During my time as a K-pop reporter, I’ve been canceled, blacklisted & threatened a few times over pieces critical of certain acts but that didn’t make me jump to conclusions that this is why K-pop is not being “taken seriously” or K-pop fans are the “worst.”

I didn’t because it’s a lazy generalization. I follow journalists that cover various fields and whether it’s politics, the tech industry, gaming or pop music, people’s passion can turn into something ugly and lead to pile-ons & doxxing against reporters.

Unfortunately, it happens in many parts of social media and we can all do better. Sometimes people can call out false information or questionable takes. Other times, it’s just tone policing and an attack on free press, which is toxic.

But to suggest K-pop fandoms must get their act together, or else K-pop will not be taken seriously by the media sounds as Western-centric and weirdly submissive as thinking the SK economy can be “canceled” via Twitter outrage over idols’ problematic behavior.