A little blue bird sits on the edge of my web browser. I click on the iconic Twitter logo and am readily launched into the unknown land that this social media is to me. Along with the Twitter tab, and in a characteristic post-COVID manner, I have a Zoom meeting room open. My friend Karen soon joins in. I sit down and confront the reality that I am now entering ARMY territory.
The ARMY I am referring to is not the controversial and expensive U.S. asset we usually think of, but the fan base of Bangtan Sonyeondan, commonly known to many as BTS. BTS is a Korean Pop (K-pop) group that “debuted” or had their first appearance in 2013. They consist of seven members; RM, j-hope, V, Jungkook, Jimin, Jin, and Suga. Since their debut, they have secured many awards and have comfortably positioned themselves to be household names internationally. This is entirely made possible through their expansive fanbase and its very tight-knit community. Among those communities, there is BTS stan Twitter. The word stan originated as a combination of “stalker” and “fan,” however it has left the nefarious allusions drawn in by the word stalker and is now used to simply describe the more passionate fans in a fandom. Joining this community may seem simple, but there is a sense of unfamiliarity if you go in blind. It is like looking at a pool liking the thought of it and diving in without knowing how to swim. It is an intricate community that you learn more and more as you stay in it. For example, BTS stan Twitter follows along the Twitter trend where they use terms or slang that may be unintelligible to outsiders, however, as a new ARMY some words are essential to understand.
BTS STan Twitter 101:
Aesthetic: means the overlook, feel, and cohesion of a profile. This can also be applied to artists’, in this case, BTS, visual style.
Bias: Favorite member
Bias Wrecker: when another member of the band says or does something that makes ARMY’s question their bias
OOMFS: one of my followers
MOOTS: means mutuals or online friends. Stans usually interact with mutuals they see on their timeline and respond to their tweets or DM them.
K-Poppies: K-pop fans that do not stan BTS
Solo Stans: Stans that only stan or are a fan of one member of BTS and not all seven.
Antis: Twitter users that hate BTS
Yoongi: Suga’s real name
Hobi: Nickname for j-hope
Borahae: Korean for “I purple you”. Often used in lieu of I love you within the fandom, this is special as the color purple was identified by V as their color.
twitter user7:The small subscript 7 that accompanies Twitter names is a symbol to represent the seven members of BTS and a quick way to identify fellow ARMYS
OT7: One true 7. It is an expression that demonstrates that stans love all seven members
Karen is kind enough to guide me through this world. She is sitting, and the white light from her laptop highlights her face and burgundy sweatshirt, wasting no time jumping into talking about the fandom. She starts to explain the process of making a BTS stan account. The first and very obvious step is to make a Twitter account. “Go to Twitter” she indicates. However, there are some steps that require some extra thought like your name, layout, and bio. Karen mentions “Your bio literally defines whether someone follows you or not, along with the aesthetic and the small 7. That’s how people recognize you as a real ARMY.” She goes on to describe the aesthetic part of it- the icon and header- by mentioning how most fans build their profile based on their bias. “The aesthetic I have now has to do with one of the BTS members and it’s called HOBICORE. So it’s everything he likes put into one.” Her profile in particular emphasizes the aesthetic of j-hope. The header is a pale dusty blue with the phrase “ Hope right here!!” in rainbow letters arching over the middle. Her icon mimicked this and has a picture of j-hope with colorful letters spelling out HOBI in the bottom right corner. His face flushed a peach pink shade with edited-on blush. Animated small images around him echo the rainbow theme and encircle j-hope in the circular icon. Although creating these matching sets is hard, she brings up an easy solution. “Search on Pinterest and Tumblr.”
According to Karen, there are two extremes of this. “You’re either a soft or hard stan.” It depends on the aesthetic. She amplifies an image, it’s an example of “Gothcore”, V’s face is shown to be the main focus of attention highlighted by bright red text, outlines, and “caution” tape edited around him. Two other images like that follow. The mix of early 2000s harsh graphics with members’ recent photos clash with the softer aesthetic at the end of the spectrum; “Cottagecore.” That aesthetic entices the eye with bright reds, yellows, muted tans, and green emphasizing a connection with things like plants and berries.
Another important aspect of an ARMY Twitter, as Karen mentioned earlier, is the bio. Her bio, however, I noticed, is not related to BTS but rather is a Taylor Swift lyric. Karen dives then into a more niche subset of BTS Stan Twitter; Bangswifties. “ Since I like Taylor Swift and BTS. My layout is BTS and my bio is a Taylor Swift lyric.” She elaborates on the community building that goes on with this subset as she describes that she is in six lists filled with people that are part of both fandoms; these lists allow for her to interact with her moots.
She backtracks for a second. BTS has been in her life for a while now. So her experience in both of these fandoms runs quite long. “ I joined the ARMY during The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt.1 I was 14.” She contemplates a little. “I’m about to be 22.” Karen has been a fan of BTS for more than a fourth of her life. The thing that enamored her to spend such a long time supporting BTS was the album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt.1, one that continues to reign as her favorite. “It is a very beautiful and sad album.” She says as she tries to encapsulate the nine tracks. “They talk about being hurt by yourself with others around you, the government treating you bad, stuff like that.” This is special to many fans because BTS is a deviation from the standard in that they do not base their music on visual concepts as many other K-pop idols do. “I was the most confused in my life. Like who and what I wanted to be and that kept up into You Never Walk Alone and Wings.” Her tone seems more reflective and a little deeper than the rest of the interview. “ There is a tweet that says ‘you find BTS when you need them the most’ and I think that is very very true,” she closes.
These complex feelings however are not easily expressed or accepted freely in the outside world.
Gabrielle is a perfect example of this. She is a twenty-one-year-old fan from Brazil. Her journey into BTS stan Twitter roots back to 2016. She found the band, thought they were funny, and ultimately became a fan because of their personalities. Through her process of becoming a BTS stan in the Twitter community, she recalls times when she has been shy to admit she is a BTS fan to someone in her real life. “I was shy because of my ex-boyfriend, who called them gay and gross. I broke up with him and said ‘Fuck you, I love them. I am what I love, you are what you love. I want to be that. I want to be a good person.’ ” The lyricism of their songs also struck quite loudly in Gabrielle. She describes her past, “I was bullied a lot during my teenage years by one girl and she made me feel ugly and like trash. I never posted pictures of myself but now I do because of BTS and the ARMY. People made fun of me online, but not anymore. I find it ridiculous now thinking back. I feel absolutely beautiful. I was a laughing stock because of others, but now I am thriving online. I think it’s karma.”
Her Twitter depicts Gabrielle as her newfound self. Her icon shows a pink-hued picture of her in makeup. Pearl makeup. Her eyeliner is a gradient of varied size pearls. Below her eyes, two heart-shaped decals also made from small white beads. Entangled in her hand was a web of pearls. Her index finger was propped under her chin. Her red lips don’t smile. She is staring at the viewer defiantly.
She acknowledges there is a stigma to being a BTS stan and to those that hold that stigma she says “People that have a stigma against BTS or hesitation about them, they should for real listen to their music, read the lyrics. After you take off in their music, you will see why so many people love them. So many beautiful things will come to you, they will make you a much better person. Try to understand, make an effort.”
It is a truly symbiotic relationship. BTS grants BTS stan Twitter the tools for self-reflection, inspiration, confidence, and unity, while the ARMY grant them something simple; an audience who is supportive and striving to fulfill the band’s dreams. Ultimately, BTS and the ARMY help each other look at the world, not through rose-colored glasses, but lilac ones.