thinking about the akgae phenomenon and its taste for the persecution complex as a very straightforward manifestation of tribalism. the stan community at large is guilty of this. is it "just kpop" if the inclination for thinking in extremes permeates other areas of one's life?

tribalism is obv on the rise everywhere esp on sns and is a large-scale problem, but what if young fans that wouldn't normally adopt these ways of thinking about the world in their other circles end up subconsciously modeling them from a space they thought was about their hobby?"

this is also why i don't feel like the cult comparison is exaggerated. we badly need to undo the stale idea of a cult as being one way or being far removed from us because cult mechanisms and manipulation strategies are popping up in ALL places. we should recognize it.