Apobangpo: My personal experience being in the BTS fandom.

From taking over the world with their music and charm to paving the road for the future generation of K-pop groups, it is no doubt that BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) deserve every success and achievement for their amazing artistry. But, behind the scenes, the 7 boys never fail to mention their most loyal fandom, ARMY, for making their dreams come true. Though the fandom might seem overprotective and at times, seen as merciless, they are certain people in the community who are just as nice as every other people. For this blog post, I will be telling my personal experience being in the BTS fandom.

Like many other K-pop acts, big or small, having a fandom, especially those who are loyal and supportive, is what enables a person or a group to be successful. The majority of the people are enthusiasts of something or someone (Gray et al,. 2007).

Before BTS, I was already an avid fan of K-pop, mainly Super Junior, Girls Generation, you name it. However, once I got into high school, my interest in K-pop kind of shifted towards American pop until, in 2017, my friend, who was already an ARMY, managed to persuade me to listen to one of their latest tracks titled ‘Serendipity’. Needless to say, I became an ARMY from that day onwards. K-pop groups are known to have lots of members, so it took me a while to get to know all 7 seven members because back then, they all looked pretty much similar to me, but I eventually got the hang of it. My existing fan account on X was initially a Harry Styles fan account (I was a die-hard 1D fan once), then it became a Marvel fan account, and finally, to this day, my account is maintained as a BTS fan account.

It wasn’t hard finding other mutuals who are into BTS all thanks to my friend. I have made several friends during my days of being in the BTS fandom. People from all over the world, but mainly SEA countries. We would often share our likes and dislikes, favourite pictures of every BTS members, links to watch BTS’ videos and among other stuff. I remember back then, BigHit (now: HYBE) used to release teasers at 12 AM and most of my close mutuals and I would stay up late, waiting. There were times when we least expected it but that’s where it makes the experience fun. You would see the timeline being bombarded with screenshots of the teasers, every army posting about them losing their minds over the visuals, snippets of the songs etc etc.

Despite my wonderful experience, there were also some instances where I question myself if I resonate myself with this community. BTS went from being an underdog in the K-pop industry to being one of the most famous Korean acts to sweep the charts, outsold multiple stadiums and garnering millions upon millions of views on their music videos. So, it was understandable that ARMY wanted the boys to win every award or at the very least, a nomination. I, of course, second on this but when it comes to voting for the award ceremony or music programs and mass streaming newly released music videos/songs, it quickly turn from just being a fun little hobby to a more of a chore. By that I mean, if you weren’t sharing hashtags or streaming, you’re automatically labelled as useless. There were countless of army telling each other to stream, vote and post with the hashtags without realising that we’re still people, with responsibility and a life outside the fandom sphere. These army would resort to guilt-tripping you to the max if you weren’t doing as what you were told. Not to mentioned, there were also some posts where they would list down ARMY accounts who aren’t streaming and/or voting. It was that serious.

Eventually as time moves forward, streaming and voting weren’t viewed as a very serious matter, considering how a lot of the ARMY has matured and most of them have got into universities, jobs and even some got married. So, being in the fandom became like a hobby again.

I really cherish my time being in the fandom, although I am now just a casual fan, who sometimes check on the boys from time to time, listen to their new songs and congratulate them on their achievements. I don’t regret any of it because I met wonderful people and made some connections outside of X. The boys will always have a special place in my heart, considering how their music really helped me a lot during my tough times. Those who are not a fan of BTS, I would really recommend listening to their songs, you don’t have to be in the fandom to do so but not going to lie, some people who said they were just there to listen to the music, in the end, ended up being an ARMY.

Reference

Fernandez, C. (2020). Here’s a look at the enormous stadiums BTS was able to sell out. Retrieved from https://www.koreaboo.com/lists/large-concert-stadiums-bts-able-sell/

Gray, J ., Sandvoss, C. & Harrington, C.L. (2007) “Introduction” in Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World, NYU Press, New York, pp. 1-16

Is Social Media a Great Tool for Activists?

Social media, as we all know, has been around for decades. From sharing posts to communicating with our friends and family, there is no doubt that social media has made our lives ten times better. Whether it is seeing celebrities posting their thoughts and opinions on social media platforms, famous and upcoming brands advertising their product or normal folks like you and I, joining in on the conversation and giving our two cents, social media is like the best invention to ever grace our presence. But one could wonder whether it is a great tool in being an instrument for the voiceless.  

We know that social media is a powerful tool, it can be used for both good and bad things. Good, meaning — posting harmless content, sharing funny pictures/videos/experiences and among others. As for bad — propaganda, cyberbullying, doxing and among other online acts that harms people on the internet. But for activism, social media plays a huge role in it. Not only does social media aids in amplifying voices for the movement but it also helps to educate and spread awareness to the public, both local and international. In fact, this is where the term ‘social media activism’ came about. That very term works to advance the aims of social or political groups via the use of online platforms (Khiry, 2020).

Moreover, digital technology allows activists to use hashtags to further their movement online. By using the tag, it helps with the algorithm and gives more exposure to online users. Aside from Facebook and Instagram, the hashtag is most used on the X app. For instance, Black Lives Matter is an activist movement committed to fighting against police brutality and racial violence in the black community in the USA. The BLM was founded as an online movement using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, created by three of the organization's founders — Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi. The hashtag became one of the popular trending topics on a few social media platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. As more and more innocent African Americans were killed by the police and had to endure years upon years of racial harassment, those three words became a catalyst for protestors to spread the movement.

Image 1. Black Lives Matter London Protest on June 6th, 2020.

Despite how social media seems to be an ideal instrument to use for spreading awareness for activists, what emerges from this is the performative activism. This selfless act is when users, fabricating as allies, post about the movement without the sheer intent to make a change. Instead, it is for their own personal gain and to garner attention towards themselves. Generally, these types of people are those who post about the movement, but their actions say otherwise. This hypocritical performance is typically done by big-named celebrities and brands to save face and avoid backlash and criticism for being neutral or tone-deaf by the public. But there are certain groups of people who chose to stay quiet despite being online and most probably seen what is going on around lately. This goes to show that social media isn’t necessarily a great tool for activists to amplify their cause. People can just scroll past any posts that’s related to any movement and go about their lives, having zero compassion to make a difference, in this already struggling society.

So, to answer the question, is social media a great tool for activists? For me, yes, it is. I believe, in the years to come, soon more social media platforms will be invented and of course, updated to further cater for its users.  For one, social media has already been proven to be big part of our daily lives. Imagine where social media was never invented — news around the world wouldn’t even get the coverage it needs. Think about the lesser-known movements that hasn’t even got the attention it deserves, if it weren’t for social media platforms like X and Instagram, we wouldn’t even know about the suffering on a nation especially on minorities, politicians being the devil themselves and so on. Albeit there’s the mainstream media, but that alone cant be trusted wholeheartedly, as we all know, news broadcasting station are known to add in a little bit spice and lies and of course the absurd headlines that mostly work on boomers and gullible people. For that reason, social media is a great tool for activists.

References

Brown, S. (2022). How Activists Use social media for Good — You can too. Retrieved from https://www.cnet.com/news/social-media/features/how-activists-use-social-media-for-good-and-you-can-too/

Eades, J. (2020). Black Lives Matter London Protest. [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://unsplash.com/photos/people-sitting-on-chair-holding-brown-paper-during-daytime-2eWFphvQPbY

Jacquot, S. (2022). Social Media Activism: Accessible or Performative? Retrieved from https://theobserver-qiaa.org/social-media-activism-accessible-or-performative

Khiry, Z. (2020). Why is social media activism important? Retrieved from https://www.onlineoptimism.com/blog/social-media-activism/

Siapera, E. (2012) ‘Socialities and social media’, in Introduction to New Media, pp. 191-208

Su Moe, P. (2020). The Rise of Social Movements through hashtags. Retrieved from https://www.changemag-diinsider.com/blog/the-rise-of-social-movements-through-hashtags

Woods, K. (2022). Social Media Activism: This is how you start a movement. Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-activism/

Political memes = Informative or Purely Entertainment?

From the infamous Malaysian meme ‘mak kau hijau’ (your mom is green) to Raja Bomoh and his notorious coconuts, Malaysians never disappoint when it comes to humour. Some might say it’s what makes Malaysian unite, especially on the subject of poking fun at their political leaders. It is a no-brainer that memes have actually made our lives ten times better in terms of entertainment. But what about the ugliness of it, especially when it is connected with politics? Are they harmful or just a benign source of entertainment for the people?

Before diving into politics, we got to understand what the term ‘meme’ (read: mim) means and how did it become a such a cultural phenomenon in today’s digital era. So, what is a meme? A meme can be defined as a recognizable image or video that is often paired with a funny phrase or caption. In fact, the first ever meme to grace us with its presence was ‘The Dancing Baby’ that came out in 1996. Suffice it to say, we have come a long way from boomer-era wit to today’s humor, a mix of out of context, sarcasm, and satire. Certain memes can be understood from the get-go while others, however, you have to be chronically online to get the drift of it.

In Malaysia, political memes, however, rose to fame with its wings of wit during the Malaysian 15th general election (GE15).  It was intended for sheer enjoyment at first, but shortly after, it was used to propagate political viewpoints. Even while memes made many laughed till their stomachs hurt, the election campaigns were marred by a slew of negative memes, most of which dealt with violence for racial and religious identities, with the goal of denouncing opponents and spreading nasty rumors. As such, people began to realise political memes are an effective way to ignite political participation, specifically, among the younger generation.

 Political memes can mostly be found on X (Twitter) where there are an abundant of memes scrutinizing the Malaysian politicians and of course, the government. It is satire, comical and some find them educating — easier to understand.

Still, despite how political memes helps with informing the public, it does not have an influence on the change in voting behaviour, political opinions, and ideologies of individuals (Kulkarni, 2017, p. 17). As mentioned before, political memes are used to attack opposing opponents, in a way, political memes resemble traditional political propaganda in many ways (Hinckley, 2023). We got to understand that these memes are created by people, like you and me. That fact alone can is quite dangerous if you think about it, where voters aren’t aware of the misinformation that the memes give thus leaving them with misguided voting decisions. Not only does political memes can’t be trusted but also, it can make people take politics less seriously or make them indifferent towards politics.

So, the question is, are political memes informative or purely entertainment? In my opinion, it’s a bit of both. While you can still enjoy it or resonate with it, it should not be the only source of information to be trusted nor should it be the reason behind your voting decisions. Like always, all politicians have their hidden agenda. As such, it is vital to know when the memes are satire and for propaganda.

References

Ahmad, R. (2017). Memes uncover the lighter side of Malaysia’s political crisis. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/memes-uncover-lighter-side-of-malaysias-political-crisis

Hinckley, C. (2023). Are political memes ruining democracy’s dreams? Retrieved from https://thespellbinder.net/8887/features/are-political-memes-ruining-democracys-dreams/

Kulkarni, A. (2017). Internet meme and Political Discourse: A study on the impact of internet meme as a tool in communicating political satire. Journal of content, community & communication, vol 6 Year 3, June-2017. Retrieved from https://www.amity.edu/gwalior/jccc/pdf/jcc-journal-december-2017-13-17.pdf

Lee, J. (2021). Confused Malaysians make sense of the country’s political crisis through memes. Retrieved from https://sea.mashable.com/culture/17175/confused-malaysians-make-sense-of-countrys-political-crisis-through-memes

Is Blogging Still Relevant in This Age of Tiktok and Instagram?

Blogging has been really popular for many years and a lot believe that it will continue to grow. Still, with the current rise of social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, it begs us to question whether blogging is still relevant in today’s generation. I for one generally prefer posting a relatable picture to convey my feelings with a one-word caption or none and instantly, my friends get it, but hey, that’s just me.

Nowadays, people are more in favour of posting their pictures, videos, or experiences through social media apps with a more visual and interactive format than your typical traditional blogging websites like WordPress and Blogspot. Time and time again, social media platform has been constantly changing their layout, services, and such to what the owner likes to call ‘accommodate’ the users. Just take a look at X (Twitter), soon after Elon Musk took over, the app just started going downhill, nonetheless, people are still using it despite the rebranding and paywall.

Posting on social networking applications is akin to blogging in certain aspects. The difference is that unless users subscribe to the app's services, they cannot write a lengthy description, and even if they do post a long caption, some people will not care to read it; instead, they will focus on the photographs, videos, or even skip it. This shows our reading habits are changing. It means that most people are unlikely to read a blog from beginning to end. This type of person prefers to scan through the site and seek the information they require, ignoring the rest of the content.

Although blogging has lost its appeal among the younger gen, there are still some people who believe that blogging gives them joy and such cases, money. Blogging has become a reliable source where people like you and I will seek advice or any niche information. But it can't be all dependable unless, of course, they have credible sources and not from Wikipedia. According to a recent survey, about 77% of online users are still reading blogs (Adavelli, 2022) which gives hope for the blogging community. For some, blogging provides both flexibility and freedom of speech. The content itself can be anything of the sort. Ranging from politics to recipes and even fandom discourse. Other than that, blogging to some, allows for a more intimate connection between the writer and the reader. Readers may interact directly with the author, forming a community based on shared interests. Therefore, blogging became a digital diary to some. Moreover, businesses are using blogging as an efficient method to market their organization or product. According to a recent poll, about 48% of companies benefit from blogging as a content marketing tool. In other words, these companies can deliver value to their consumers by maintaining a blog.

Despite a steady rise in the number of people reading blogs, with the growing popularity of social media sites such as Instagram and TikTok, people now have more swift and creative methods to share their thoughts, experiences, and creativity with their friends. The most popular method of climbing the popularity ladder these days is creating a viral video or picture, with or without clickbait headlines or thumbnails, in the hopes of reaching a specific target group, if not everyone. On TikTok, there are countless videos of people attempting to get famous. Some even predict that social networking applications will ultimately put an end to blogging. Considering that with the growing presence of influencer culture, regular blogging may appear less attractive.

So, to answer the question, is blogging relevant nowadays? My answer is yes, it is still alive even though it is not that trendy among certain groups of people. But then again, it depends on whether the blog itself is interesting or not. All that matters for a blog to be useful is for the author to offer up-to-date information that people can depend on. Bloggers would have to cross the desert to look for an eye-catching title and a compelling story that makes the reader clench their teeth and anxiously wait for the next post.

References:

Adavelli, M. (2023, July 26). 29+ Important Blogging Statistics Every Blogger Should Know in 2023. techjury. Retrieved from https://techjury.net/blog/blogging-statistics/

Schaffer, N. (2023, August 16) Is Blogging Dead? You’re Reading This, Right? Here’s Why Blogging is NOT Dead! Neal Scaffer. Retrieved from https://nealschaffer.com/is-blogging-dead/#:~:text=In%20a%20word%2C%20no.,use%20a%20variety%20of%20techniques.

Reeve, E. (2016, February 17). The Secret Lives of Tumblr Teens. The New Republic. Retrieved from https://newrepublic.com/article/129002/secret-lives-tumblr-teens

Wijayarathne, M. (2023, May 20). Is Blogging Still Relevant? 5 Reasons Why the Answer is Yes! TalkBitz. Retrieved from https://talkbitz.com/is-blogging-still-relevant/#:~:text=Blogging%20is%20still%20relevant%20today,being%20an%20important%20marketing%20tool.