to teach her, and, in exchange, she agreed to be my interpreter. We established a semiweekly routine: meet in the morning to interview day laborers, then study Hangul at a nearby library. Karina practiced writing the alphabet, ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ . . ., and pronouncing basic phrases. She read Bruce Cumings’s “ Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern History ,” and composed a report that gushed about King Sejong and his invention of the Korean script. “I myself find it to be a beautiful language,” she wrote. “When you hear the words being spoken, it sounds as if it’s a melody.”

Three years later, a friend on Long Island told me that teen-age twins who she’d met in town were obsessed with all things Korean. Like Karina, they were the daughters of Latino immigrants and bilingual in English and Spanish, but it was Korean that they wanted to know. They’d taught themselves the basics, and began texting with me in short bursts of Hangul, with emojis and exclamation points. When I invited them over for a home-cooked Korean meal, they brought along a friend, another Latino Koreaphile, and a Korean cake garlanded in candied fruits.

A few years after that, my parents and I were on a ferry in Greece, during a trip to celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary, when a young Greek man in shorts came up to us, smiling broadly. “Are you Korean?” he asked. “I love your culture. K-pop!” He asked us to speak Korean, as though he might inhale the sounds along with the salty sea air. Korea was trendy. It had successfully hawked its cultural wares in the global marketplace. Still, I knew nothing of its best-selling product: BangTanSonyeondan, a.k.a. BTS.

A friend warned, at the start of my BTS journey, “This is the hardest story you’ve ever done.” What he meant was that there was so much material (nine years of music, dancing, articles, and tweets) and so much potential to get things wrong (a staggeringly rich subculture and legions of fervent, fact-checking fans). In April, BTS was performing in Las Vegas, as part of a short international tour—the band’s first live shows since before the pandemic. I bought an overpriced resale ticket and started to cram.

Acquaintances who proudly identify as members of BTS’s ARMY —which stands for “Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth” and describes both individual fans and its fandom worldwide—delighted in making recommendations. They sent links to music videos, concerts, and the band’s self-produced variety show, “Run BTS,” of which there are more than a hundred and fifty episodes. I tried out fan-made choreography tutorials (embarrassing but fun) and watched mini-lectures to learn the seven members’ names. I scrolled through Twitter fan accounts, read BTS monographs, and listened to a podcast called “BTS AF.” On the last day of May, Asian American heritage month, the boys appeared at the White House for a careful mix of politics lite and P.R., condemning “anti-Asian hate crimes” (in Korean) and making finger hearts with President Biden in the Oval Office.

Then, on June 14th, just days after releasing a new album, BTS made a shocking, if not unexpected, announcement. In a video to celebrate their ninth anniversary, the members sat around a long, lavishly appointed dinner table, in the style of da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” All was festive—wine and crab legs and laughter—until minute twenty-one. SUGA, one of the band’s rappers, said, “I guess we should explain why we’re in an off period right now.” A sober go-around followed: the members were tired; they wanted to try new things, each on his own. They cried. Many ARMY s concluded that BTS was going on hiatus, and some feared a breakup. Hours later, after the stock price of the band’s parent company fell by nearly thirty per cent, the band member RM issued a statement of reassurance. The members were simply taking a break to pursue solo projects. “This is not the end for us,” he said.

Débuting in 2013, BTS was the creation of the producer and songwriter Bang Si-Hyuk and his K-pop label, Big Hit Entertainment. Bang, who studied aesthetics at South Korea’s prestigious Seoul National University, started his career at J.Y.P. Entertainment, one of the “big three” corporations that built K-pop into a five-billion-dollar industry, with generous government support. During the Asian financial crisis of the late nineties, President Kim Dae-jung, whose inauguration was attended by Michael Jackson, had taken a cue from Hollywood and J-pop (Japan’s popular-music industry) to invest heavily in culture. The spending paid off, and K-pop, K-dramas, and Korean genre films became a source of Korean soft power.

When Bang left J.Y.P. to start Big Hit, in 2005, he set out to make a different kind of K-pop. His recruits would still come through auditions and undergo months, even years, of training in song and dance. They would still learn English and Japanese (and Korean, if they were coming from somewhere else) and cultivate a pale, dewy complexion. And they would still be expected to practice total romantic discretion, if not chastity. But, unlike at the Korean big three, Bang would allow his idols to express themselves, both by writing their own music and by interacting directly with their fans. This relative freedom would make BTS the most popular band in the world and turn Bang into a billionaire.

Bang initially envisioned BTS as a smaller hip-hop group. He began with Kim Namjoon, a.k.a. RM (formerly Rap Monster), a preternaturally confident m.c. and fluent English speaker. Then came Min Yoongi, or SUGA, who’d gained renown for making beats in his provincial home town, and Jung Hoseok, or j-hope, a hip-hop dancer who would lean into his sunny moniker. From this three-member rap line, Bang kept growing the band, adding singers and visuals, meaning lookers. Kim Seokjin, or Jin, the oldest member, born in 1992, had perfect lips and thespian ambitions. Jeon Jung Kook, the youngest, or maknae , had proved his all-around talent on the show “Superstar K.” Kim Taehyung, or V, had a tender voice and sultry eyes, while Park Jimin was a competitive dancer of implacable sweetness.

It was unusual for a K-pop group to start from a base of rap and hip-hop. It was even more unusual for a group to speak and sing openly of the struggles of youth. The members vlogged their adolescent musings and posted variety-show episodes to the video-streaming service V Live. On the app Weverse, they offered pay-for-play content to supplement what was already on YouTube. Every day, there was something new to consume, and watching the members rehearse intricate dance moves, eat takeout, play video games, and gently bicker felt like eavesdropping on an endless slumber party. As the ethnomusicologist Kim Youngdae has observed, BTS mastered the craft of storytelling across platforms—what contemporary scholars call “transmedia” and what Heidegger called the “total work of art,” or Gesamtkunstwerk . The band’s prolific, consistent production relays an impression of authenticity. BTS fans experience a deep attachment to the boys and call them by nicknames—“Oh, Hobi,” “Oh, Tae”—as real in their daily lives as friends and family. When I asked fans, “Why are you so devoted to BTS?,” they would respond, nearly identically, “Because they do so much for us.” The boys habitually extend affirmations of self-love and gratitude to their fans. Jung Kook has “ ARMY ” and a purple heart tattooed on his right hand.

But BTS has done more than soothe and entertain. Its first three albums, the school trilogy, reflected the concerns of teen-agers and young adults trying to survive South Korea’s high-pressure education system. In the glossy photo book that accompanies the third in the series, “Skool Luv Affair,” the baby-faced seven, eyes lined in black, wear tousled school uniforms and exhort rebellion. After a ferry capsized off the southwestern coast of South Korea in April of 2014, killing hundreds of teen-agers on a school trip and becoming a symbol of state corruption, BTS released what’s thought to be a tribute ballad, “Spring Day.”

ARMY culture spread from Korea to the rest of East Asia, the U.S., Southeast Asia, South America, and beyond. A recent census of BTS’s fandom found ARMY s in more than a hundred countries and territories. Ajla Hrelja Bralić, a fan and mother of two fans in Zagreb, Croatia, told me that BTS opened her up to “Korea, Japan, China, all those countries we don’t know much about.” In 2014, BTS was billed as one of many acts at KCON , a showcase of Korean culture, in Los Angeles. By the fourth KCON , in 2016, BTS was the main draw. The band continued to produce high-concept, multi-album releases, but layered more pop, E.D.M., and world beats onto its rap and R. & B. The youth trilogy, comprising three albums titled “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life” (or “화양연화”), emphasized the band’s vocals. The four-part series “Love Yourself” alluded to a Sino-Korean storytelling structure (기승전결: introduction, development, turn, conclusion) and doubled down on the theme of self-acceptance. More recently, BTS has sharpened its therapeutic tack by invoking Jungian psychoanalysis. The albums “Map of the Soul: Persona” and “Map of the Soul: 7” refer to Murray Stein’s 1998 book, “ Jung’s Map of the Soul: An Introduction .” As Stein told the K-pop journalist Tamar Herman, BTS’s music addresses the gap we all face “between ourselves and the social world around us.”

In 2017, BTS performed its high-energy song “DNA” at the American Music Awards, the moment many ARMY s in the U.S. cite as their introduction to the boys. (The music video for “DNA” has 1.5 billion views on YouTube.) The band became beloved repeat guests of Ellen DeGeneres, James Corden, and Jimmy Fallon, and clocked wins at the A.M.A.s, the MTV Video Music Awards, and the Billboard Music Awards. Their collaborators have included, among others, Nicki Minaj, Halsey, Steve Aoki, and the choreographer Keone Madrid. Meanwhile, individual members of BTS have produced and composed their own rap mixtapes, music videos, and singles, including for the Korean hip-hop group Epik High and for popular K-dramas such as “Itaewon Class” and “Our Blues.” Next month, j-hope will perform solo at Lollapalooza. The boys have also lent their imprimatur to sell vast numbers of cars, phones, face creams, and even novels: RM, the designated “literature idol,” has been known to read such varied books as Plato’s Phaedrus , Han Kang’s “ Human Acts ,” and Carl Sagan’s “ Cosmos .”

But none of these bare facts completely explains the intense passion of the BTS fandom. BTS is arguably the most popular band ever, with the most dedicated following. As BTS’s ARMY has grown, it has developed increasingly elaborate practices. Fans confess their “biases” (favorite members) and “bias wreckers” (the members who threaten the primacy of those favorites), and abide by rules of conduct, such as a prohibition against accosting or identifying a member who’s on vacation with his family. Of their own accord, ARMY s have organized to maximize BTS’s streaming numbers, raise funds for charity, and agitate against movements perceived to oppose the values of BTS. In one famous example, from 2020, ARMY s registered en masse for a Trump rally in Tulsa, with no intention of attending, causing the then President an embarrassingly low turnout. Earlier this year, fans in the Philippines mobilized widely, though unsuccessfully, to prevent Ferdinand (Bongbong) Marcos, Jr., the son and namesake of the country’s notorious dictator, from being elected President .

ARMY ’s devotion to textual analysis is astonishing. A Korean lawyer and mother of two in Singapore, who tweets as @BeautifulSoulB7, told me that she spends a chunk of every morning translating BTS articles, videos, and social-media posts from English to Korean. Aneesa Mahboob, a video editor in California, created the YouTube documentary series “ The Rise of Bangtan ,” which includes twenty-one half-hour installments. On V Live, most episodes of “Run BTS” can be watched in more than a dozen languages, including Azerbaijani and Bahasa Indonesia, thanks to the contributions of multilingual fans. None of this work is done for pay.

Professor Candace Epps-Robertson, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has described BTS fans as an army of librarians. Their methods, she wrote in the journal Rhetoric Review , “include tracking and documenting Twitter hashtags, participatory archives of materials related to research and teaching, blogs to archive translations of songs, and an emerging archive of fans narrating their personal experiences of survival and growth.” Epps-Robertson has her own growth narrative: In 2019, she began taking care of her mother, who was dying of A.L.S. “I started to play BTS on my way home because I couldn’t stand to be in silence with the many emotions I felt,” she wrote in a blog post. She is especially attached to “Mikrokosmos” (no relation to the Bartók), a synth-y, up-tempo track that affirms the “starlight” in every soul.

In July, Epps-Robertson, whose Twitter name includes a superscript “7” in tribute to the band, will fly to Seoul to attend the third convening of BTS: A Global Interdisciplinary Conference. (One of the keynote speakers is the New Age novelist Paulo Coelho .) Her teen-age daughter, Phoenix, the original ARMY of the family, will accompany her. Before BTS, neither mother nor daughter had much interest in Asia. Now, Epps-Robertson told me, Phoenix attends a Korean-language school one night a week, plus two hours of private tutoring. “I was so in awe of her getting up early to watch Korean news, to research Korean history,” she said. “I was, like, how can I capture that in my own classes—that excitement, that desire to learn more?”

The concert I attended in Vegas, in April, was the finale of the band’s “Permission to Dance” tour. After two years of the pandemic, fans were desperate for a chance to see the group live, and continued uncertainty over if and when the older members would have to perform compulsory eighteen-month stints in the South Korean military added to the frenzy. Still, none of us imagined that the tour might be BTS’s last, at least for a while. An ARMY from New York, who’d flown to Los Angeles for one of the shows, advised me to “dress to the nines.” At the concert in L.A., she said, many fans wore clothes modelled after the members’ slick, gender-bending outfits in music videos and had their hair dyed in homage to BTS’s multicolored coifs. The fan, whose own hair is shaded a pleasing soft pink, giggled at the memory of one concertgoer who came dressed as a tangerine, a reference to SUGA’s love of the fruit.

Before Las Vegas, I did not know that BTS had a favorite color. But perhaps V—who coined the phrase “Borahae,” a composite of “purple” and “I love you” in Korean—was smiling upon me. I happened to pack purple sunglasses, a purplish-pink fanny pack, a violet handkerchief, and a silver slip dress whose lavender sheen I would discover under the desert sun. When I landed at the Las Vegas airport, ARMY s revealed themselves by way of BTS keychains, luggage tags, and T-shirts that read “TAEHYUNG” or “JIMIN.”

That morning, in my hotel lobby, I met a young woman named MK Jourdain, who was carrying an armful of BTS merch and looked out of breath. A Haitian American who wore her hair in braided pigtails and a headband ornamented with two plush SHOOKY baubles, she had flown in from Florida, where she attends college and works at a bank. (SHOOKY is the cartoon character that represents her bias, SUGA, in the universe of BT21, a BTS merchandise line.) She’d joined a queue outside Allegiant Stadium at five-thirty that morning, hoping to have her pick of BTS souvenirs. But, by the time she reached the front of the line, the Permission to Dance blankets and T-shirts were sold out. She did manage, however, to snag some photo cards and a plastic fan decorated with the members’ faces. Jourdain had been drawn to K-pop after getting into Japanese anime, whose fandom overlaps with BTS’s ARMY and shares similar customs of language-learning and translation. Jourdain was studying Korean, and explained that what drew her to BTS, aside from SUGA’s “cute, adorable” rapping and dancing, were the values that the group projected. “I feel more of the Korean and the Haitian culture. It’s very together. There’s a lot of warmth,” she said. In the U.S., by contrast, “It’s, like, O.K., I’m just by myself. No one’s really gonna care.”

Later, standing in line for the BTS “Immersive Journey,” a series of photo-ready rooms that blared recent songs such as “Butter,” I met a bubbly Indian woman in a bright-yellow shirt. Akshata was a recent, work-from-home convert to BTS who’d come from Bangalore, on vacation from her job as an investment banker. She told me that her husband was working in Salt Lake City, and that the band’s message of self-love had helped her become more independent while he was away. When I gave her my business card, which includes my name written in Hangul, she read the Korean aloud. She’d been learning the language in part by bingeing on Korean drama series on Netflix. (She sent me a list of fifty-three and counting.) A few hours after we talked, she got a tattoo of the flower line drawing from the cover of BTS’s first “Love Yourself” album.

BTS as self-care was a theme I heard from many fans. Christina Johnson (bias: RM) came to Las Vegas from Houston, where she works part-time at Kohl’s and homeschools four of her five children. She told me that she was a fan of ’NSync in the past, but in the gloom of the early pandemic, when she was furloughed for several months and stuck at home, she found refuge in BTS. She made a Spotify playlist of nearly two hundred BTS songs and decorated her desk at home with BTS portraits. She hung a floating shelf to display her CDs and little figurines of each of the members, a kind of secular altar. Johnson grew up in foster care; her mother, who is half Japanese, was adopted. She said that BTS had inspired her to look into her Japanese heritage and had given her a stronger sense of being Asian American. When she needs a break from work or from the kids, she puts on her headphones and listens to “Magic Shop” or the “Love Yourself” albums. The band was like “mental-health counselling,” she told me. (When BTS later announced its break, Johnson said in an e-mail that she was having “a bit of a sob fest.” She acknowledged that “they deserve time to themselves, to stretch their wings,” but felt sad because they “have been a comfort to so many for so long.”)

That evening, at Allegiant Stadium, the mood was blissful. The gleaming, two-billion-dollar venue is the new home of the Las Vegas Raiders, but I saw none of the alcoholic rowdiness of a football game or the “Yeah, but have you heard X” competitiveness of a rock or jazz show. Nor was the audience dominated by hysterical teen-age girls. In line outside the stadium, a group of Black men in purple outfits laughed and danced. A young Asian woman, yelling “freebies,” gave me a handmade BTS bookmark and a felted lavender heart. A Latino dad wearing a hat that read “땡” (a rap track by RM, SUGA, and j-hope) was accompanied by his wife and teen-age daughters. He told people nearby that their tickets had cost forty-eight hundred dollars. Inside the stadium, I took a photo for two ARMY s from Spain. One had made a sign that read “Bang PD marry me!,” a reference to the producer who started it all. From my seat in the nosebleeds, I watched the two girls next to me scroll BTS content on Instagram and take pouty duck-face selfies. In the row ahead of us, a couple who spoke only Japanese nibbled on a cookie stamped with BTS’s logo. Nearly all of the stadium’s sixty-five thousand seats were filled, and additional chairs had been set up on the ground. The Jumbotrons played an anti-plastics (but pro-Samsung) environmental P.S.A. starring BTS and an assortment of the band’s music videos to prime the crowd. When the boys finally appeared on stage, unveiled by the lifting of a giant mechanized box, the screaming began. Thousands of ARMY s waved Bluetooth lightsticks (cost: fifty-nine dollars) that synched into undulating fields of color. The audience called out the members’ names in routinized “fan chants.” It was as massive a spectacle as the Super Bowl or World Cup, except that all the fans were cheering for the same team.

Before I knew BTS’s music, I knew of the members as envoys of well-being. In 2017—the same year that Kim Jonghyun, a singer in the K-pop group SHINee, died by suicide—BTS launched a campaign with UNICEF to combat violence against children and teens. The following year, RM represented the band in a speech about self-acceptance at the United Nations, and last year all seven members offered encouragement to young people during the pandemic in the meeting hall of the U.N.’s General Assembly. A music video the boys shot there—singing one of their hits in demure black suits, starting at the green marble rostrum reserved for world leaders, then skipping through the main chamber and onto the grassy edge of the East River—has been viewed some sixty-eight million times.

Fans love the members for expressing empathy for minority groups and talking candidly about their own insecurities, struggles, and mistakes. This may explain how BTS has outlasted the “seven-year curse” of most K-pop bands. Early on, after facing criticism for the misogynistic tenor of the song “War of Hormone” (“Imma give it to you girl right now,” “Perfect from the front, perfect from the back,” etc.), RM reportedly committed to a feminist reading list. RM and Suga have said in interviews that queer people should be able to love whomever they want—no minor gesture in South Korea, where it’s still difficult to be out. An ARMY named Wang in Chengdu, China, who identifies as gay, though not publicly, told me, “There’s a big queer component of BTS. The fandom feels really welcoming.” (Contrast this with the K-pop group Big Bang, whose singers have been convicted of sex trafficking, gambling, and drug crimes.) At the same time, BTS has refrained from wading into public policy. No member has commented on the situation of queer people in South Korea, let alone backed the anti-discrimination bill that L.G.B.T.Q. activists there have been pursuing for more than a decade.

The band’s cautious approach to politics has so far saved it from major controversy. But there have been kerfuffles. Members have had run-ins with Japanese and Chinese fans, based on symbolic quarrels over East Asian history. And, in 2019, j-hope was taken to task for styling his hair into dreadlock-like “gel twists” in the music video for “Chicken Noodle Soup,” a remake of the song by DJ Webstar and Young B. Some ARMY s circulated a post in English and Korean that criticized this choice as cultural appropriation; others condemned the critics. More recently, an intra- ARMY clash broke out after BTS teased the tracklist for “Proof,” a new three-CD compilation album that features a song written in part by Jung Bobby, a K-pop composer who has pleaded guilty to sexual assault. Though Jung’s conduct did not come to light until after the song was first released, some ARMY s asked why the band would reissue the track at all. When Juwon Park, a journalist with the Associated Press in Seoul and a onetime dancer for K-pop singer PSY, raised the question on Twitter, global ARMY s bombarded her with virulent responses. I ran into a similar, if less hostile, defensiveness during my interviews with BTS fans. Many ARMY s feel that the band, and K-pop in general, have been disrespected by the mainstream media, especially in the West. I tried to reassure my sources that I was not writing a hit piece. “I wouldn’t want to say anything that would hurt the boys,” more than one person told me.

At the concert, from my vertiginous perch, I watched seven dots leap balletically on the stage. I could see their creamy faces and kohl-limned eyes only on the giant screens. They sang and danced for nearly two hours, stopping only for costume changes. I recognized most of the songs, including two of my favorites—“Black Swan” and “ IDOL ”—but didn’t know many of the lyrics. Everyone else, it seemed, could sing along to every word. If I were the pre-teen protagonist of an Asian American coming-of-age movie, this is when I would cry: hearing my parents’ language, once a source of embarrassment in my white-bread American home town, now being sung in joyful unison by all the peoples of the earth. The concert closed with “Permission to Dance,” the title track of the tour. It’s an irresistible, high-pitched song in E major, as sweet and flossy as cotton candy. The lyrics, in English, put the pandemic at a wishful remove: “I wanna dance, the music’s got me going / Ain’t nothing that can stop how we move.” After BTS faded out, in a swirl of confetti, a date flashed on the Jumbotrons that broke major news: “Proof” would drop on June 10th.

Exiting into the parking lot, toward the floodlit artifice of the strip, I tried to retain the ecstatic mood that had filled the stadium. But earlier that day, not far from where we were, I had seen a man in a ragged shirt and jeans lumbering alongside peppy sightseers, carrying an extra pair of shoes—with duct tape in place of its sole. I thought of a line from Milan Kundera’s “ The Unbearable Lightness of Being ,” another novel that RM endorsed to fans. In a brief tangent on totalitarian aesthetics, Kundera describes kitsch as “the absolute denial of shit.” Was this what we’d felt in the stadium: a happy but empty denialism? At the start of my BTS journey, I might have said yes. I might have dismissed the band’s music and accompanying œuvre as a sentimental detour from our macabre shared reality. But I have found that BTS ARMY s do not live in a fantasy. They live where everyone else does: in a world of depression, mass death, and ecological ruin. Over the past nine years, ARMY s have not looked to the seven for escape. They have looked to them for joy.

New Yorker Favorites

In the weeks before John Wayne Gacy’s scheduled execution, he was far from reconciled to his fate .

What HBO’s “Chernobyl” got right, and what it got terribly wrong .

Why does the Bible end that way ?

A new era of strength competitions is testing the limits of the human body .

How an unemployed blogger confirmed that Syria had used chemical weapons.

An essay by Toni Morrison: “ The Work You Do, the Person You Are .”

Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker .

• Entertainment

Inside the BTS ARMY, the Devoted Fandom With an Unrivaled Level of Organization

I t was Jiye Kim’s first BTS concert. A rippling sea of glowing globes formed as the crowd waved light sticks and, in unison, yelled the band’s fan chant—Kim Nam-joon! Kim Seok-jin! Min Yoon-gi! Jung Ho-seok! Park Ji-min! Kim Tae-hyung! Jeon Jung-gook! BTS!

Kim already liked the group’s music , but watching them perform in May 2017 at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena among a crowd of more than 11,000 turned her into a fan—or more precisely, a member of ARMY, the official fandom name of the K-pop juggernaut . “I bought one ticket for myself and sat in the highest corner of the awkwardest position of this small stadium,” says Kim, a high school teacher born and raised in Australia. BTS was in the middle of their worldwide Wings tour. “I expected them to be decent live singers, I expected them to dance well, I expected them to have interesting music,” Kim, 26, says. But what struck her was the message of the concert.

It was a simple declaration of solidarity that resonated powerfully, Kim says. Prior to the tour, the septet had released a compilation album titled You Never Walk Alone , with nearly 20 tracks about the subject. “Spring Day” was filled with sentiments of longing for a friend, and “2! 3!” asked the listener to “erase all sad memories” and “smile holding onto each other’s hands.” Hearing these songs at the concert, Kim was deeply moved. “When I walked outside, I just distinctly remember looking up into the sky, breathing in and thinking, that’s the first time a group has made me not only want to care more about them but care more about the world that I live in,” she recalls.

Who is ARMY?

Already millions strong, ARMY had a new recruit. BTS has been amassing a legion of fans long before it became the first all-South Korean act to top the Billboard Hot 100 with “Dynamite,” or set the world record for attracting the most viewers for a concert live stream during the coronavirus pandemic. The septet’s fandom captured the attention of international media when it propelled the band to win the fan-voted Top Social Artist, with more than 300 million votes, at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. BTS ended a six-year winning streak in the category by Justin Bieber and beat the likes Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes and Selena Gomez. At the time, Bieber boasted more than 100 million followers on Twitter, and Grande was the third-most followed account on Instagram. One of the most pressing questions of the day in the music industry was: Who is ARMY?

Though ARMY has always shown up in person—fans lined up for days around Times Square in New York City to ring in 2020 with BTS at Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Years’ Eve, not to mention their mighty presence at the group’s sold-out stadium concerts — it is also one of the most active online communities in existence. 40 million members of ARMY, which stands for Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth, subscribe to BTS’ YouTube channel , and more than 30 million follow both the member-run Twitter account and Big Hit’s official BTS Instagram account . ARMY stands apart from other fandoms through the ways it has mobilized with an unrivaled level of organization, driven by a desire to see the seven members of BTS leave their mark in territories previously uncharted by any other pop act from South Korea.

Translation accounts deepen ties

Today, from her home in Sydney, Jiye Kim runs one of the largest Twitter fan translation accounts for BTS— @doyou_bangtan , with more than 270,000 followers. Fan translation accounts—which tackle everything from song lyrics and video content to the members’ social media posts—are a primary example of how ARMY both deepens an understanding of the group among existing fans and introduces BTS to new audiences. “The desire to translate always comes from a love of the group and the recognition that there wasn’t much being translated into English,” says Kim, who launched her account in 2017.

The first time Kim translated a BTS interview from Korean to English, it took five hours. These days, the time she spends translating depends on the group’s activities. “In promotional season, about two weeks before an album drops, I would probably clear my schedule as much as possible of non–work related events,” she explains. “My sleep clock would change.” In previous years, Kim set an alarm at 12 a.m. KST (Korea Standard Time)—often when Big Hit drops new content—every day for two months around the time of a new BTS release.

Claire Min, a college student living in New Orleans, also operates on a Korea-centric schedule for her fan translation account. Min, 18, started @btstranslation7 —which now has more than 350,000 followers on Twitter—in early 2018. She specializes in translating live video streams from BTS members, which are usually broadcast on the platform V LIVE after midnight U.S. Central Time.

“It’s really gratifying to see that international fans and international ARMY are able to actually learn Korean and actually take an interest in Korean culture,” Min says. Every fan translation account has a unique style, and her approach includes a word-by-word breakdown of BTS members’ social media posts, which she labels #BTSvocab. “I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me and say, I actually didn’t want to learn Korean because it was just so difficult,” Min explains. Now, fans tag her in photos of handwritten notes based on #BTSvocab posts.

The power of the hashtag

Data-oriented accounts dedicated to everything from calling for fan votes to tracking the band’s position on music charts have also been an intrinsic part of the fandom. Monica Chahine and Maggie Su, both 21, are university students in Toronto who run one such account. Chahine and Su both became fans of BTS in 2017 and connected with each other on Twitter. Along with another ARMY who has since stepped back due to school responsibilities, they started @BangtanTrends the following year. With more than 130,000 followers, the Twitter account focuses on creating and trending BTS-related hashtags. “The goal is to get either more ARMYs to see it or to get BTS to see it, or to get new fans,” Chahine explains.

In the past, when ARMYs were using too many hashtags at the same time, fewer of them would appear in the Twitter trends chart. “As the fandom got bigger, it was harder to coordinate,” Su says. So for BTS Festa in 2018—the fifth-anniversary celebration of the act’s debut on June 13, 2013—the @BangtanTrends team posted special hashtags. One of them was #5thFlowerPathWithBTS, which references lyrics in the song “2! 3!” in which J-Hope’s rap thanks ARMY “for becoming the flower in the most beautiful moment in life,” as well as the idea of a flower road being one of success and happiness. The hashtag became the No. 1 Worldwide trend on Twitter with more than 800,000 tweets. Its visibility was amplified when UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore used it in a post about the organization’s #EndViolence campaign with BTS. Now, as ARMYs around the world join from all time zones, BTS hashtags dominate the Worldwide trends list for longer periods of time.

Tackling real-world problems

Beyond social media, ARMY’s organization and mobilization extend into offline projects. Many of these are charity-focused , modeled after BTS’ philanthropic efforts—from launching the anti-violence Love Myself campaign with UNICEF to individually making donations on band member’s birthdays. OIAA , short for One In An ARMY, is a group that collaborates with nonprofit organizations around the world and encourages microdonations. Its first campaign, launched in April 2018 in a partnership with the nonprofit Medical Teams International, helped bring medical care to Syrians.

“What I really like is that with some of the organizations that we’ve worked with, we have kept up a relationship with them,” says Erika Overton, 40, a founding member of OIAA who lives in Fairburn, Ga. Overton cites the example of KKOOM , a U.S.-based nonprofit that supports orphanages in South Korea. Earlier this year, OIAA raised funds for children in the orphanages that were under mandatory quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic. The collaboration between the two organizations started in August 2018, when OIAA mobilized ARMY to raise more than $3,800 —enough to fund a handful of scholarships. Less than two years later, in June, BTS donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter—and ARMYs more than matched that pledge within days through a donation site OIAA created.

“The music and the spirit of the guys is at the core and the inspiration for all of it,” Overton says. She references RM’s often-quoted comments from a concert: “If your pain is 100 in a scale of 100, if we can lessen that to 99, 98 or 97,” then “the value of our existence is enough.”

As BTS continues to reach milestones on the charts and across social media, the scale and impact of ARMY’s mobilization also multiplies. Across platforms, fans share the hope for BTS to break even more ground in a music industry where few non-Western artists have risen to the top.

“They were, at one point, from a small company in Korea. They are from a small country in the world,” says Jiye Kim. “There seems to be this continuing expectation from the outside, that BTS and ARMY aren’t going to do well, and I think that makes ARMY work even harder to prove themselves for BTS.”

More Must-Reads from TIME

• Welcome to the Golden Age of Scams
• Introducing TIME's 2024 Latino Leaders
• How to Make an Argument That’s Actually Persuasive
• Did the Pandemic Break Our Brains?
• 33 True Crime Documentaries That Shaped the Genre
• The Ordained Rabbi Who Bought a Porn Company
• Why Gut Health Issues Are More Common in Women
• The 100 Most Influential People in AI 2024

Contact us at [email protected]

BTS Explains How the ARMY Is Essential to Keeping the Band—And its Mission of Good—Going

It's a symbiotic relationship that results in real world change.

If you weren’t already familiar with BTS, the global K-pop sensation likely came blazing onto your radar this past June. When Donald Trump planned to hold a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma merely one day after Juneteenth, fans of BTS, better known as BTS ARMY, got to work. As Trump bragged about expecting one million attendees, BTS ARMY jammed the signal by RSVPing in droves for the event, seemingly resulting in a sparsely filled auditorium with less than 19,000 attendees. If you’re surprised to learn that K-pop fans could humiliate the leader of the free world, then you don’t know much about the seismic power of K-pop .

Members of BTS ARMY aren’t the first group of fans to find community through their shared passion, but they are uniquely organized into harnessing that passion into real social and political action. ARMY isn’t just a fanbase—it’s perhaps more accurately described as a global social justice movement, responsible for everything from regrowing rainforests in the band’s name to raising money to feed LGBTQ refugees. In our Winter 2020 cover story , the stars of BTS sound off on their deep devotion to their fans, who have channelled the band’s message of positivity to become a worldwide force for social good.

“We and our ARMY are always charging each other’s batteries,” RM told Esquire. “When we feel exhausted, when we hear the news all over the world, the tutoring programs, and donations, and every good thing, we feel responsible for all of this.”

The news of ARMY’s good works is profound. Through small, grassroots donations, ARMY has adopted endangered whales, funded hundreds of hours of dance classes for Rwandan children, and raised money for digital night schools to improve rural children’s access to education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The members of BTS describe these good works as their highest calling—more important even than the music itself.

“We’ve got to be greater; we’ve got to be better,” RM said. “All those behaviors always influence us to be better people, before all this music and artist stuff.”

Get Unlimited Access to Esquire + the Print Magazine

Since time immemorial, fans have crushed hard on the celebrities they admire, even fantasizing about romantic encounters with the objects of their affection. The members of BTS are all single, meaning that hope springs eternal for ARMY members with major crushes—especially given that BTS welcomes the affection.

“Our love life—twenty-four hours, seven days a week—is with all the ARMYs all over the world,” RM said.

BTS and ARMY are pioneering a new dynamic of fandom—one where instead of sending teddy bears or postcards on the occasion of their idols’ birthdays, fans instead pour donations into worthy causes, remaking the world one day at a time in the name of pop music. If ARMY can damn near run Donald Trump out of Tulsa, there’s no telling what they’ll accomplish next.

60 Songs for Your Halloween Playlist

Midland’s Giant Leap

‘Cowboy Carter’ Doesn’t Need a CMA Nomination

90 Minutes with Shaboozey

A Guide to 2024’s Concerts and Music Festivals

The 25 Best Songs of 2024 (So Far)

Oasis Reunion: Everything We Know (So Far)

What Happened with Beyoncé’s DNC Fakeout

Post Malone’s ‘F-1 Trillion’ Is Too Big to Fail

Zoë Kravitz on Her 'Midnights' Writing Credit

A Deep Reading of Tim Walz’s Love of Dad Rock

The Best Albums of 2024 (So Far)

BTS's Jungkook Talks About His Admiration For ARMY, How He's Changed Over The Past 10 Years, And More

In a recent interview and pictorial for Vogue Korea, Jungkook talked about his journey and growth as a member of BTS .

As the cover stars of the magazine’s January 2022 issue, each of the seven BTS members sat down for a separate interview.

Jungkook started off by discussing how he protects his worldview. Public figures usually undergo many different influences, making it hard for them to solidify their own worldviews. That also goes for those who have to mold themselves from a young age in order to achieve a certain goal. However, Jungkook is different. His activities outside BTS suggests that he has very clear ideas about what he wants to do.

The idol explained, “I’ve never decided, ‘I’m going to live this way,’ but it’s clear that I want to live according to my will. Even if there’s a life after this one, I won’t be able to remember it, and this is the only life I’ve been given right now. On top of that, it’s a short one. Of course, I should never do something that everyone agrees is wrong, but in the realm of diversity, I want to live my own way. I established these thoughts early on.”

The interviewer said, “They say that life is short, but art is eternal. What is eternal to you?” Jungkook answered, “Even if what I do is art, is it the most important thing? Isn’t life itself more important? The time I lived remains intact to me. That’s why life is both finite and eternal.”

Jungkook is known for being gifted in many areas besides music such as art, photography, and video editing. Some fans wish he would showcase his talents in them more, and he humbly replied, “Those are just some of my interests. I don’t need to put them all into practice.”

Then he shared, “I have realistic thoughts and idealistic thoughts, and they always co-exist. Before I used to be greedy and did what I wanted to do without giving it much thought. However, just like life and human relationships, your thoughts change. These days, I’m more realistic. What I need to do is more important than what I want to do.”

In addition, Jungkook doesn’t want to reveal his creations until he is fully satisfied with them. He explained, “They’ll never be perfect. But I at least don’t want to show people what I’m not satisfied with. There will be a day when I will work hard and show them to the public. Right now, I don’t have the leisure to focus on completing them.”

With BTS, Jungkook’s life changed drastically. In 2014, BTS invited random people to watch their free concert in LA. It was part of an TV show, but they sincerely ran around the streets and handed out flyers. Now in 2021, the tickets to their LA concert at SoFi Stadium sold out in minutes.

Jungkook expressed his disbelief about the huge changes, saying, “I’m always curious about why people love us and get excited about us. I’ve been thinking about how I got to this point. Firstly, I met great members! Secondly, we have a CEO who really loves music. Apart from those reasons, perhaps it’s because the synergy of BTS’s songs, lyrics, messages, performances, and public appearances attracted more and more fans. However, I couldn’t wrap my mind around this situation recently. I guess it’s because we’re unable to meet the audience members in person. As much as I can’t believe it, I’ll have to work harder.”

Jungkook also shared his admiration for ARMY (fandom name), who has been putting BTS’s positive messages into action. Some of ARMY’s good works are environmental projects to revive rainforests and whales and fundraising for vulnerable groups including refugees and the LGBTQ community.

Jungkook commented that he’s both amazed and intrigued by ARMY. He remarked, “I’m just a person who really loves to sing and dance, but ARMY is achieving great things for us. I’m just grateful for their support, but they’re also doing such wonderful things. They started doing these activities to support BTS, but it’s deeply touching to see them enjoying doing good things and being happy about them. I’m personally inspired by them.”

He thought about how to repay ARMY but couldn’t find an answer for a while. He said, “I didn’t think there was anything special I could do. I’ve come to the conclusion that being good at my job, as I’ve been doing, is what I can do for ARMY.”

Jungkook debuted at the tender age of 15, and he’s gone through various experiences that helped him grow and mature into who he is today. His members once told him, “It’s great that you haven’t changed at all.”

When asked what has changed the most and what has remained the same over the past decade, the youngest BTS member replied that he thinks everything has changed except for one thing. He explained, “Just like when I was little, I am still warmhearted and trust people well. I give my all to those I love until they break my heart. My members acknowledged this. Sometimes, I worry that something will happen, but fortunately, I have my members to lean on. But if I rely on them too much, it’s like I’m hiding behind them, so I need to find a balance.”

Finally, Jungkook talked about the upcoming decade. In BTS’s hit song “Permission to Dance,” there is a part that goes, “We don’t need to worry. ‘Cause when we fall, we know how to land.” When asked if he thought about how to land, he commented, “There are definitely many people who are greater than me, and as I get older and time goes by, I will have no choice but to go down. But I don’t think about landing. I have a lot of things I want to do. I want to expand my territory and climb up higher.”

Jungkook’s full interview is available in the January 2022 issue of Vogue Korea magazine. Check out RM’s interview  here , Jin’s interview  here , Suga’s interview  here , J-Hope’s interview  here , and Jimin’s interview  here , and V’s interview here !

Source ( 1 )

Similar Articles

BTS interview: the K-pop giants on Army, military service, masculinity and their early days before conquering the world

Bts members rm, suga, j-hope, jin, v, jimin and jungkook open up about transcending k-pop stardom to become a global phenomenon.

“This is a very serious and deep question,” says RM, the 26-year-old leader of the world’s biggest band. He pauses to think. We are talking about utopian and dystopian futures, about how the boundary-smashing, hegemony-overturning global success of his group, the wildly talented seven-member South Korean juggernaut BTS, feels like a glimpse of a new and better world, of an interconnected 21st century actually living up to its promise.

BTS’ downright magical levels of charisma, their genre-defying, sleek-but-personal music, even their casually non-toxic, skincare-intensive brand of masculinity – every bit of it feels like a visitation from some brighter, more hopeful time.

What RM is currently pondering, however, is how all of it contrasts with a darker landscape all around them, particularly the horrifying recent wave of anti-Asian violence and discrimination across a global diaspora.

“We are outliers,” says RM, “and we came into the American music market and enjoyed this incredible success.”

In 2020, seven years into their career, BTS’ first English-language single, the irresistible Dynamite , hit No 1 in the United States, an achievement so singular it prompted a congratulatory statement from South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The nation has long been deeply invested in its outsize cultural success beyond its borders, known as the Korean wave.

• Skip to content

Rhizomatic Revolution Review

Submit your Art and Academic Work to the Rhizome

Beyond Parasocial: ARMY, BTS, & Fan-Artist Relationships

by Meghan Desjardins

ACADEMIC ARTICLE | ESSAY

The views, information, or opinions expressed in this essay are solely those of the creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the official policy or position of The Rhizomatic Revolution Review [20130613] or its members.

Meghan Desjardins Meghan Desjardins (@Meg_Desjardins) has made her career in books, and is interested in all intersection between BTS and publication, her two biggest passions. She has been an ARMY since March of 2019. (Canada)

The term “parasocial relationship” (PSR) is frequently used to describe the relationship between a fan and an artist. Key traits are that the relationship is “one-sided,” and the interactions are “mediated.” The term is often used in a judgemental way, but even when used positively or neutrally, it is frequently used along with terminology that stigmatizes the relationship in question. I believe this stems from a few things: leaps in logic about the purpose of PSRs, a misunderstanding of what is possible within them, and a lack of more suitable language to describe the phenomenon with nuance. One case that illustrates this well is the relationship between the popular group BTS and their fans, who are called ARMY. In examining the nature of this connection between BTS and ARMY, this article attempts to illustrate what is possible within a PSR, how BTS and ARMY are at the forefront of new developments in these relationships, and how the use of more accurate language could be helpful to fans. It ultimately calls for the creation of new terminology to broaden our understanding of fan-artist relationships. Further, it expands this logic and calls on us all to be mindful of relationships that defy accurate description using our current language.

Parasocial Relationship, BTS, ARMY, Rhizomatic

Introduction

If you’re part of a fandom, you may be in the habit of hiding or downplaying how much you love your favorite artist. There is a stigma attached to being too much of a fan, and BTS and ARMY are not strangers to this. You can see it in almost every media portrayal, from descriptions of swooning fangirls to “crazy” fans. You can see it in accounts from ARMY who hide their interests from friends and family or who get a cringe reaction when they do tell someone they’re a fan. And yet, these fan-artist relationships have had massively positive impacts on ARMY, like they have on fans of other artists. Such stories are cataloged on social media, in journals like this one, and even in books. In the BTS fandom, we have publications like Revolutionaries Press’s I Am ARMY that capture some of the effect of this connection. BTS as artists have spoken directly about the positive impact of fan-artist relationships on their own lives. It is hard to enter the media space without seeing evidence of how world-shifting this connection is for fans and artists alike.

These connections are commonly referred to as “parasocial relationships” (PSRs) and often judged as being juvenile, immature, or in some way not respectable. They are described as being one-sided, and some call them delusional. Even when PSRs are regarded as healthy and positive for development, the language used around them still creates stigma. Those authors who support PSRs still often regard them through a lens of inadequacy.

In this way, there is a gap between how we talk about PSRs in popular culture and how fans experience them. Therefore, I want to examine these relationships more closely in order to bring greater nuance to the way we understand and discuss them. What I want to demonstrate can be split into three branches: that PSRs are as “real” as any other relationship, and the key is to define what “real” actually means; that BTS and ARMY in particular clearly illustrate creative connection; and that we should be open to creative connections in our lives whether they fall into socially recognized categories or not. 

Part 1: Parasocial Relationships & Stigma

The term “parasocial relationship” was coined in 1956 to describe a “seeming face-to-face relationship between spectator and performer” (Horton & Wohl, p. 215). It originally focused on television performers but now commonly refers to fan relationships with any artist, celebrity, or character. Parasocial relationships (PSRs) “may be governed by little or no sense of obligation, effort, or responsibility on the part of the spectator,” and the relationship is described as “one-sided” because the famous figure does not know the fan on a personal, individual level (Horton & Wohl, 1956, p. 215). With the rise of entertainment options, the phenomenon is now extremely common. These kinds of relationships have become part of the mainstream. Arguably, being a fan of anything means you’re in a parasocial relationship (Bond, 2023, ch. 3). 

Appropriately, this very common experience is under frequent study, and many sources have found that PSRs are positive, carrying many benefits. Liebers & Schramm (2019) published an overview of 261 studies within 60 years on the topic of parasocial phenomena. They emphasize that it is “one of the most popular research fields in media recep­tion and effects research” (p. 4). Even though results on the positive effects of PSRs are not unanimous, many studies indicate that PSRs show connections to higher self-confidence, a higher self-efficacy expectation, a stronger perception of problem-focused coping strategies, and a stronger sense of belonging (p. 15). The stated negative effects in the results are unrealistic body image and reduced self esteem, and increased media consumption and addiction (p. 16).

Popular articles echo these sentiments and, in doing so, bring them to mainstream culture. As Tukachinsky (2023) says, “scientific jargon rarely escapes the ivory tower to become a pop culture buzzword,” but this has happened with PSR (p. 1). For example, an article in Refinery29 states that “Parasocial relationships are actually perfectly normal and in fact psychologically healthy” (O’Sullivan, 2021, para. 4), and HuffPost reports that “these one-sided bonds can help put people at ease, especially in the case of young people figuring out their identities and those with low self-esteem” (Wong, 2021, para. 14), positioning them almost as training wheels in the development of other relationships.

However, even while arguing their benefits, many of these same sources use language that stigmatizes these relationships. For example, Liebers & Schramm (2019) contrast parasocial relationships to “ real social relationships” (p. 5). (All emphasis through underlining is mine.) They suggest a few questions that research currently cannot answer, including “Does a PSR become weaker when the recipient finds a real new friend?” (p. 16). 

Again, popular articles do this too, both reflecting and influencing public perception. PSRs are contrasted with “ actual social relationships” (O’Sullivan, 2021, para. 5); they explain that individuals in PSRs do not necessarily “believe the interaction is ‘ real ’” (O’Sullivan, 2021, para. 4). They say that people can benefit from them “much like people with high self-esteem do with their ‘ real ’ social relationships” (Wong, 2021, para. 15). By way of comparison, the language directly and indirectly questions the “reality” of a PSR.

With limited adequate language to contrast them to non-PSRs, this is, in some ways, understandable. Like I said, the same authors who contrast PSRs to “real” and “actual” social relationships also extol their benefits, and they often “admit” to experiencing PSRs themselves. Sometimes they even use that very word, “admit” (Wong, 2021, para. 53), which stigmatizes them further: it frames it as a confession, which implies the activity is undesirable in some way. I believe that these things are said with good intention, and in service of understanding the phenomenon of PSRs. However, I also believe that such language further stigmatizes PSRs and consequently stunts our ability to understand them.

There is a tendency to speak about new, unconventional experiences as being in some way fake. I see this often in reference to digital interactions: friends made on the internet aren’t “real,” nor is currency owned in a video game, nor are arguments with strangers in online comment sections. But all of these are real. They are experiences that we have, which influence us in real ways, and provide real joy or disappointment, as the case may be. Friends made online are friends with whom we can share and spend quality time, regardless of whether or not it’s in person. In-game currency functions within the scope of the game as a commodity that is traded for goods valued by users, and even when we log off, the emotional effects remain. Arguments with strangers online can have psychological effects on us and the other person, whether that’s emotional damage or the changing of an opinion, regardless of the medium of the debate. I believe that language questioning something’s “reality” is often used to compare it to situations that are in some ways similar but also better understood. But what it does is oversimplify and minimize these experiences, even going as far as to dismiss them. Faced with language like this and the viewpoints that they reflect, it is clear why a person may question their relationship with a performer, or their online friendship, making them second-guess their own reality and identity. After all, they’re being told that those things aren’t part of reality.

In contrasting PSRs to “real” relationships, we are sometimes implying that they are insufficient substitutes for friendships, or even for romantic relationships. And yet, there’s an implicit leap in logic in this judgment. What if we looked at them simply for what they are, rather than failures to be something else? Consider instead the idea that PSRs are real experiences that can have immense value, and they aren’t intended to replace other relationships. This idea is likely easy for ARMY to understand, due to our connections with BTS. ARMY are accustomed to the intimacy that can form between fans and artists; the security that comes from being seen by someone who specifically doesn’t know you; and the genuine affection that can form for a person who does so much for you, even when it’s not just for you: it’s for an entire community.

In Part 2, I seek to argue not only that BTS and ARMY are a prime example of the reality of fan-artist relationships, but that they help push us beyond popular understanding of PSRs. In order to do so, I will draw on works published by ARMY around the world, statements made by BTS themselves, and my own personal experience as an ARMY. From there, I will examine new approaches we can take that respect and harness the benefits of these relationships.

Part 2: Diving Deeper into BTS and ARMY

Thankfully, there are already some very good books and articles about BTS (although I still yearn to see more activity in BTS publishing) and I’ll be drawing primarily on the works of other fans publishing about them to illustrate my view of the unique relationship between BTS and ARMY, before drawing on the group’s own words, followed by my own experience.

Jiyoung Lee’s excellent book BTS, Art Revolution (2019) shares insight about the BTS phenomenon, especially the way that they lead in a new era of the “democratization of art” (p. 132). Lee explains that historically, in order for an artist to share work with an audience, there were many barriers: for example, a painter’s work would only be shown in an art gallery if they had received an “advanced art education; received awards . . . good reviews . . . or had numerous gallery exhibitions” (pp. 132–133), limiting what art was made available, and that even then, only a select few would get the chance to see it in the gallery. However, things are different in the digital age, in part due to new platforms. On YouTube, for example, “anyone can upload a video that they produced” (p. 133). Consequently, “the boundary between user and producer is dismantled” (p. 133). Audience can easily become artist, now that these practical barriers have been removed.

This is relevant to the relationship between BTS and ARMY, and it informs the kinds of parasocial relationships we develop. While many definitions of PSR describe it as “one-sided,” a BTS-ARMY relationship is only one-sided at the individual fan level (and even then, that’s an arguably simplistic way to describe it). At a collective level, ARMY as a fanbase are collaborators in the art that BTS produces — and that is not one-sided at all. The idea of PSR evolves within the many examples of ARMY’s collaboration, influence, and interactions at the community level.

There are many ways to be a fan of BTS, none more valid than another, but a common way is in following not just the music of BTS, but the entire multimedia experience. Song lyrics and videos connect to ongoing themes, to the ongoing fictional story of the Bangtan Universe, to concert VCRs; there are variety shows, travel shows, documentaries; there are interviews, live video logs, choreography videos, “Bangtan Bombs”; “Connect, BTS” artwork; mobile games; social media including Twitter, Weverse, fancafé, and Instagram. For many, being a fan means being in a web of content that feels interconnected and never-ending.

This consistent stream of content is one thing that distinguishes BTS as an artist. As explained in Beyond The Story , the group’s first official biography, they began to incorporate series concepts into their albums in 2015, allowing multiple interpretations of their storylines, and this became a new standard in the industry. Additionally, “by focusing on online platforms rather than the ordinary TV channels, they were hailing a new generation” (BTS & Kang, 2023, p. 157). The use of V Live, where “artists could communicate instantly with fans” (p. 157) was the start of the “‘self-produced content’ era” (p. 158) — and Run BTS! , their variety show, “was the final piece of their new ecosystem of activities” (p. 158). Of course, since that time, they have launched even more activities, as detailed above. 

Even in this ecosystem, fan-made content can contribute as much to the experience of fandom as official content does. In the midst of the previously mentioned content, fans produce lyric videos, lyric analyses, reaction videos, remix videos, dance covers, song covers, BU analyses, fanart, fanfiction, merchandise, fancams of live performances, theories and speculation on new music and concepts, books, articles (like this one), in-person events, and social media conversations. These are all part of the same web of content, and fans can choose which ones to participate in, whether from a spectator’s or creator’s standpoint.

I myself contribute in only a few ways: via articles, social media with circles of friends, lyric analyses, and in-person events. However, I’m also a frequent consumer of reaction videos, lyric videos, fancams, merchandise, social media, and fan publications like books and articles, and these things are essential to the fabric of my fan experience. Watching a reaction video may inspire me to watch a lyric analysis of the same song, which leads to rewatching the original music video, and then a fancam of the song being performed live, reinterpreting the themes in connection to newly gained knowledge of BTS, and reincorporating the song into my life in new ways. For example, after doing this, listening to the song on a drive carries with it these new associations I’ve gained, and I find myself thinking about the song in relation to all of these points of reference. All pieces of related content, whether they were produced by BTS or ARMY, have enriched my experience of the art. Therefore, the interconnectedness of BTS content and fan content is essential to my experience as ARMY, as it is for many.

For that reason, fans as a collective are not just consumers, but collaborators. The BTS-ARMY relationship is not just a one-sided creator-spectator relationship. If you were to argue that their primary art form is music, and that therefore ARMY’s collaboration doesn’t influence their primary art form, you would run into issues: first, you would be overlooking the fans’ influence on the music that BTS makes, and second, you would run into disagreements from ARMY about how essential those other forms of media are to the art of BTS. For example, in the words of Michelle Fan (2020), 

BTS’ creative brilliance is reflected not just in their music, but also in their ability to build ecosystems of connection that invite other ‘outsiders’ to claim authorship. For them, art is not only in what is created, but also what their creativity enables. (para. 10). 

We may all prioritize different facets of that art, but rarely is the fan experience as simple as only listening to their music. 

The key to understanding ARMY as collaborators is that the experience of the collective fandom cannot be fully extricated from the experience of the individual fan, if that fan participates in the community. This is well illustrated symbolically by the language of BTS fans, who are referred to using the singular “ARMY” collectively but also “ARMY” individually. That is to say, I am ARMY, but I am also one part of ARMY. The same term applies whether it refers to the community or the individual. Likewise, a fan’s experience is mediated through both levels. When BTS thanks ARMY for their support, for example, I interpret this as both the support that my peers in the fandom have shown and the specific supportive actions that I have taken. In this way, there is a natural conflation of the two, which complicates the supposed one-sidedness of a PSR. Although this linguistic phenomenon is specific to this fandom, I believe that the conflation of individual fan and collective has applications to other fandoms as well. For the purposes of this article, I only consider fans who also participate in the collective fandom, as this is the source of my fandom knowledge. 1

If the fan-artist relationship is not one-sided from the perspective of the collective fans, and if being part of the collective is part of an individual fan’s experience, then already we’ve complicated the application of the term “parasocial relationship” to BTS and ARMY. In addition, there is another factor complicating the “one-sided” aspect. The BTS-ARMY connection is notable not just for its structure, but for the immense value it provides to both sides. You only need to spend a minute reading accounts from ARMY to see the gratitude we have for the ways in which BTS’s values, sincerity, and compassion have impacted our lives. Similarly, you can witness BTS’s gratitude in countless songs, speeches, and interviews: it’s woven into the fabric of everything they do.

Several examples of ARMY’s gratitude for BTS can be seen in the book I Am ARMY , a diverse collection of essays written about ARMY experience, edited by Wallea Eaglehawk and Courtney Lazore. The profound impact of the artist on the fan can be found on every page. For example, Lily Low’s (2020) essay “How BTS contributes towards an awareness of myself” details how the artists have helped her better understand her own mind through lyrics, speeches, and broader messages. One such case brings the essay to a close: 

As SUGA emphasized the importance of befriending our shadows, I have been learning to not hate myself so much for the emotions I feel. Instead, I accept them when they arrive, give myself the time to process or rest, and bid them goodbye as they eventually pass. (p. 107). 

This impact is significant because the author identified a problem — denying her own emotions — with the help of BTS’s music and was then able to change her approach. As an ARMY myself, I can easily understand how SUGA’s “Interlude: Shadow,” as well as the entire Map of the Soul series, with its basis in Jungian psychoanalysis, could lead to such a conclusion.

In the same collection is “From fake love to self-love” by Manilyn Gumapas (2020). The essay tells the story of a toxic love in the author’s life, with three key stages mapped against BTS’s Love Yourself series. She provides examples of how the series helped her during that time, including the moment she heard Jin’s song “Epiphany” again and was “stunned by how within the first verse alone, BTS had managed to capture exactly what [she’d] been experiencing for the past few months” (p. 84). In the months that followed, she found comfort in psychology articles, therapy, and other resources, including “the seven men who sang not only about self-love, but everything in the journey leading up to it” (p. 85). The attention that BTS has always given to mental health issues in their lyrics is of clear use to fans struggling with related issues. It can be a source of knowledge and wisdom; of comfort, in opening these conversations to the public and helping to de-stigmatize them; and of reassurance, reminding us we’re not the only ones with these struggles. It is powerful to realize that people we admire are subject to the same challenges that we are.

ARMY have been vocal about the multitude of ways that BTS have influenced our personal lives, often as a reaction to systemic social and political issues. For Isabelle Rhee (2021), in Issue 3 of this journal, BTS was helpful in navigating radicalization, queerness, and depression, and she says that listening to their music reminded her that she “was living, breathing, and absorbing those melodies. It was as if they were talking back” (para. 28). For Wallea Eaglehawk (2020b), founder and publisher of the BTS-inspired Revolutionaries Press, BTS inspire and enable us to be “participatory revolutionaries” (para. 3) among so many other things. And for Michelle Fan (2020), 

BTS also enable ARMY to reframe the female gaze from a cause of mockery to a source of power . . . Part of this is their refusal to condescend to the female gaze, instead striving to delight and inspire their audience by constantly doing and creating better in their honor. (para. 7). 

These examples transcend one-on-one connection. As a fellow fan, reading these articles inspires me as much as BTS does. And, being active in the community, I encounter personal stories like this on a daily basis. These are but a few examples in a sea of millions. 

It’s not only the effect of BTS on ARMY that demonstrates the importance of the connection — it’s also the reverse. ARMY have helped BTS top charts, break records, and fill stadiums all over the world; ARMY has boosted their visibility through radio campaigns, streaming, sales, and more (J. Lee, 2019); they’ve run donation campaigns in their name ( One In An Army , n.d.); they’ve inspired BTS as people. Returning to Michelle Fan’s (2020) article for a moment, 

It’s the ‘synergy,’ they say — the reciprocal flow of adoration between ARMY and BTS, BTS and ARMY, that propels them towards their industry-shaking, culture-shifting achievements. And so at every turn, they thank ARMY for lifting them to dizzying heights. (para. 5).

Indeed, BTS thank their fans so often that it’s hard to know where to begin with examples. Kim Namjoon, great leader that he is, is well known for this. In his first address to the UN, he claimed, “We truly have the best fans in the world” (UNICEF, 2018), and that sentiment is expressed in every concert speech, award speech, and post-concert live video. Concert speeches often run over 30 minutes total between all the members, who take time for introspection that they convey to the audience. They creatively express gratitude in song lyrics, as early as “2! 3!” through “Answer: Love Myself,” “Magic Shop,” “Mikrokosmos,” and the iconic “We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal,” on an album overflowing with gratitude towards fans.

And ARMY has indeed lifted BTS to great heights. As Jiyoung Lee (2019) explains, ARMY used a hands-on approach to gain radio play in North America. To overcome the high barrier, 

ARMYs scouted out radio stations whose airplays influence the Billboard Chart and repeatedly requested BTS’s songs to those local stations. During the process, they created and distributed response manuals that specified ‘What to do when the song is selected,’ ‘What to do when the song is rejected,’ and ‘What to do when the station does not know BTS’ [. . .] If a radio program played a BTS song, ARMYs would put the program on Google’s trending searches and send flowers and gifts to the station. (p. 58). 

Efforts like these led to greater recognition and a wider audience for their music. So, too, does the streaming of songs on platforms like Spotify and YouTube, which have direct effects on the Billboard HOT 100 chart — a chart on which BTS has now obtained #1 hits six times as of this writing (Zellner, 2023). Including solo projects, that’s eight times, with Jimin’s “Like Crazy” and Jungkook’s “Seven” ft. Latto debuting at #1 (McIntyre, 2023; Trust, 2023). Fans communicate streaming goals on social media to coordinate their efforts and make sure the numbers count. They do this too for record-setting, notably on YouTube, where BTS has held the record several times for the highest 24-hour debut in YouTube history (Rolli, 2021). They are the current record-holders, with 108.2 million views within the first 24 hours for their song “Butter” ( YouTube Records , n.d.).

They have also held the #1 spot for 210+ weeks on Billboard’s Social 50 chart ( Social 50 , 2023). Before the chart’s hiatus, it measured social media engagement from fans, for which BTS also holds a world record, along with records for social media followers (Pilastro, 2022). Even before BTS started to win major American music awards, they won Top Social Artist. When awards are decided by social media or fan voting, ARMY dominates — to the point where votes are sometimes overruled and chosen by the awards committee regardless of voting results (Ali, 2019). 

This kind of fervent and proactive support is not lost on BTS. In their 2017 MAMA awards acceptance speech for Artist of the Year, Namjoon said, 

ARMY! We love you! This year we went to a lot of places in the world and received warm welcomes, but everywhere we went, people were more curious about you all. [People wondered] ‘What kind of fandom is it that is this passionate and loving? It’s really amazing.’ Without all of you, we would not have been able to receive such a warm welcome or honor. We really thank you. (JP, 2017).

Namjoon was referring to the media, who take every opportunity to ask BTS about their passionate fanbase, with various mixtures of condescension, bafflement, amusement, and genuine awe.

But BTS appreciates ARMY on the level of personal influence too — not just for their success. As early as 2013, the year of their debut, Namjoon wrote this in a letter at an official fan meeting:

When I look at ARMYs, these thoughts come up. I wonder if I’ve ever supported and cheered on someone so passionately. Looking back, I realize that I used to live only caring for myself, and I find that really embarrassing. Back then, expressing my feelings for another person was something I wouldn’t even think about doing. I knew one way or another we would get hate, but meeting our ARMYs truly changed and is still changing my outlook on the world and my life. I learn so many things from you all every day. (BTS Trans, 2022, para. 1). 

For Namjoon to credit fans for the motivation to change something this meaningful in his behavior is extraordinarily generous. It also tells of the deeply introspective approach he has to the relationship.

Another example of personal influence is when Jungkook expressed a desire to better himself to Taehyung on In the Soop (2020), season one, episode six. When Taehyung confided in him that he was feeling a kind of emptiness from not being able to perform in front of fans due to the pandemic, Jungkook told him how he copes with the same feeling: by using the time to improve himself and his skills, so that he can be a better version of himself when they perform again. He advised Taehyung to work towards showing those who love him how much he’s changed.

There is a critical source, too, on both the relationship structure and its personal value, tying these points together. In a live video from April 9, 2022, Namjoon spoke directly about the connection between BTS and ARMY, giving us possibly the most relevant comment on this topic from a BTS member. He alluded to how he sees the benefits of this relationship to BTS, and also explained in his own words, in English, why the connection is unique.

So when you like . . . say the name of BTS, it’s not just about the seven boys. It includes the industry, maybe the Korean thing, maybe Asian, and mostly the ARMYs — naturally we’re together in our everyday lives. It’s not just one way. It’s the . . . I call it — it’s mutual. (He gestures back and forth.) We give them something, they give us something — I mean you guys give us something. And I truly felt today as well seeing you guys in person [at the concert] and hearing your voices . . . it’s something . . . you know, it comes from the heart. And it’s about the soul. It’s about sharing arts, and sharing souls. We’re like . . . we may not know each other [. . .] But now, through the performance and the team, we can be something, you know. We call this inyeon in Korea. I don’t know what to call this in English, but we became something, you know. Relationship. (He gestures to show two fists connecting and then separating, again and again.) [. . .] We’ve met each other, so . . . I think we’re making something great. I think that’s all I want to say. (N. Kim, 2022).

There’s a lot to unpack in Namjoon’s words. Regarding the benefits that BTS gets from the relationship, it appears that Namjoon believes they receive a sort of energy, from the heart, or even from the soul: a type of sharing. Earlier in the same livestream he says to viewers that “you are the ones who made us” and that ARMY is “not just supporting” but “being together with us.” He also speaks to the structure, implicitly dismissing the one-sided aspect of PSRs by saying it’s “not just one way” and that it’s “mutual.” He then suggests a term appropriate to this relationship, namely inyeon , which is a word that doesn’t have a direct translation in English: Gibson (2016) describes it as “a ‘bond’ or ‘relationship’” but also notes that that “doesn’t really cover the strength of the connection. It often carries a connotation of fate or destiny, that the bond was somehow predestined” (8. 인연 (n)). Although it’s not suggested as a new label, it is nonetheless useful as a relevant term that carries meanings not contained within PSR, and which comes from the artist directly.

Continuing with Namjoon’s words, we can see this bond from another angle in an interview he did with GQ Korea . According to the English translation, when Namjoon is asked, “How would you like your love with ARMY to unfold in the future?” (Jeon, 2021, para. 31) part of his answer is that “I hope that love is like a parallel line, supporting each other in our own ways as we grow into adults, while maintaining our current distance” (Jeon, 2021, para. 32). Thus, when we consider these two sources, the relationship Namjoon describes is something akin to two lines running parallel, perhaps fated to do so, or at the very least bound together in a meaningful way.

It is difficult not to be effusive in my examples of introspection, gratitude, and personal impact, as an ARMY myself. My purpose is not to create an exhaustive list, but to make it clear that the devotion that artist and fan show to each other is indicative of a meaningful connection in which inspiration flows in both directions.

With that being said, the relationship comprises more than a wellspring of inspiration. Like anything with great positive potential, there is negative potential as well. It’s worth addressing this as we consider the nature of a fan-artist relationship under the umbrella of “parasocial.” 

The ecosystem of activities produced by BTS can sometimes take over a fan’s attention, to the detriment of other things. It is easy to become fixated, especially as a new fan, when so much content exists. But unfortunately, this can come at the cost of other things in a fan’s life, especially other interests and passions. This can be regulated, but it can be difficult to do so before the fan knows what’s going on. 2

Aside from the all-consuming potential of their content, it’s also possible to be over-reliant on the artist. This makes sense, following the earlier point about how deeply helpful they can be.

Unfortunately, though, this can turn into a dependency. Relying on any one thing alone to solve problems is risky, whatever that may be, and BTS is no exception. Over-reliance can result in symptoms that resemble emotional dependency, for example “an idealized view of your partner or the relationship,” “the belief your life lacks meaning without them,” or “feelings of jealousy or possessiveness” (Raypole, 2020, para. 12). In my time as a fan, I have heard many comments on social media echoing these feelings.

There are also other ways the artist’s influence can be negative. Some of these are touched upon in I Am ARMY , notably the essay by Anna Shaffer (2020), who details negative associations she developed with BTS’s music. She says, “I questioned whether or not being an ARMY was really helping; I questioned what I was without ARMY; I questioned what continued good BTS had done for me” (p. 63). In the end, it is a story about finding inspiration from BTS in her own way, but those dark moments are key to the narrative.

On the flip side, we know that the reverse scenario can be negative as well: fan interactions can be harmful to BTS. There are too many ( one is too many) examples of harassment, stalker fans, and sasaengs , a term used in k-pop fandoms for obsessive fans who stalk an artist or otherwise invade their privacy ( From Trainee to Bias , 2022). There has been more than one live video where a member receives a random call from an unknown number, which they don’t answer, suspecting it’s a sasaeng (Reign, 2019). We’ve heard cases where fans yell or throw items on stage that hit the artists (Sharma, 2022). And, beyond cases of individual fans, there are also ways the collective fanbase creates stress for the artist. I think of the faceless fans holding cameras in the song “Interlude: Shadow,” or Yoongi’s honesty about the challenges that come with fame, in “Daechwita,” or the doubt that festers in response to celebrity, in Namjoon’s “Intro: Persona,” and his difficulty reconciling it with himself. I see challenges, too, in their documentaries, where the members struggle with injuries, exhaustion, and self-doubt as a result of their performances. 

I detail these complicating factors not as a way of arguing that the fan-artist relationship isn’t worth having, but, on the contrary, to suggest that when fan and artist choose to foster this connection, it indicates that it’s rewarding enough to warrant the challenges. My purpose is to show that such an enriching relationship deserves to be considered respectfully, thoughtfully, and three-dimensionally. These negative aspects are even more reason to try to understand the nuance of a fan-artist relationship, so that we can more easily navigate the challenges and harness them for good. 

Such a thing would have been a great help to me during my first year as a fan. In my own experience, it was only by recognizing that I was too involved that I was able to step back, recalibrate, and find balance. By focusing on the most important ways that I wanted to be a fan and leaving the rest behind, I was able to embrace the artistry and unique connection that a BTS-ARMY relationship can offer while also leaving space for other important relationships, interests, and creative projects. My personal life has been enriched by this balance. But it was incredibly difficult to recognize the need for it in the first place. If I hadn’t been working against the stigmatized “parasocial” and instead had language that resonated, then I could have used it to talk to other fans and better understand my experience. My hope is that re-examining this language could help other fans navigate their own experiences within fandom. 

In Part 3, I will talk about why the language describing a fan-artist relationship is important, how it can help, and how we can use it to broaden our thinking.

Part 3: The Barriers of Language

So far we’ve looked at the complex relationship between BTS and ARMY, and how “parasocial relationship” is too simplistic a term to capture it. Not only that, but we’ve seen that the term is used with prejudice, which can be harmful to a fan’s understanding of their experience as a fan. This is true generally about fan-artist relationships, but the case of BTS and ARMY illustrates this complexity particularly well.

BTS already defy labels. They’re understood within the framework of “boy band” by some, called a “supergroup” by others, and “idol” by some familiar with k-pop conventions. But as Namjoon says in their 2018 single “Idol,” “You can call me artist / You can call me idol / Or you can call me anything else / I don’t care / I’m proud of it / I’m free” (Doolset Bangtan, 2018). BTS actively defy labels that others choose for them, especially where it concerns their art. When asked whether their work falls within the genre of k-pop, members Jungkook, V, and j-hope answered, “The genre is BTS” (Ochoa, 2020, para. 9). Fans understand and will echo this sentiment. On one hand, genres are used to classify things for practical purposes, and I recognize that calling BTS k-pop is useful in some contexts. On the other hand, BTS pushes too far beyond the genre to be considered k-pop. Are they artists? Yes, certainly, but not only music artists. Idols? Sure, in some ways, within the convention of Korean idols. A boy band? Perhaps on the surface. But more like a deconstructed one. 3

It is little wonder, then, that an artist pushing the bounds of genre would also push at the bounds of how artists and fans relate. Their biography says as much: according to Beyond The Story , the WINGS album “marked the moment BTS and ARMY became inextricably intertwined. They went beyond the traditional connection between artist and fandom, becoming a tight-knit unit defying precedent and definition” (BTS & Kang, 2023, p. 246). The album represents their journey and the relationship that formed with their fans when their motivation shifted. “BTS longed for success. But when that success finally became reality, what they then began to want was, ironically, love — that is, love from ARMY” (p. 247).  

And it’s not just relationships and genres but also traditional art forms that BTS are pushing against. Jiyoung Lee’s book BTS, Art Revolution (2019) centers on exactly this point. She says, 

The BTS phenomenon points to a shift in the total nature of art, which involves the spectator participation structure brought on by the transformation of the technological basis. This phenomenon cannot be described by the existing categories and concepts of art, and calls for a new concept of art. (p. 116). 

There are many reasons for this, including the multimedia nature of the art they produce, the “rhizomatic” (p. 74) relationship with fans, and the new opportunities opened by digital media. So many artists have benefitted from these opportunities, and to be clear, it is not only BTS who are pushing these artistic bounds, and not only BTS and ARMY who demonstrate a new model of fan-artist relationship. But due to their popularity , 4 fan engagement, 5 and notoriously passionate fanbase, 6 they are cultural leaders in these ideas.

Our current language around fandom does not adequately describe the dynamic between BTS and ARMY, and others like them. Jiyoung Lee responds to this by using the philosophical concept of a “rhizomatic system” (p. 74) to understand this relationship. To summarize Lee’s application of the term to this fandom, “a rhizomatic system is an acentered system, which lacks a single center” (p. 75), and in this case, “neither ARMY nor BTS is a center: rather, the two form a horizontal relationship” (p. 76). Lee’s book is dedicated to explaining this connection and to arguing for “the BTS phenomenon as a specific example of rhizomatic revolution” (p. 72). Her work is the most comprehensive publication in support of expanding the language we use to talk about BTS and ARMY.

Meanwhile, critic Jeff Benjamin points to another failing in language by calling for a change in the use of the term “idol,” saying that it doesn’t adequately emphasize the “art, creative merit, or artists’ leadership” (G. Lee, 2020, para. 2). Although the article doesn’t discuss the fan-artist relationship like Jiyoung Lee does, it is nonetheless a response to the way our current language stigmatizes this kind of artist. The stigma on the term “idol” also has implications on how we understand the parasocial relationships that fans have with them.

Other fandom studies research has of course expanded our understanding of PSRs as well. Giles (2002) helped re-conceptualize PSRs as an extension of, rather than substitution for, real-world interactions: PSRs are social relationships that are manifested in a mediated context. Giles and Maltby (2006) distinguished three dimensions of celebrity worship, which are entertainment-social, intense-personal, and borderline-pathological. Tukachinsky (2010) re-conceptualized PSRs as comprising qualitatively different relationships, like parasocial love and parasocial friendship. More recently, Nguyen, Khadadeh, and Jeong (2023) introduced terms used within fandom spaces to delineate PSRs with fictional characters. 

These are all examples of the potential to continuously broaden our understanding of these phenomena. Some researchers have tried to normalize PSRs as well, for example Giles (2002), who looked at them within the realm of “normal social activity” (p. 286) and cautioned against language like “imaginary” or “pseudo-social,” which “pathologizes viewers who form strong parasocial attachments” (p. 286). This directly supports my observation about the stigma on the “reality” of PSRs. 

The issue is that, despite these conversations between experts, the term PSR is still stigmatized and poorly understood within popular culture. Of course, there are some popular sources that help normalize PSRs, such as Jen Sookfong Lee’s (2023) memoir Superfan . She considers her “intimacy with fandom” (p. 29) as being in the same sphere as memories of loved ones, in that “it’s the same act of filling in knowledge and love with whatever I can, with words and fantasy and narrative” (p. 30). However, nuanced takes like this have not yet become dominant in popular culture. 

I personally believe the term “parasocial relationship” itself poses challenges. Part of this stems from the difficulty of changing a pre-existing stigma. Additionally, although this is personal observation, my perception of the word “parasocial” is influenced by connotations of “parasite,” especially given the emphasis on one-sidedness. What’s more, “relationship” commonly means romantic relationship, which may contribute to the stigma of “delusional” fans.

In the context of the work of these critics, above, I can more easily explain my argument. Like all of them, I am calling for an expansion of our language. Specifically, I am suggesting additional terminology to describe this fan-artist relationship: the kind so easily seen between BTS and ARMY, but that so many other fandoms experience as well — that acknowledges what we know about “parasocial” but also looks beyond.

Where do we draw from? Is there something in Namjoon’s use of the Korean inyeon, as mentioned above? In Jiyoung Lee’s rhizomatic system ? Is there something too in Wallea Eaglehawk’s (2020a) understanding of idol limerence, as it appears in her work of the same name? All of these are useful in understanding BTS and ARMY with nuance, but they all describe the nature or components of the relationship, rather than providing a label.

What if we break down “parasocial” to what it contains? The prefix “para-” can mean several things: “beside,” “alongside,” “beyond,” “closely related to,” or “associated in a subsidiary or accessory capacity.” Although the latter is negative in implying a lesser status, the majority are positive or neutral. Notably, “beyond” is appropriate in the context of BTS, who frequently use it when “BTS” becomes an acronym, e.g. their book Beyond The Story , their documentary BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star, and the extended English meaning of their name, Beyond The Scene (HYBE LABELS, 2017). In addition, the other suggested meanings of “para-” evoke another word that uses the same prefix: “parallel.” To imagine an artist and fan existing “beside” or “alongside” each other is appropriate, in that they travel side by side but never physically touch. The idea of parallel lines also evokes the album and concept You Never Walk Alone . It may even conjure the meaning of inyeon , with the idea that the two lines are fated to remain together and, of course, it evokes Namjoon’s earlier response that he hopes “love is like a parallel line” (Jeon, 2021, para. 32). 

If we relate “para-” to “parallel,” rather than “parasite,” perhaps we can better understand what this connection means. To enable this association, we can make this even clearer, linguistically. We can change the “s” that phonetically facilitates the connotation of “parasite,” while also avoiding the label “relationship.” 

What we have then is a parallink . When artist and fan have a parallink with each other, they exist alongside , beside , or parallel to each other; traveling mutual paths; beyond our current understanding of connections; and with a link to each other, evoking technology as well — especially appropriate for a bond facilitated so much by technology. The term makes its relation to “parallel” clear with double “l.” It is more casual, more affectionate, less onerous to say, and still familiar enough to signal what it means. It is not one-sided, nor stigmatized. It distances us from “parasocial” while still acknowledging its application. 

Although I believe in the value of this new term, I believe that others could also be helpful. Arguments could be made, for example, for rhizobond , evoking rhizomatic connections as per Jiyoung Lee; or ambilink , where both sides are separate but equal; or metasocial connection , retaining “beyond” in the prefix and anticipating an overlap between PSRs and relationships in the metaverse, which both lack an in-person component. 

Regardless of what term is utilized, I want to call on fans specifically, and to anyone with a vested interest, linguistic or otherwise, to make space for new language in this realm. We’re the ones who understand not just the nature of this connection, but the importance of it. Rather than wait for others to determine what the relationship means, we need to do it ourselves.

I also have another purpose in making this argument. If we look at this stigmatized terminology, we can see that valuable things are not always understood. This lack of language does not dictate a lack of value in the thing it attempts to describe. Rather, we need to be able to recognize value even when it looks unfamiliar to us. The ability to do so requires an open mind and a compassionate heart, two immeasurably valuable traits. In this way, we can apply the example of BTS and ARMY more broadly to argue that it illustrates the value of creative new relationships, even before we have language for them.

Why is this important? On a personal level, it’s because I’ve experienced the confusion of relationships that defy labels, and I’ve learned that they are often the most rewarding ones, even when I haven’t known what to call them. This has been true not just in fan-artist relationships, but again and again in the spaces between friendships, romantic relationships, creative relationships, and more. And I know that if this is true for me, I can’t be the only one.

When I hear about people who leave good relationships that don’t fit their expectations for a label, I grieve for them. I can see that pattern in the teenager who takes posters off their wall because their friends and family make fun of them for loving their favorite band. It’s in the person who leaves a partnership because it’s not what they think they want, even though it’s exactly what they need. It’s in anyone who finds a connection to something that enriches their life, but who feels insecure about it because it’s not “real” or “cool,” i.e., it carries no social status, and they have no examples of others like them.

It is easy to see how this can happen. When we don’t see ourselves represented in the world, we may question our reality. And without language, it is much harder to see that representation anywhere. How do you find it in the first place? How do you search for it? How do you recognize it when you do find it?

This can be complicated when your support network doesn’t recognize your experience, as you’re even more likely to question it. When art and media don’t show it, those aren’t supporting you, either. So, beyond accepting creative connections in our own lives, we need to accept them in the lives of friends and family, and we need to be open to representing them publicly. Rather than discourage people from having relationships that aren’t “real,” we should encourage any connection that makes sense for the individual.

Fortunately, if we approach things with this openness, our lives become richer. I’ve experienced it firsthand. For ARMY, this is likely easy to understand: in BTS, we have shining examples of open minds and compassionate hearts, and we have experts at finding new avenues for creativity. To quote Michelle Fan’s article once more, “the value of art is also measured in how it can foster relationships between people. The experience of emotional intimacy is the artistry itself ” (2020, para. 4). Without adequate language to aid with understanding, non-fans may scoff at this idea, not familiar with what it looks like. But it doesn’t change the experience of millions of fans, who all choose, for one reason or another, the little seven. 7

I hope that we can all embrace new things, with the passion and dedication of a purple-blooded ARMY, when we find connections worth holding on to.

In this article of three parts, I have tried to argue a few interconnected things.

First, I’ve shown that the term “parasocial relationship” is stigmatized, and that it can hinder our understanding of fan-artist relationships. I’ve argued that we need to stop saying these connections aren’t “real” and accidentally implying that they don’t matter. If we succeed, more people may be able to embrace connections that enrich their lives, when they’re not worried about what it says about their grasp on reality.

Second, I’ve illustrated the complex relationships that are possible between fans and artists using the remarkable case of BTS and ARMY. I’ve talked about the potential for both light and dark, and how the great positives and negatives paint a much more textured picture than popular understanding allows, demonstrating the need for more nuance.

Lastly, I’ve illustrated that our current language is not sufficient to represent this fan-artist connection, and I’ve called for the adoption of new terminology. I’ve argued that we should also apply this thinking more broadly, so that we can appreciate other relationships that may be nameless but no less important because they are unrecognized.

At the core of this article is one single idea: that good connections should be fostered, no matter what they look like or whether others understand them. They are rare, and wonderful, and life-changing — and we are lucky to find them in the first place.

• Some fans do pluralize “ARMY” (i.e. “ARMYs”) when referring to more than one fan — and this appears in some quotations in this article — but as an author I follow the convention of using the singular for both cases. ↩︎
• Speaking of which, “I’m here to save you, I’m here to ruin you” ( BTS – Pied Piper , n.d.) ↩︎
•   I owe a YouTube comment for this analogy; it’s one of my favorite ways to describe them. Sadly, I’ve long since forgotten the person’s username. ↩︎
• One measure of popularity is album sales. They have sold the third most albums globally in the past 30 years (“BTS climbs up,” 2022). ↩︎
• Again, they’ve held the #1 spot for 210+ weeks on Billboard’s Social 50 chart ( Social 50 , 2023). ↩︎
• The passion of ARMY can be measured in many different ways, but E. Tammy Kim’s article in The New Yorker gives many diverse examples in its study of how and why fans show their love (E.T. Kim, 2022). ↩︎
•   How could I resist using seven footnotes? (Yeo, 2020). ↩︎

Illustration By: Anonymous

Ali, R. (2019, November 11). BTS fans upset after K-pop group lost to Blackpink at 2019 People’s Choice Awards. USA Today . https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2019/11/11/peoples-choice-awards-bts-fans-frustrated-k-pop-group-lost/2560369001/

Bond, M. (2023). Fans: A Journey into the Psychology of Belonging. Pan Macmillan.

BTS & Kang, M. (2023). Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS. Flatiron Books.

( English Translation ). (n.d.). Genius. Retrieved April 3, 2023, from https://genius.com/Genius-english-translations-bts-pied-piper-english-translation-lyrics

BTS climbs up to #3 in global artists who sold the most albums over the past 30 years. (2022, August 3).AllKpop. https://www.allkpop.com/article/2022/08/bts-climbs-up-to-3-in-global-artists-who-sold-the-most-albums-over-the-past-30-years

BTS Trans. (2022, July 28). 09/13 First Offical [sic] Fanmeeting Letters. BTS Interview Archive. https://btsinterviews.wordpress.com/2022/07/28/09-13-first-offical-fanmeeting-letters/

Doolset Bangtan. (2018, August 24). “Idol.” Doolset Lyrics: BTS Lyrics in English. https://doolsetbangtan.wordpress.com/2018/08/24/idol/

Eaglehawk, W. (2020a). Idol Limerence: The Art of Loving BTS as Phenomena. Bulletproof.

Eaglehawk, W. (2020b). We, like BTS, are revolutionaries. Medium. https://medium.com/revolutionaries/we-like-bts-are-revolutionaries-15caae19b7a3

Eaglehawk, W., & Lazore, C. (Eds.). (2020). I Am ARMY: It’s Time to Begin. Bulletproof.

Fan, M. (2020). How BTS is redefining art for the female gaze. Medium. https://medium.com/revolutionaries/bts-and-the-rise-of-the-girl-gaze-8eb7cf2318df

From Trainee To Bias: The Big 16 K-Pop Slang Terms To Know . (2022, April 28). Dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/e/k-pop-slang/”>

Gibson, J. (2016, July 25). Ten Korean Words that Don’t Exist in English. KEI. https://keia.org/the-peninsula/ten-korean-words-that-dont-exist-in-english/

Giles, D. (2002). Parasocial interaction: A review of the literature and a model for future research. Media Psychology, 4 (3), 279–305. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532785XMEP0403_04

Giles, D. & Maltby, J. (2006, February). Praying at the altar of the stars. The Psychologist, 19 (2), 82–85. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242475256_Praying_at_the_altar_of_the_stars

Gumapas, M. (2020). “From fake love to self-love.” In W. Eaglehawk & C. Lazore (Eds.), I Am ARMY: It’s Time to Begin (pp. 68–90). Bulletproof.

Horton, D. C., & Wohl, R. R. (1956). Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction. Psychiatry MMC, 19 (3), 215–229. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049

HYBE LABELS. (2017, July 4). BTS (방탄소년단) LOGO ANIMATION. [Video]. YouTube. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049

Jeon, H. (2021, December 21). BTS RM “I think it’s only right for us to share the shadows cast as we grow as humans.” GQ Korea. https://www.gqkorea.co.kr/2021/12/21/bts-rm-%ec%a0%80%eb%a5%bc-%ec%96%b4%eb%96%bb%ea%b2%8c-%eb%82%98%ed%83%80%eb%82%bc-%ea%b2%83%ec%9d%b8%ea%b0%80%ea%b0%80-%ec%a0%9c%ea%b2%90-%ec%a4%91%ec%9a%94%ed%95%b4%ec%9a%94/

JP [@agirlinthepark]. (2017, December 1). [Image attached]. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/agirlinthepark/status/936611710693146624?lang=en

Kim, E.T. (2022, June 21). How BTS Became One of the Most Popular Bands in History. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/joining-the-bts-army

Kim, N. (2022, April 9). Nam Joon. [Video]. Weverse. https://weverse.io/bts/live/3-104695883?hl=en

Lee, G. (2020, January 15). ‘Idol’ underplays K-pop artistry: music industry expert. The Korea Times. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/03/113_281990.html

Lee, J. (2019). BTS, Art Revolution. Parrhesia.

Lee, Y. (Writer). (2020, September 23). Together, And On Their Own (Season 1, Episode 6) [TV series episode]. In S. Bang & Y. Lenzo (Executive Producers), In the Soop. Big Hit; Big Hit Three Sixty.

Liebers, N., & Schramm, H. (2019). Parasocial Interactions and Relationships with Media Characters – An Inventory of 60 Years of Research. Communication Research Trends, 38 (2), 4–31. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333748971_Parasocial_Interactions_and_Relationships_with_Media_Characters_-_An_Inventory_of_60_Years_of_Research

Low, L. (2020). “How BTS contributes towards an awareness of myself.” In W. Eaglehawk & C. Lazore (Eds.), I Am ARMY: It’s Time to Begin (pp. 91–113). Bulletproof.

McIntyre, H. (2023, April 3). BTS Member Jimin Makes Hot 100 History As His Single ‘Like Crazy’ Debuts At No. 1. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2023/04/03/bts-member-jimin-makes-hot-100-history-as-his-single-like-crazy-debuts-at-no-1/?sh=3dd13edc6edc

Nguyen, T. M., Khadadeh, M., & Jeong, D. C. (2023). Shippers and Kinnies: Re-conceptualizing Parasocial Relationships with Fictional Characters in Contemporary Fandom. Association for Computing Machinery, 32 , 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1145/3582437.3582476

O’Sullivan, S. (2021, October 4). The Internet Is Obsessed With Parasocial Relationships. Refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/parasocial-relationships-online-cancelling-bon-appetit

Ochoa, J. (2020, February 22). BTS Talk New Album ‘Map Of The Soul: 7’: “The Genre Is BTS.” Grammy Awards. https://www.grammy.com/news/bts-talk-new-album-map-soul-7-genre-bts

One In An Army. (n.d.) OneInAnArmy.org.Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://www.oneinanarmy.org/

Pilastro, E. (2022, March 4). BTS smash followers record on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Guinness World Records. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2022/3/bts-smash-followers-record-on-instagram-twitter-and-tiktok-694194

Reign, J. (2019, June 16). BTS’ Jungkook blocks incoming calls from sasaengs during ‘V Live.’ Allkpop. https://www.allkpop.com/article/2019/06/bts-jungkook-blocks-incoming-calls-from-sasaengs-during-v-live

Rhee, I. (2021). Counting grey rhinos. The Rhizomatic Revolution Review [20130613], 3. https://ther3journal.com/issue-3/counting-grey-rhinos

Rolli, B. (2021). BTS’s ‘Butter’ Breaks 24-Hour YouTube Debut Record (Updated). Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrolli/2021/05/22/btss-butter-breaks-24-hour-youtube-debut-record-for-now/?sh=d99dc044c380

Shaffer, A. (2020). “The day that didn’t break me.” In W. Eaglehawk & C. Lazore (Eds.), I Am ARMY: It’s Time to Begin (pp. 47–67). Bulletproof.

Sharma, D. (2022, April 1). BTS: Injured Jin Almost Gets Hit In The Face, Flower Hits Suga At PTD Las Vegas Concert; ARMYs Furious. News18.com. https://www.news18.com/news/movies/bts-injured-jin-almost-gets-hit-in-the-face-flower-hits-suga-at-ptd-las-vegas-concert-armys-furious-4960817.html

Social 50. (2023, March 21). Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/charts/social-50/

Sookfong Lee, J. (2023). Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart. McClelland & Stewart.

Trust, G. (2023). Jung Kook’s ‘Seven,’ Featuring Latto, Blasts In at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100, Followed by Jason Aldean. Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/jung-kook-latto-seven-number-one-debut-hot-100-jason-aldean-1235377400/

Tukachinsky, R.H. (2010). Para-romantic love and para-friendships: Development and assessment of a multiple-parasocial relationships scale. American Journal of Media Psychology, 3 (1/2), 73–94. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304223049_Para-Romantic_Love_and_Para-Friendships_Development_and_Assessment_of_a_Multiple-Parasocial_Relationships_Scale

Tukachinsky Forster, R. (2023). “Introduction: A Look Forward on Parasocial Experience Research.” In R. Tukachinsky Forster (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Parasocial Experiences (pp. 1–10). Oxford University Press.

UNICEF. (2018, September 24). BTS speech at the United Nations | UNICEF [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTe4f-bBEKg

Wong, B. (2021, September 9). Wait, What The Heck Is A ‘Parasocial Relationship’? HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/parasocial-relationships-with-celebrities_l_60a56a18e4b0d45b75248115

Yates, B. L. (2015). It’s Social, Not Parasocial: Understanding the Impact of the Internet on Building Community Among Bruce Springsteen Fans. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 23(5), 254–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2015.1090438

Yeo, A. (2020, February 18). Here’s why BTS fans are flooding Twitter with tiny 7s. Mashable. https://mashable.com/article/bts-small-seven-twitter-meme

YouTube Records. (n.d.). YouTube. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/trends/records/?record=top-24-hour-music-debuts

Zellner, X (2023). All 7 Members Have Now Earned Solo Hits on the Hot 100. Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/every-member-bts-has-now-earned-solo-hit-hot-100-1235204595/

Conflicts of Interest

The creator has no relevant conflicts of interest to disclose.

Acknowledgements

I want to thank everyone who talked through these ideas enthusiastically with me and who provided valuable feedback. In particular, Beth, Doug, F.N., N.J., & Z. Thank you for understanding the core idea of this article, for your ability to regard creative connections with empathy and curiosity, and for your love.

Suggested Citations

Apa citation.

Desjardins, M. (2023). Beyond Parasocial: ARMY, BTS, & Fan-Artist Relationships. The Rhizomatic Revolution Review [20130613], (4). https://ther3journal.com/issue-4/Beyond Parasocial: ARMY, BTS, & Fan-Artist Relationships

MLA Citation

Desjardins, Meghan. “Beyond Parasocial: ARMY, BTS, & Fan-Artist Relationships.” The Rhizomatic Revolution Review [20130613] , no. 4, 2023, https://ther3journal.com/issue-4/Beyond Parasocial: ARMY, BTS, & Fan-Artist Relationships .

@ CC Meghan Desjardins 2023

• Share on Twitter Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Reddit Share on Reddit
• Share via Email Share via Email

Privacy Overview

Armed in ARMY: A Case Study of How BTS Fans Successfully Collaborated to #MatchAMillion for Black Lives Matter

New Citation Alert added!

This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:

You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.

To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.

New Citation Alert!

Please log in to your account

Information & Contributors

Bibliometrics & citations.

• Kampka A (2024) Władza przypadkowa czy wypadkowa?Random or Resultant Power? Kultura i Społeczeństwo 10.35757/KiS.2024.68.2.4 68 :2 (83-104) Online publication date: 14-Jun-2024 https://doi.org/10.35757/KiS.2024.68.2.4
• Astari D Agustina D Nurussa’adah E (2024) SYMBOLIC REALITY CONSTRUCTION OF THE K-POP COMMUNITY ON TWITTER Interaksi: Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi 10.14710/interaksi.13.1.152-168 13 :1 (152-168) Online publication date: 30-Jun-2024 https://doi.org/10.14710/interaksi.13.1.152-168
• Atis A Murad N Sison H (2024) From Purple to Pink: The Filipino ARMY for Leni and the Fight for Good Governance Bangtan Remixed 10.1215/9781478059615-022 (241-253) Online publication date: 12-Jul-2024 https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478059615-022
• Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Human-centered computing

Social and professional topics

Professional topics

Computing and business

Recommendations

Alliance for my idol: analyzing the k-pop fandom collaboration network.

As the K-pop industry has been rapidly expanded, the strength of the K-pop fandoms is under the spotlight. In particular, the collaborations among fandoms for mutually supporting their artists have contributed to the success of the K-pop artists. This ...

Social networking and identity construction in computer-mediated communication: cyberpragmatics analysis of fandom online community in YouTube commentaries

This paper observes the identity construction in online social network, YouTube. The object of the research is computer-mediated communication of fandom in YouTube video commentaries. The data is analyzed by using Cyberpragmatics approach. The two main ...

Black Lives Matter in Wikipedia: Collective Memory and Collaboration around Online Social Movements

Social movements use social computing systems to complement offline mobilizations, but prior literature has focused almost exclusively on movement actors' use of social media. In this paper, we analyze participation and attention to topics connected ...

Information

Published in.

• General Chairs:

Tohoku University, Japan

University of New South Wales, Australia

• Program Chairs:

University of California Santa Cruz, USA

The University of Tokyo, Japan

• Publications Chairs:

University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Microsoft Research, USA

• SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Permissions, check for updates, author tags.

• Collaboration
• Collaborative success
• Fan activism
• Online community
• Philanthropy
• Research-article
• Refereed limited

Acceptance Rates

Contributors, other metrics, bibliometrics, article metrics.

• 21 Total Citations View Citations
• 1,546 Total Downloads
• Downloads (Last 12 months) 327
• Downloads (Last 6 weeks) 34
• (2024) “Not Today” Bangtan Remixed 10.1215/9781478059615-017 (191-194) Online publication date: 12-Jul-2024 https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478059615-017
• Naik S (2024) From Digital Practices to Bond Formation: A Mixed-Method Case Study of BTS Online Fandom Communities Proceedings of the 16th Conference on Creativity & Cognition 10.1145/3635636.3664257 (488-492) Online publication date: 23-Jun-2024 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3635636.3664257
• Li W Dong Y Tang Y (2024) Celebrity, peer, and personal norms: examining the influences of different norms on fans’ online engagement intentions regarding fandom philanthropy Current Psychology 10.1007/s12144-023-05588-9 43 :18 (16463-16475) Online publication date: 9-Jan-2024 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05588-9
• Kim M Wang S Kim S (2023) Effects of Online Fan Community Interactions on Well-Being and Sense of Virtual Community Behavioral Sciences 10.3390/bs13110897 13 :11 (897) Online publication date: 30-Oct-2023 https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13110897
• He Q Li Y (2023) Civic Engagement Intention and the Data-Driven Fan Community: Investigating the Motivation Behind Chinese Fans’ Online Data-Making Behavior From a Collective Action Perspective Social Media + Society 10.1177/20563051221150409 9 :1 (205630512211504) Online publication date: 25-Jan-2023 https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221150409
• Guo Q Shi C Yin Z Liu C Ma X (2023) Exploring the Effects of Event-induced Sudden Influx of Newcomers to Online Pop Music Fandom Communities: Content, Interaction, and Engagement Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 10.1145/3610063 7 :CSCW2 (1-24) Online publication date: 4-Oct-2023 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3610063
• Kritika K Ringland K (2023) 'You are finally Home': Centering Playful Marginalized Community Values in Designing Online Social Platforms Companion Publication of the 2023 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing 10.1145/3584931.3606999 (81-85) Online publication date: 14-Oct-2023 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3584931.3606999

View Options

Login options.

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

View options.

View or Download as a PDF file.

View online with eReader .

HTML Format

View this article in HTML Format.

Share this Publication link

Copying failed.

Share on social media

Affiliations, export citations.

• Please download or close your previous search result export first before starting a new bulk export. Preview is not available. By clicking download, a status dialog will open to start the export process. The process may take a few minutes but once it finishes a file will be downloadable from your browser. You may continue to browse the DL while the export process is in progress. Download
• Download citation
• Copy citation

We are preparing your search results for download ...

We will inform you here when the file is ready.

Your file of search results citations is now ready.

Your search export query has expired. Please try again.

BTS, the band that changed K-pop, explained

The keys to BTS’s success: emotional resonance, sincerity, and an ARMY of fans.

by Aja Romano

In 2012, Rolling Stone published a list of the 10 K-pop bands most likely to make it big in the US. Achieving significant US fame was a newly attainable, if still distant, milestone for South Korean pop groups thanks to the 2000s’ tremendous exporting of South Korean culture overseas — a trend known as Hallyu, the Korean Wave. Rolling Stone’s list, which appeared two months before Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” included groups like Big Bang, Girls’ Generation, and 2NE1 — the greatest bands of what’s generally thought of as the “second generation” of pop groups to emerge during K-pop’s rise to international prominence.

It didn’t, however, include a group of teenage boys, then-recently assembled through a studio audition process, who were being meticulously polished and prepped for their debut. On December 22, 2012, the group released a number of Soundcloud clips featuring its seven members rapping in Korean and English — including a rap cover of Wham’s “Last Christmas.”

It was hardly the stuff of attention-getting Korean hip-hop. But the band in question — Bangtan Boys, later officially known as BTS — would go on to completely transform the image of all-male boy bands in South Korean music and shatter conceptions of what breakout success looked like for South Korean bands overseas.

• How K-pop became a global phenomenon

BTS’s rise to prominence has been so immense over the last few years that the band’s latest single, “Butter” — their first since a trio of groundbreaking, historic No. 1 singles in fall 2020 — is a major event.

BTS made headlines in 2020 with the hit single “ Dynamite ,” which became the first K-pop song in history to debut at No. 1 on the US Billboard “Hot 100” chart.

Having already racked up more than 60 million YouTube views in its first 12 hours online, “Butter” already seems positioned to be an even bigger hit for the band.

• With “Dynamite,” BTS beat the US music industry at its own cheap game

These US chart-toppers are huge accomplishments for BTS. The band has spent years building to this point, slowly conquering the American music scene with one milestone after another. Since 2018, when they became the first South Korean band in history to debut an album at No. 1 on the US Billboard chart , they’ve collaborated with major artists like the Chainsmokers , Steve Aoki , Nicki Minaj , Ed Sheeran , and Halsey . They’ve performed everywhere from Good Morning America to Saturday Night Live , from Times Square’s New Year’s Eve concerts to Grand Central Terminal .

In 2020, BTS garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group performance. They’ve even snagged a couple of Guinness World Records for their incredibly engaged fanbase .

So why was BTS the band that finally broke through the culture barrier overseas to make significant waves in the US? The answer lies in a combination of factors, and most of them are about change: the changing nature of K-pop’s studio culture and the way “idols” are produced; changing depictions of masculinity in South Korea; changing ranges of acceptable expression in K-pop; and, above all, the approach BTS has taken to building its fan base and interacting with its fans.

But to understand all this change, we have to back up a few years to understand how K-pop became the regimented industry it is today — and how BTS subverts that regimen.

How did K-pop become a $5 billion global industry?

Vox explore K-pop’s elaborate music videos, adoring fans, and killer choreography for our Netflix series Explained .

Watch now on Netflix.

BTS is the product of an industry insider who wanted to create a new kind of idol

K-pop began on April 11, 1992, when a hip-hop trio called Seo Taiji and Boys performed in a talent show on a national South Korean network. Seo Taiji and Boys were innovators who challenged norms around musical styles, song topics, fashion, and censorship, which was unprecedented for a culture whose musical production had spent the past few decades subjected to strict government oversight. But it wouldn’t last.

In the ’90s, three powerhouse music studios began cultivating what would become known as idol groups. Assembled through auditions and years of grooming within an intense studio culture — the highly regimented system of idol group production in Korean and Japanese music studios — idol groups are polished to perfection, designed to present the very highest standards of beauty, dance, and musicality. Children who enter these studios spend most of their lives enduring rigorous training to become part of an idol group. If they’re chosen, the studio exerts a huge amount of control, not only over the songs they sing and the way their band is marketed but also over their daily lives .

Idol groups have come to dominate the Korean music industry, but there are well-known toxic and abusive elements to idol life. Over the last decade, the Korean government has taken steps to end the structural exploitation that has been a major part of Korean studio culture. But in the early 2010s when BTS was formed, most studios had a highly regimented, restrictive approach to idol group production. As part of the process, they systematically ironed out most of the personal expression and socially conscious music that Seo Taiji was originally known for — after all, it’s hard to express yourself when you’re contractually forbidden to have a personal life. Even today, idols typically only feel free to open up about their struggles after their studio careers have come to an end .

It was within this environment that a man named Bang Si-hyuk began to quietly build a different kind of studio, and to cultivate the band that would become BTS. A successful songwriter and music producer, Bang was nicknamed “Hitman” for writing a string of popular songs, from g.o.d.’s “One Candle” in 1999 to T-ara’s “Like the First Time” a decade later. He worked as an arranger and producer with the studio JYP until 2005, when he left to form his own Big Hit Entertainment.

But Bang also struggled with his position within the industry. As a studio owner, he confessed to insecurity about his work and said he admired singers who could express their personalities in their music. This combination of ideas — the honest musical expression of one’s creative anxieties — would become a crucial element of BTS.

In 2010, Bang began to assemble a group of teens for a group he called the Bulletproof Boy Scouts. This would go on to become Bangtan Boys, then BTS, but the ingredients of their success were inherent in the original name. Bang intended “bulletproof” to function as a celebration of the kids’ toughness and ability to withstand the pressures of the world. But he also wanted the band to be able to be sincere and genuine — not immaculate idols groomed amid studio culture, but real boys who shared their authentic personalities and talents with the world.

This approach was quite different from the normal studio approach to idoldom, wherein idols are trained to be pleasant but mild — to function as blank slates upon which viewers can project their fantasies. By contrast, Bang wanted BTS to be full of figures that audiences could relate to. In a 2018 interview with the South Korean newspaper JoongAng, he described how he originally thought of BTS as consisting of gentle, sympathetic idols who could mentor their fans:

I recently came across a company document from [2012,] the year before BTS debuted, in which we were debating what kind of idol group to create. It said, ‘What kind of hero is the youth of today looking for? Not someone who dogmatically preaches from above. Rather, it seems like they need a hero who can lend them a shoulder to lean on, even without speaking a single word.

To create that band, Bang had to shake up the established precedents for how idol groups are treated. BTS wouldn’t have strict contracts and curfews, and they’d be allowed to discuss the pressures of stardom. Their lyrics would be open about the cultural pressure placed on Korean teens to excel and do well and to repress their anxieties. In short, they would be frank, honest, and natural.

How they did it: a consciously authentic style combined with socially conscious messaging

“We came together with a common dream to write, dance and produce music that reflects our musical backgrounds as well as our life values of acceptance, vulnerability and being successful,” said BTS’s leader, RM, in a 2017 interview with Time . There are six main ways BTS breaks with established precedent for K-pop boy bands to carry out this mission:

• They frequently write their own songs and lyrics.
• Their lyrics are socially conscious and especially attuned to describing the pressures of modern teen life in South Korea.
• They create and manage most of their own social media presence.
• They aren’t signed to “slave contracts,” nor do their contracts have the grueling restrictions of other idol groups.
• They tend to focus on marketing entire albums rather than individual singles. (This is essentially still true despite their recent string of singles in the US.)
• They talk openly about the struggles and anxieties of their career instead of presenting an extremely polished image at all times.

It should be noted that most of these elements have been present in numerous other recent K-pop groups — most notably Big Bang, which probably influenced BTS more than any other K-pop group. What Big Hit Entertainment did, however, was systematize these elements in BTS, and market them hard.

In the earliest videos of the band, from the months before their 2013 debut, the members were styled as young and sweetly innocent , maintaining the common “schoolboy” concept of male K-pop idol groups. When the group officially launched in June 2013, however, it was with a hard style paying homage to old-school gangster rap. Their first single, “No More Dream,” was an ode to teen apathy, a rebellious rejection of Korean traditionalism.

And it wasn’t exactly popular: Early audience reactions included a lot of eye-rolling at what was viewed as a superimposed gangster image the band hadn’t earned. And while they were clearly leaning on the confessional lyrical apathy of Seo Taiji and his early successors, it all seemed contrived rather than real.

A K-pop commentator who goes by the mononym Stephen ran a weekly podcast, This Week in K-Pop , from 2013 to 2017, which chronicled new releases in K-pop and inevitably documented the rise of BTS. But Stephen and his co-hosts were initially skeptical of the band. “Now K-pop has faux hip-hop undertones everywhere,” he said. “But in 2013 there wasn’t really that much, other than Big Bang. So when [BTS] came out with this very in-your-face, ‘We’re hip-hop’ image, it felt a little silly.”

Stephen pointed out that K-pop in general suffers from this problem. “K-pop really likes the look and attitude of hip-hop, but not too much . It’s very surface-level: hip-hop as a culture rather than as a musical genre.”

BTS’s climb to success, then, involved the band finding a way to communicate that this confessional image was real. They did this by mixing their openness on social media with blunt and honest lyrics — and owning their status as an underdog group battling to succeed against other bands who came from established studios with larger budgets. They spoke openly of the influence of Big Bang, which was also known for its socially conscious messaging. And they covered Seo Taiji’s ”Come Back Home”:

In essence, they found a way to imbue their musical style with substance. This led to well-reviewed, pointedly personal works like their three-album series The Most Beautiful Moment in Life , which deftly mixed “theater [and] autobiography.”

Their two most successful singles from this period managed to neatly encompass this new direction. “ I Need U ” (2015) was a refreshing, personalizing step away from hip-hop toward an R&B sound, while “ Dope ” (2015) openly celebrated the endless grind of their lives: “Over half of the day, we drown in work / Even if our youth rots in the studio / Thanks to that, we’re closer to success.”

“Dope” also drew attention to the band’s talent in a major way: It was the moment South Korea realized that these boys could dance.

“‘Dope’ is probably my favorite video of all time,” Stephen told Vox in 2018. “Focusing on dancing like that — they weren’t the only ones doing it, but they were definitely the best ones doing it.”

“And they alternate,” he added. “They do the big, boisterous, in-your-face dance video. But they also do those more emotional mini-art-flick type videos.” And no BTS art flick is better than “Blood Sweat & Tears,” the gothic, gorgeous 2016 single that launched them into a new level of international fame.

Colette Bennett is an entertainment reporter and a huge fan of BTS — but even though she liked their music, it took a while for her to take their message seriously.

“When The Most Beautiful Moment in Life series started, I saw something,” she says. “And that’s when I went back and watched their old vlogs. Up to and after debut, [these] skinny kids all crammed in a studio the size of a broom closet. Just … being honest about how much they poured into what they were doing, humble about being scared and unsure, etc.”

To Bennett, the band’s frank discussion of mental health and the expectations placed on Asian teens was revolutionary. In 2016, she wrote a profile of the band that argued that they were changing the nature of K-pop through their interpersonal approach to image-making. While watching them on their 2017 “Wings” tour, she said, “there was a moment that really stuck out.”

“There’s a song the three rappers do called Cypher 4 . The refrain is, ‘I love, I love, I love myself / I know, I know, I know myself.’

“I looked around me at hundreds of people in their 20s cheering every word, and I thought, ‘My god. They’re using their influence to teach young people — the ones most inclined to grapple with self-hatred — to start considering what self-love means.’”

The BTS ARMY is real, and it is mighty

BTS’s fans — who collectively gained the nickname ARMY for their well-organized and loyal following of the group — responded to that confessional strategy so well that by 2015, tickets for the band’s sold-out limited US tour were reportedly being scalped for more than $10,000 . Since then, the band has sold out all of its four subsequent world tours , including a record-breaking 2019 tour that included a landmark concert at the Rose Bowl, and a 2020 tour that ultimately had to be canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stephen told me that it took a while for the hosts of This Week in K-Pop to realize how big BTS had gotten. “We always thought the next big group to cross over would be a girl group, somebody like Twice ,” he told me. “I don’t think it really hit me how big they were until I moved to Korea in 2014 and talked to the children. Every single person in my school system, from teachers to high school students to middle school students to elementary — everybody knew who BTS was.”

• The big business of BTS, the K-pop band that’s changed music

BTS’s international fandom was also hard at work making sure the band had a chance to break through. Throughout 2017, fans systematically bombarded North American retailers like Walmart , Target , and Amazon with pleas to stock BTS’s new albums — and then promptly pushed the albums up the sales charts . The ARMY was so mighty that by the time BTS made their US television debut at the American Music Awards in 2017, the audience was treated to a time-honored K-pop spectacle: an auditorium ringing with fan chants .

The international BTS fandom has worked to mainstream K-pop as few other factors have. On Tumblr, the internet’s unofficial home for fandom communities, BTS and its members reign supreme, recalling the vast reach of One Direction in its heyday. In April 2018, Tumblr decided to stop breaking out K-pop as a separate category in its popular weekly Fandom Metrics, an official Tumblr product that measures the popularity of fandoms and related subtopics across the site. By merging K-pop with English-language groups, the account could more accurately reflect the relative popularity of K-pop bands to their Western counterparts.

The first week the categories merged, BTS debuted at No. 1 on the platform, ahead of Beyoncé and Harry Styles.

So who are these guys, anyway?

Bang’s initial idea for BTS was to build not a boy band, but rather a supporting crew around one talented teen: Kim Nam-joon, a.k.a. RM. He quickly opted to go the idol group route instead, and it took nearly three years of trying out different combinations of members and styles for the boy band to finally emerge.

Most K-pop groups have band members who occupy fixed, noticeable positions within the band: the leader, the public “face” of the group; the “visual,” whose main role is to be pretty; and so forth. Not every group has set roles, and most roles change over time. And because BTS is trying to be less staged than other groups, its roles are a lot blurrier than other groups. Still, there are a few constants.

The leader and lead rapper: RM

Born Kim Nam-joon, RM is a 26-year-old rapper and the first member recruited to BTS. It’s not exaggerating to say that the entire band was built around him.

RM first made his name as an underground rapper; still in his teens, he was frequently spotted spitting verses alongside his friend Zico, who would go on to become the leader of the K-pop group Block B. After a friend told Bang about the rapping teen, Bang recruited him into his studio, where fans gave him the pre-debut nickname “Rap Monster.” From there, the idea to form an entire idol group rapidly took shape, and the Monster shortened his stage name to RM.

The dancer/rapper: J-Hope

Jung Hoseok, a.k.a. J-Hope, sometimes called Hobi, is most frequently described by fans as a ray of sunshine, thanks to his sweet personality. The 27-year-old is one of the group’s main songwriters as well as a frequent choreographer, its lead dancer, and one of its three main rappers. (He sings well, too!) Since joining the group, he’s had a notable solo debut that landed him in the top 40 on the Billboard 200. And have I mentioned his chin could cut glass ?

The vocalist/dancer: Jimin

No single member of BTS is its “face,” but the spotlight often belongs to 25-year-old singer and dancer Park Jimin. Jimin is frequently positioned as the group’s lead vocalist. He’s also a part of the group’s dance line, for good reason , along with J-Hope, Jungkook, and Taehyung.

The mentor vocalist: Jin

The 28-year-old Kim Seokjin, a.k.a. Jin, is the group’s oldest member, and as such he frequently occupies a mentorship role within the group (complete with dad jokes). He’s one of the group’s main vocalists, and though he’s not officially the group’s “visual,” he seems to have a habit of accidentally going viral for being beautiful.

The prodigy: Jungkook

Depending on when and whom you ask, Jeon Jungkook is either the designated “face” of the group, the designated beauty, the designated main singer, the group’s centerpiece member, or all of the above. But there’s one role that never changes: At 23, he’s the youngest. The group often calls him the “golden maknae,” a.k.a. the golden child, because he’s a bit of a wunderkind in terms of talent. In fact, he was in high demand before he settled on joining Big Hit because he looked up to RM. But he’s unquestionably the baby of the group — and arguably its most popular member.

The rapper: Suga

Min Yoongi, stage name Suga, is one of the group’s three rappers — though it should be noted he, like fellow rappers J-Hope and RM, is also a decent singer. At 28, he’s also one of the oldest members, which makes him something of a group dad. His name comes from his preferred basketball position of shooting guard, but legend has it that Bang chose the name for him because it reflects his “sugary” personality — subtle, yet sweet and generous .

The vocalist/dancer: V

The 25-year-old Kim Taehyung chose the stage name “V” for victory — but it could just as easily stand for “versatile”: He’s one of the vocalists, he worked his way onto the dance line, and he’s even tried his hand at rapping. His playful, quirky personality (let’s call it “singular” ) and penchant for stealing the spotlight have made him one of the group’s most popular members. It also probably doesn’t hurt that he has chemistry with everything that moves.

Each of the members of BTS has been hands-on regarding their own careers from the start. As the group has gained more and more power in the entertainment industry, they’ve also each developed their creative and professional sides. By this point in their long careers, every band member has produced, written, or co-written multiple tracks on the group’s albums, and most of them have also worked on independent productions and songs outside of BTS.

For example, rapper Suga has also released two bestselling mixtapes under his alter ego rap handle, Agust D . And vocalist Taehyung co-produced and co-wrote the hit 2020 single “ Sweet Night, ” released as part of the soundtrack to the popular Korean drama Itaewon Class .

On top of all this, the band members all play a variety of musical instruments, in addition to routinely splitting the duties of dancing, singing, and rapping. They’re an immensely talented group of artists.

But perhaps their biggest asset is their shared ability to directly communicate their love and affection to fans. When the band appeared in the annual Time 100 in 2019, entertainer Halsey wrote their profile, making a point of highlighting BTS’s authenticity:

Outwardly, they are polished and professional, but hours of laughter, secret handshakes and gifts exchanged show those around them that underneath this showstopping, neatly groomed movement are just some guys who love music, one another and their fans.

Stephen told me there’s a real core appeal in what BTS is doing. “A lot of their ballads really do sound like they’re talking to you and confessing to you, more so than a lot of pop standards,” he said.

BTS has pulled off this confessional, one-on-one intimacy all while building an international fanbase, despite considerable language and cultural barriers. And in that respect, BTS has truly become an international revelation.

BTS has made major inroads for other K-pop bands and changed the way we think about international fandom

Understanding BTS’s rise to the top also means acknowledging that they’re not alone in their class: They’ve succeeded and grown alongside other bands that have also been innovating and reaching new levels of international success — like Blackpink, which in 2019 became the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella . Collectively, this K-pop generation is rapidly changing the conversation and pushing the limits of what K-pop is allowed to be.

But BTS has also done more than arguably any other band to expand K-pop’s international reach — as well as the way international media and the music industry are forced to contend with K-pop. After all, as the lyrics to “Butter” note , the band’s “got Army right behind us when we say so” — a major brag, but one that’s clearly accurate. And BTS fans aren’t just making themselves visible to the music industry. They were also at the forefront of the 2020 push to drown out racist hashtags on social media, and both fans and the band itself have condemned anti-Asian racism .

As BTS and their fandom gain more attention, they’re diversifying mainstream music in America at a moment when artists like The Weeknd have called out the recording industry for its gatekeeping . Between the band’s undeniable talent and diligent work ethic and the fandom’s immense influence over charts, sales, and media coverage, the BTS phenomenon is essentially unstoppable.

Moreover, whatever groundbreaking changes come next for K-pop will likely be a direct result of BTS’s influence. Already, American production companies are moving to bring even more aspects of K-pop to the US. For instance, MGM recently partnered with K-pop studio SM Entertainment to bring the K-pop reality competition format to Hollywood.

Even more intriguing: On the back of BTS’s tremendous success, its parent studio BigHit recently renamed to HYBE Entertainment and, in a billion-dollar deal , acquired heavy-hitting manager Scooter Braun ’s entire portfolio of clients. That means BTS’s studio now oversees artists like Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, and Ariana Grande. With that potential industry power, and that much fan support at its back, HYBE and BTS could well be poised to shape the music industry in ways hitherto unseen.

And whatever they do next? Will likely be Dynamite.

• Internet Culture

Most Popular

• What happened to Nate Silver
• What we know about the hundreds of pager explosions in Lebanon and Syria
• Sign up for Vox’s daily newsletter
• Is my dentist scamming me?
• Why Trump’s lies about Haitians are different

Today, Explained

Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day.

This is the title for the native ad

More in Culture

The rapper’s indictment on sex trafficking and other charges is the latest in a months-long saga of sexual assault and violence allegations.

Linkin Park fans welcomed new vocalist Emily Armstrong. Then the Scientology allegations surfaced.

A minor upset for Best Comedy Series couldn’t keep the rest of the night from feeling predictable.

Please pay your respects to the new queen of TV killer thrillers.

The right thinks that hot girls can “kill woke.” What?

The truth behind the ongoing controversy over the highly memeable dancer.

• Harvard Business School →
• Faculty & Research →
• HBS Case Collection
• Format: Print
• | Language: English
• | Pages: 43

Related Work

• August 2022
• Faculty Research

BTS & ARMY

• BTS & ARMY  By: Doug J. Chung and Kay R. Koo

Trending Topics

• NewJeans HYBE

BTS Writes A New Letter To ARMY About Stories, Love, And Hope

In times of fear and uncertainty, we need stories. Stories comfort and inspire, give hope and spread love, much like  BTS  does.

Your browser does not support video.

In a new letter to ARMY, the members talk about the importance of stories that give us the courage to overcome difficulties in the present and face the unknown future. For BTS, their stories are their songs.

“We all grow up with stories. Sometimes, they are fairy tales read to us as we are tucked into bed, coaxed into our blankets with the promise of magic…”

“…or victorious heroes overcoming difficulties with remarkable resilience and strength.”

“At other times, they are stories in the media: movies and sitcoms, news articles, or the latest release from our favorite artists. These stories are voices we hear day today as we grow up, instilling values within us, and shaping the way we see the world.”

“The world isn’t too perfect right now. Times are hard and fast-changing. We, too, have struggled in the hardships of this year and have had to abandon our plans. We were disheartened and upset.”

“There would be no tours. Opportunities to share our passion and efforts with the fans who so fervently support us were seized from us for an indefinite period of time.”

“We still think about our February album, MAP OF THE SOUL: 7, and how dearly we wish we could have performed ON on stage among blaring cheers, blazing lights, thunderous drums, and the shouts of tens of thousands singing along.”

“We put in our all, and our fans would have loved it. We share with the world these feelings of disappointment, loss, and void. We understand the difficulties, even if we cannot fathom their depth. Regardless, we stand with you.”

“As seven young men telling our own story of growth through our medium of choice — music — we dared not imagine from the start that so many from all over the world would relate to and share our message.”

“We have been deeply fortunate with the love we have and still do receive. It is love so great that it still sometimes feels surreal.”

“How could we have imagined we would be touring stadiums across the globe and hearing uncountable masses of all ages and nationalities echoing our songs back to us? It’s a feeling more brilliant than words can describe.”

“We grew to become so much more than we had hoped. And as more and more people sing and dance to our music, we grow not only more thankful but also more aware that there are so many people out there who are influenced and inspired by our words and messages.”

“We, BTS, are just seven young men growing and learning like everyone else in the world, but we wish to tell you: hope is everywhere — keep going.”

“Although we did not get to meet our fans in person, we were able to reach out to them through our online concert, BANG BANG CON: THE LIVE.”

“We were also able to find time to reflect and collaborate among ourselves, preparing for an upcoming album for which our members have put in more creative input than ever before.”

“We also released a new single that has been loved and enjoyed by our fans everywhere.”

“Dynamite is the joyful and energetic fruit of our struggles and a much-needed breakthrough that helped us to stop feeling disheartened.”

“The song is our message of hope, and we are lucky to share it with so many.”

“For BTS, our stories are our music. Our happiness lies in being able to sing and perform  and our joy comes from our incredible fans, ARMY, who give us the extraordinary experience of sharing our stories with millions.”

“As seven individuals, stories have made our world. Now, as a group of seven, we tell our stories to the world as a message of comfort and hope. And we hope this message reaches you as well.”

HYBE’s Latest BTS Announcement Earns Heated Reactions

ZEROBASEONE’s Seok Matthew Responds To Unexpected Viral “Shoutout” From BTS’s RM

BTS Jungkook’s “I AM STILL” Documentary Fuels Criticism Of HYBE

BTS’s Jungkook Has Fans “Crying” Because Of His Heartwarming Gesture

See more BTS

Share This Post

• BABYMONSTER
• FIFTY FIFTY
• Girls' Generation
• KISS OF LIFE
• LE SSERAFIM
• ZEROBASEONE

View Dark Theme

BTS ESSAY FOR SCHOOL

Tell me how you guys feel about it! I tried but let's just say language isn't my best subject :joy: :sweat_smile:

      **************************

                          BTS

Although, the Korean group, known as Bangtan Sonyeondan or BTS, receives hate, more than 3,185,000 fans, look up to these 7 idols for motivation, optimism and unity.

“One day I want to stand on top and proudly yell - I Made It” was a quote made by BTS member, Park Jimin. Originally, Bangtan Sonyeondan translates to “Bulletproof” Boy Scouts. They claim that hate comments are like bullets, and so together, they will always be bulletproof. In their newest album, titled Wings, the rap line’s song, Cypher Pt.4, is all about loving themselves and telling haters to love themselves as well. “I love, I love, I love myself. I know, I know, I know myself. All you haters, you should love yourself bruh” in the chorus, provides a strong meaning and provides ARMY’s (the fandom is called ARMY) with self-confidence, and a brief getaway. Now, what is obvious between a teen listening in North America, and one is Seoul, South Korea is the language and cultural barrier. However, these teens, once they fall in love with each member and their unique and special qualities, they tend to overlook that. Korean vocabulary comes easily to them, and it also helps them learn languages faster, resulting in a stronger personality and higher self-esteem.

“Your perfect, deserve it. Your worth it” & “Everyone’s going to love you yeah, everyone's going to love you babe” are all lines from their newest song 21 Century girls. They recognize the uniqueness in girls’ and address the insecurities that girls in today’s day have. BTS is also known for being the goofiest boy K-Pop group. Rookie King, a game where each member draws a card, and if received a card with a skull, receive a punishment such as drinking garlic juice. They are also found dancing to girl group songs, and each member is fun and goofy in there own way. Seokjin, and Namjoon's are known for not being able to dance, instead, they dance in the goofiest way possible. Jimin, Jeongguk and Hoseok are known for commonly dancing on girl group songs. Yoongi is known for sleeping the most and is known, because of his lazy and savage techniques, as the grandfather of BTS. Taehyung is known as an alien, and together, chaotic but beautiful, these 7 young men provide ARMY’s with the optimism and smile that we need to carry on with our days. On days that I found it hard to smile, I would watch their vlogs or broadcast and watching each of them, with their own enthusiasm would brighten up my day. BTS, truly is like a sanctuary in itself.

The last one is unity. A psychologist, made this study conclusion on international K-Pop fans. “Don't underestimate these girls that chase after KOREAN celebrities. Their hearts are purer than anyone else, they love courageously and will do anything to tackle barriers. They symbolize peace, do not discriminate based on race, and they create friendships that will last long times. They do not betray the ones the like easily, they are persistent and do not give up. They are all sensitive children, easily touched to tears by an incident and while loving these Korean boys, they've experienced setbacks that they've never experienced. They have a huge sense of gratitude, and their way of thinking is different than others. These children think greatly different from others, and are not easy to understand. Usually, only those of similar interests and thoughts are able to enter their universe, or sanctuary.” We aren't a fandom, but a family. We believe in strength of ourselves, and use the support to become even stronger. The boys taught us through their famous line “Fighting!” to never give up. The word means something different to each ARMY, yet it provides us with the warmth of all of our ARMY acquaintances across the world.

“Teamwork makes the dream work” was used by BTS in a recent tweet. True ARMY’s are a team. It is our inspiration, sanctuary for motivation and provides us with a great sense of unity. ARMY provides strength to our 7 bulletproof boys, and in turn, they return their strength through their songs back to us.

Comments (61)

WHERE ARE YOU FROM

all the best

taehyungieeee

Into ARMY's? Join the community.

Back To School Fact :joy: :sweat_smile: 🤗 :racehorse:

[NEWS] "MUSE" earn 2x Platinum certification on Circle Album Chart and More!

[NEWS] V's "Love Me Again" rises to Top 85 on Spotify Global chart with 1.5M streams (+84k) + More updates

[NEWS]RM Day | BTS to enter the Billboard: The Greatest Pop Star & other news

Cookie Policy

This website saves cookies to your browser in order to improve your online experience and show you personalized content. Read our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy to get more information and learn how to set up your preferences.

On BTS, Writing, and What Makes an Artist

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

In this essay, author Jade Song explores the impact of BTS on her artistic experiences and the writing of her first novel, Chlorine.

In 2021, BTS dancer and rapper J-Hope released a new version of his song “Blue Side” on the third anniversary of its original release, along with a letter explaining his decision to expand the song into something that felt more complete. He wrote that he wanted to find a realm in which he could transform into a mature artist, while simultaneously feeling nostalgia for the time when he was too passionate and heated to properly express his experiences. How he can’t go back to that innocence, but he can give himself a moment to provide comfort to his past self.

BTS — with members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook — have a way of turning their past anguishes into that sort of comfort J-Hope sought. Throughout their music, there’s a sense of, okay, we are going to feel all these emotions, but then we are going to make something beautiful out of them. It’s a sentiment I’ve taken literally as I wrote my first novel, Chlorine (forthcoming from William Morrow), following a talented competitive swimmer under immense pressure, dreaming of becoming a mermaid, free from any silly little human whims.

By the time I began writing the novel, I was already ARMY for a wide variety of reasons: BTS’s gender-defying fashion, openness around mental health , fluid choreo , endless deluge of personable content, genre-encompassing nine-year discography, and the joy of being part of a die-hard fandom. But above all, I loved BTS because of their artistry, which inspires my own.

It may seem strange to connect writing a novel with stanning a K-pop band. But to me, it is normal, natural—I do not know how I can create anything without finding meaning in other artforms. Listening to BTS and being ARMY is, to me, an enriching experience similar to how RM and I both feel looking at paintings : “It’s living with and examining a piece of the artist’s life. It allows the work to breathe. It lets you have a conversation with it.” And like RM, I like keeping things that are close to my heart near me.

Chlorine is partially inspired by my experiences as a competitive swimmer for 12 years. When I was a young swimmer, I was too naive to understand my coach’s abuses of power, too clueless to understand the self-inflicted body horrors of endless dieting and muscle-building for the sake of athletic performance. I was floating atop blue pools of innocence; then later, as an adult, drowning in black holes of whatever sentences my brain conjured as I drafted the story. It didn’t help my mental health that I was reading rather bleak novels to help shape my own novel’s similar frame : Han Kang’s The Vegetarian , Anelise Chen’s So Many Olympic Exertions , and Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise , three excellent books featuring similar themes.

Submerging myself in these types of stories while excavating details from my own life felt like I was barely staying afloat atop the yawning abyss . Yet the only way to pull myself out of the abyss was to keep vomiting words onto my keyboard. To keep typing, in the hopes that eventually, someday, I’d finish the book, and that somebody would care. That I could offer comfort to someone if they read the novel, so they would know they weren’t alone in experiencing this grief, angst, and loneliness.

To me, this offer of comfort is one of the greatest hopes of BTS and their music, what makes them so wonderful. Together we will build a hope world , composed of our blue side stories. 

When I embarked on revision, rereading the unsteady hope world I had created in my first draft, I was struck by the intense, bitter anger radiating through the story. The main character has a body carved with both muscles and rage, rage that contorts how she treats herself and others. 

The anger in this novel emanates from me. I exist as a queer Asian American femme, a child of immigrants, who listens to my friends, mostly women and queers and people of color, as we vent about student debt, healthcare costs, rent increases, and more. I live in America. I read the news. I pay attention. Therefore, I am angry about so many things. How can I not be? 

In his recent Vogue Korea interview , Suga said that his first mixtape, 2016’s Agust D , was all about anger, but now, he has realized that he doesn’t know who to be angry with anymore. He had been making a weapon out of anger and a sense of inferiority, but then realized he couldn’t channel creative energy through only those emotions any longer. I recognize this arc. It’s how I experience anger in my own life: I seethe and self-destruct, and then I settle down. I get back to work and try to make art — art that unfortunately lacks this wisdom. I’m still channeling my creative energy through rage. 

I don’t want to do this anymore. 

In part from writing Chlorine , and in part from listening to BTS’s growth from 2013’s 2 Cool 4 Skool to 2020’s life-affirming BE , I’ve realized my softness came before my pain. Life and art do not begin with rage, fire that sparks in reaction to something. And life and art cannot rely forever on such an intense reaction, because it is all-consuming. Anger needs darkness to magnify its flare, and it sucks the light we might see from other sources. 

So when I revised my novel, I added more love, more tenderness, more humor. Between the characters and in how the main character treats herself. Because in the end, we’re meant to let our art be the containers of our soft and tender hearts, and I do not want to write stories that forget this.

After writing Trust Exercise , author Susan Choi told Vulture that the book “owes its final form to an upswell of rage, both personal and private.” I love Trust Exercise . I love the strength flowing through Choi’s words, because anger can be empowering. But as Suga has said, this kind of anger is, in the end, unsustainable. What will live on instead is the beautiful piece of art that comes from this anger — Trust Exercise , Agust D , and (dare I call it beautiful?) my novel. A beauty that reflects the other beautiful things in the world, like love for a band and a fandom, love for your friends. Love for the art that helps you stay tender.

There were 12 drafts of my novel with countless ending rewrites before I felt my manuscript was decent enough to send to agents. I say decent, not good, because even now, after the novel has been sold, I still think about how it could’ve been made better. I could have changed my characters’ trajectories, strengthened the plot. 

In BTS’s Break The Silence docuseries , Jimin spoke about a song he’s been writing: “...I keep changing it. I changed the message over and over again… I stayed up a few nights… I can’t say it’s super good, but it’s the first song I’ve written myself.” Like Jimin, I kept changing my novel’s message over and over again, I stayed up many nights to rewrite, and I can’t say it is super good. But it’s the first book I’ve written, and I’m so proud of myself that when my agent emailed me with news of the book deal, I immediately hugged my friends, who were with me when the email appeared. I sobbed hard. I sobbed with awareness of how much my body was shaking uncontrollably because the friends embracing me were unmoving anchors.

The tears I shed from my book deal were tears of joy, yes, but also tears of overwhelmed fear, fear that arrives with each new writing development. I believe this is a common feeling for many artists — Suga has said he cried in the shower the night of the 2017 American Music Awards, their American debut, from how overwhelmed and scared he was to be so close to his wildest dreams. Was Suga dreaming that four years later, in 2021, BTS would be at the American Music Awards again? That the king of manifestation would go from debuting there to winning its highest honor with a Korean language acceptance speech ?

I wish I could have this hindsight already. Instead, all I have are dreams for this novel and future books, unwritten. As Suga raps, my dreams are too small to fit in one room . Perhaps I’m in my Bangtan 2013 era — what will happen if my dreams rise? Will I be brave? Will I be ready to jump, hoping that my leap will not be my fall?

Though my legs are poised to leap, I’m awake to the challenges — I may jump, but then I may fall. I harbor no delusions about skyrocketing to fame after one book. Most novels do not earn out their advance; the majority sell less than 5,000 copies . The publishing industry itself has no idea which books will sell well. My novel could be the only book I ever finish. It could be the only book a publisher will want to acquire. Creative industries of all mediums are cutthroat and require a steady drumbeat of creation to build what they call an artist career. A successful artist is not brilliant but productive. Fine. I am at peace with this output — I have always loved this kind of work. But with love comes grief, and I am always preemptively grieving the inevitable loss of love. 

This lamentation is reflected in my favorite BTS song “ Black Swan ,” which details the pain of growing distant from one’s artistic calling and includes a stunning film encapsulating the Martha Graham quote: “A dancer dies twice — once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” The choreography and song is partially inspired by the 2010 Aronofsky psychological horror film Black Swan , where a dancer under immense pressure loses her grip of reality — a film I rewatched many times, because I could relate from my time as a swimmer, and because it helped inspire my own athletic novel with an unreliable main character. 

Dancers, athletes, idols, artists: we push ourselves so hard we forget about the passion that brought us there. RM sings, "If this can no longer resonate / No longer make my heart vibrate / Then this may be how I die my first death." I hope BTS will never die that first death. I hope I don’t either. I don’t plan to. But the pressure, both self-made and external, builds and builds, and so does the blood, sweat, and tears we shed to relieve it—if we are lucky, as BTS sings in their hidden track “ Sea ,” the blood, sweat, and tears can collect into a prosperous ocean.

As Jungkook sings in “ Euphoria ,” I can hear that ocean from far away: I have a book deal in hand. I am moving on from that lonely time . But I was an artist before this deal, before a monetary value was placed onto my art, and I am still an artist. I will be after too, whether people care about my work, whether I’m ever published again. Artists make art because we can’t imagine not making it, because art is our first love . To be an artist is not a particularly pleasurable or satisfying existence, but it is an existence imbued with, to quote Martha Graham again, “a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest.” And like Suga sings about his piano , I have been making sense of this divine dissatisfaction since I was young, alone in my bedroom, when nobody knew anything I made, when I would make no money from it, when all the art I made was bad, but it was ultimately mine, making it more special than anything else. Even if this trickle reveals itself to be a mirage, even if my novel completely flops, I’ll still be making sense of my blessed unrest, because as J-Hope has said, “It is the only thing I can do.”

Despite the manifestations of potential failure, it is a solace that I know how to land , thanks to BTS. After all, how can I hate the art I make, how can I fear the self that makes it, when Jin, worldwide handsome and self-love-extraordinaire, is getting me to belt out, I’m the one I should love in this world? That nothing can stop me from loving myself ? When I can remember that at the end of winter’s cold, a spring day will come again?

My flight to Los Angeles for the Permission to Dance concerts in November 2021 was a red eye, yet I was wide awake, surrounded by an excited ARMY crowd of all ages, races, languages, sizes, and genders — we were going to see BTS! We entered the doors in our hearts and emerged into paradise ; we were strangers yet best of friends, complimenting each other’s purple hair, comparing our BT21 tags, exchanging LA restaurant recommendations. We shared a love for BTS, and had spent so many years watching seven men support each other deeply, like Jungkook’s Golden Closet Films highlighting his fellow band members or the way they show up for each other’s solo songs . The same thing is surely happening for thousands this week, as BTS takes over Las Vegas, renamed as Borahaegas , for a four-date concert residency. ARMY bond comes automatically, inspired by the exquisite brotherhood running through Bangtan, reminding us we will never walk alone , a reminder given to me again and again by the people and art I love.

At the press conference in Los Angeles, Jimin said that “...we want to bring healing and consolation to everyone else who is also going through these hard times and living through these challenges together… [These concerts] made me feel like we are back where we belong, and I hope everyone can end up where they belong.” 

We, ARMY, did end up where we belong. We belonged at the concerts, singing and dancing and crying with each other and our favorite artists, and I can’t wait for us to keep nestling ourselves in belonging — at BTS concerts, yes, but also in bookstores, art galleries, movie theaters, our homes, our loved ones’ arms, our soft and tender selves — because we belong with whatever and whoever keeps us thriving and reveling and ruminating in this universe . 

In her book The End of the Novel of Love , one of my favorite writers, Vivian Gornick argues about her own favorite writer, Grace Paley, that people love life more because of her writing. That Paley’s writing makes us “feel again the crazy wild sexy excitement of life.” I, and many other ARMY, no doubt feel this way about BTS. Is this not the purest, truest, sense of art? This revel of life? 

How can you love them so much, asks a friend. How is your brain wired to fangirl so hard, asks another. The answers to these questions possibly lay in the fact that to me, there’s no difference between listening to a BTS song and standing in front of a Devon Shimoyama painting. No difference between watching a Leslie Cheung film and observing an Etel Adnan leporello and hanging up my friend’s illustration in my living room. It’s all art to me. Art that reminds me why this life is worth living. 

As V said , the future is not just grim darkness. The future is suffused with possibility. A future great art invokes — and the kind of art I hope I can make.

Jade Song is an artist and author whose debut novel, CHLORINE , is forthcoming in 2023 from William Morrow.

Let us slide into your DMs. Sign up for the Teen Vogue daily email .

Want more from Teen Vogue ? Check this out: The BTS Years

• ₹ 10 Lakh,1" data-value="Loan ₹ 10 Lakh">Loan ₹ 10 Lakh

• Entertainment
• Latest News
• Games & Puzzles
• J&K Assembly Election 2024 Live
• Web Stories
• Mumbai News
• Bengaluru News
• Daily Digest

BTS gets mentioned in CBSE class 9 exam paper as ‘top K-pop phenomenon’, fans say: 'Paper-setter must be an ARMY'

K-pop sensation bts was mentioned in a cbse class 9 english exam paper recently. fans of the band shared the paper on social media widely..

Popular South Korean band BTS , which has an increasing fan base in India as well, made its way to an exam paper in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). A question about the group was asked in the English paper for the CBSE Class 9th students of the 2021-2022 session. Pictures of the paper were shared by students on Twitter, which revealed that the first question in the English paper - a comprehensive passage - had BTS and its popularity as its subject. Also Read| BTS: RM says 'I'm hungry' as he shares chair's pic, ARMY asks if he'll eat it for dinner; desi fans find India connect 

One student shared the question paper with the caption, "Today was my English exam and I got comprehension on BTS." The comprehensive passage in the paper read, "How did Korean pop music become a worldwide sensation," a part of the question asked. The paragraph went on to detail how BTS and other K-pop groups are "made up of good-looking, stylish teenagers or 20-somethings, released catchy tunes along with videos highlighting complex, cool, and sophisticated dance moves."

"But while many Korean bands have become popular worldwide, BTS is the top K-pop phenomenon. Over the last decade, BTS has sold millions of albums and racked up billions of YouTube views and Spotify streams. In addition, they've become one of South Korea's biggest exports- bringing the equivalent of billions of US dollars to the nation," another part of the passage read.

The passage also mentioned BTS's large fan base, collectively known as BTS ARMY , with ARMY an acronym for Adorable Representative M.C. For Youth. ARMY was soon to react to the tweet, and said that they would have wanted a question on BTS in their exams as well.

One fan tweeted, “Hamare yaha q aise teachers nai hai ((Why don't we have teachers like them?) Like seriously, I would have score 100% .mai to us question paper ko frame karke rakhugi (I would have framed that question paper).”

Another fan wrote, "You are so lucky.... I think the person who made this question paper he/she is an army too.. like us."

A fan also said that they would have liked it if the question appeared in their exam paper. The Twitter user said, "Congratulations.. you are soo lucky. Here I am crying in the corner sitting with CBSE English term 2 exam paper swearing at the people who prepared it. I wish I had the same question paper but unfortunately, my paper was from Hyderabad region."

BTS members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook are due to perform in person at the Seoul Olympic Stadium on March 10, 12, and 13. The online live stream is available on March 10 and 13, while the concert on March 12 will be broadcast in cinemas worldwide through a Live Viewing event.

Get Latest Exam Updates

OTP Verification

Your details are submitted successfully.

Product Terms and Conditions

• These Terms and Conditions (“T&C”), as amended from time to time are the complete and exclusive statements of understanding between HT Media Limited (“HTML”) & the Users and shall enroll for availing the Services on (hereinafter referred to as the “BOARD RESULTS” https://www.livehindustan.com/career/results/ or https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/board-exams and “EDUCATION SERVICES” “https://www.livehindustan.com/career” or “https://www.hindustantimes.com/education”) . All representation or other communications between HTML & the User amounts to acceptance of these terms & conditions.
• Board Result ( https://www.livehindustan.com/career/results/ ) or https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/board-exams is a website created by HTML for giving the students an easy access of their board results from various Boards being Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttarakhand. The results are inherited officially from the respective boards and being displayed on this website on an As Is basis and under no circumstances HTML be held responsible for any inaccuracy as regard these results.
• EDUCATION SERVICES” “https://www.livehindustan.com/career/” or https://www.hindustantimes.com/education is a website created by HTML for giving the students easy access to entrance exams and college related information. The information is gathered from various websites. Under no circumstances HTML be held responsible for any inaccuracy as regard to this information.
• Students of Class 10th and 12th can have quick and easy access to their results and other college and entrance exam related information using this website.
• Students can get access through their phone, tablet, laptop or any other online service provider. These results can be accessed only in the territory of India.
• Individual Registration: User shall create an account either for himself/herself or for the prospective student.
• Any attempt by the user to use the results in any inappropriate cause is a violation of Criminal and Civil Laws and should such an attempt be made, HTML reserves its right to seek damages from any such User to the fullest extent as permitted by law.
• HTML and/or its subsidiaries, affiliates, holding company or group companies, their offices, directors, employees and representatives shall not be liable to any person or entity for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential damages, including loss of profits, incurred by a User or any third party, whether in connection with the usage of board results https://www.livehindustan.com/career/results/ or https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/board-exams and education services (“https://www.livehindustan.com/career/” or “https://www.hindustantimes.com/education”), or for breach of any warranty in contract or in tort.
• User agrees to indemnify HTML, its agents, employees, representatives, associates, affiliates, parent and subsidiary companies against any and all claim, losses, costs, damages, liability and expenses arising out of the User’s breach of any of the T&C or arising out of or in connection with their use of BOARD RESULTS https://www.livehindustan.com/career/results/ or https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/board-exams and and EDUCATION SERVICES (“https://www.livehindustan.com/career/” or “https://www.hindustantimes.com/education”)
• HTML is not liable for the incorrect or inaccurate capture of any User's information. This includes, but is not limited to, technical malfunctions, human or technical error, seeding or printing errors, lost, delayed, or garbled data or transmissions, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, or failures of any telephone or computer line or network, computer equipment, software, or any combination thereof.
• These terms and conditions will be governed by Indian law. In the event of a dispute arising under these Terms and Conditions, the courts of Delhi will have exclusive jurisdiction.
• Any provision of the T&C that is illegal or unenforceable in a particular jurisdiction is ineffective in that jurisdiction to the extent such restriction or unenforceability exists. This has no bearing on the validity or enforceability of that provision in other jurisdictions, nor does it invalidate the T&C's other sections.
• HTML shall not be responsible for any loss or damage suffered by the User while enrolling for the access of the board results.
• Failure by HTML to enforce any of these Terms and Conditions in any instance(s) shall not give rise to any claim by any person.
• The students can access the board results at free of any cost.
• User Communication: The user expressly agrees to receive marketing communications from HTML or its representatives via email, phone, Whatsapp, or text message in order to receive notifications and information about our services including for other products of HTML and its subsidiaries, affiliates, holding company or group companies.
• Information Collected by HTML: When you visit our site, we collect minimal information about your computer's Internet connection, including your IP address. You are not identified by your IP address. We may also collect and store information provided by your computer or mobile device in connection with your use of our website/apps, such as your browser type, computer or mobile device model, browser language, IP address, mobile carrier, unique device identifier, location, and requested and referring URLs. Even if you haven't registered an account, we acquire information when you view content on or otherwise interact with our website/app/services. We use this information to serve our web pages to you when you request them, to adapt our site to our users' interests, and to track website traffic. Our advertisers/third-party firms may use this information to customize content, advertisements, and other services.
• Cookie policy, pixels and tracking: Cookies are little text files that are transferred to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website and include a small amount of information. When you return to the website or visit a partner website that recognises that cookie, your device will be able to connect with our website, and the website will be able to read the information stored in that cookie. We use cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our websites and to save you time by preventing you from having to re-enter your information or preferences each time you visit. We may provide you with information and show you stuff that is relevant to you thanks to cookies. We also use cookies to analyse how visitors interact with our websites so that we can improve their experience. In your browser options, you can accept or reject cookies. Most web browsers accept cookies by default; however, you can typically change this setting to refuse cookies if you want. More information about managing cookies can be found in your browser's help section: Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari.
• Third-Party: By agreeing to the terms and conditions, user hereby acknowledges and agrees that the information shared while accessing the Board Results will be shared to the third-party for reaching out with many other relatable contents and for a specific time period only. Third-party advertising materials will be displayed. Third parties may collect or receive certain information about you and/or your use of the Services (e.g., hashed data, click stream information, browser type, time and date, information about your interactions with advertisements and other content) when you use our Services, including through the use of cookies, beacons, mobile ad identifiers, and similar technologies, in order to provide content, advertising, or functionality, or to measure and analyse ad performance. This data may be coupled with data collected from other websites, online services, and other connected or associated devices. These third parties may use your information in accordance with their own privacy rules to better their own services. Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of any advertising material they send to us, including ensuring that it complies with all applicable laws. We take no responsibility for the content of advertising materials, including any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies included therein.
• HTML reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to amend or vary any of these Terms & Conditions at any time without prior notice or intimation.
• By availing the Service provided by HTML, User hereby acknowledges and agrees to abide by the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and other policies as may be amended from time to time.
• Terms of use
• Privacy policy
• Weather Today
• HT Newsletters
• Subscription
• Print Ad Rates
• Code of Ethics

• India vs Sri Lanka
• Live Cricket Score
• Cricket Teams
• Cricket Players
• ICC Rankings
• Cricket Schedule
• Shreyas Iyer
• Harshit Rana
• Kusal Mendis
• Ravi Bishnoi
• Rinku Singh
• Riyan Parag
• Washington Sundar
• Avishka Fernando
• Charith Asalanka
• Dasun Shanaka
• Khaleel Ahmed
• Pathum Nissanka
• Other Cities
• Income Tax Calculator
• Petrol Prices
• UGC NET Answer Key 2024 Live
• Diesel Prices
• Silver Rate
• Relationships
• Art and Culture
• Taylor Swift: A Primer
• Telugu Cinema
• Tamil Cinema
• Board Exams
• Exam Results
• Admission News
• Employment News
• Competitive Exams
• BBA Colleges
• Engineering Colleges
• Medical Colleges
• BCA Colleges
• Medical Exams
• Engineering Exams
• Love Horoscope
• Annual Horoscope
• Festival Calendar
• Compatibility Calculator
• Career Horoscope
• Manifestation
• The Economist Articles
• Lok Sabha States
• Lok Sabha Parties
• Lok Sabha Candidates
• Explainer Video
• On The Record
• Vikram Chandra Daily Wrap
• Entertainment Photos
• Lifestyle Photos
• News Photos
• Olympics 2024
• Olympics Medal Tally
• Other Sports
• EPL 2023-24
• ISL 2023-24
• Asian Games 2023
• Public Health
• Economic Policy
• International Affairs
• Climate Change
• Gender Equality
• future tech
• HT Friday Finance
• Explore Hindustan Times
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Subscription - Terms of Use