Let's talk about Twitter and the figures we meet along the way on because the discussion is long overdue.

A thread:

I would like to preface this by emphasising that I will express criticism for ARMY as well, but only where it's relevant. There are issues to talk about, even among us. Nonetheless, the thread will cover a wide range of topics.

1. Numbers are our biggest asset and our greatest weakness; 40~50 million strong, we're an impressive and intimidating bunch since most of us are adults, overwhelmingly female identifying & mostly feminists from all spectrum of life - housewives to academics.

That sounds great, so what's the problem? Well, among millions of people, it's hard to vet who puts the little 7 or BE in their username & this creates an environment, where 100 shitty people can influence how a person sees that entire fandom.

Let's address the ugly first: from near sociopathic teenagers acting out to actual Trump supporters, we do have - those - members and it's important to be clear where we, as a group, stand on sociopolitical issues & harassment to avoid being lumped together with them.

It's easy to stumble into the casual harassers, people who, instead of minding their business, go out of their way to insult other fandoms or groups. People who create conflicts deliberately "for fun" because the enjoy insulting others.

People who's age can be easily guessed because they call 20-something young women "hags" and believe that "don't you have bills to pay" is a drag. They also have a tendency to misuse words like "misogyny, racist, colonizer, homophobe"

I want to add here that simply expressing an opinion on your account is fine, disliking things is fine, but people cross a line when they, for example. RT chart accounts to slam groups who have nothing to do with us. It's not our business what other groups do.

The problem with the pot stirrers is that they tend to accumulate a large following after a rightful altercation, because many of you don't vet your following lists. 1000+ followed accounts make it seem like big clusters of ARMY agree with them.

Of the 1000 followers, a good 70~80% have massive following lists with hundreds of accounts which prevents them from seeing the toxicity that these harassers are spewing. The numbers also inspire other oblivious ARMY to follow them, and the cycle continues.

We have to do better in terms of whom we give this power to because hundreds of people cannot be what ARMY is judged based upon, yet here we are. We are "the most toxic fandom" because equally shitty people found a way to victimise themselves.

*Adding here that in no way am I claiming that the "shitty people" asked for their harassment. Harassment is bad, period. My point is that them being the same harassers will be masked by the harassment they receive, so they can spin the narrative against us.

So what's the point here? Vet your following lists & be more careful around accounts that are vocally insulting toward other groups, fandom and ARMY. You don't have to follow everybody, just follow people who are trustworthy & don't give these accounts power.

2. Albeit my second point will also relate to numbers, it's going to look at our size from an outside angle - who are the infiltrators?

While essentially we can summarize these people as "trolls" things are a little more complex. But they also use our numbers as a shield because people forget to vet their timeline.

"Stan Twitter" is full of jobless and bored individuals who think it's very entertaining to infiltrate rival fandoms, but we also have lots of stalkers-to-be. Usually they hide behind one of a few sockpuppet accounts that -seem- supportive of BTS until you read the replies.

A dead giveaway of a rival fandom sockpuppet is that the account, at first glance, RTs relevant content & perhaps even tweet once or twice about the guys, but opening their replies, they're arguing or supporting untrue narratives.

Example:

"Well, I just think they could do more for women :/"
"They should've donated to ... as well"

This is concern trolling that aims to plant the seeds of distrust toward BTS & BH. It masks itself as a personal opinion to appeal to your conscious.

Now, again, a person expressing their genuine feelings on their account is fine. The problem is with accounts that use every opportunity to respond to positive news & acts with concern trolling bc their aim is for you to doubt your trust & love for BTS.

Beyond solo stans, this is the most common form of sockpuppets you will see from rival fandoms. Solo stans are not ARMY either, they're members of different fandoms who seek after tarnishing the reputation of BTS, so they can stan the individual member outside BTS.

There's no such thing as a "good" solo stan, their sole goal is to create so much negative news around the group and company, that BTS disbands. They hate BTS, there isn't a single solo stan that cares for OT7 or Big Hit bc they're without fail from rival fandoms.

Think critically: BTS are adult men. Jin is 28, Jungkook is 23 years old - none of them need you. You're not their family, nor their company. You're a fan, an the fact BTS gives us insight doesn't allow us to invade the private space they give us no control over.

From line distribution to clothing, you were not given permission by BTS to meddle into their private, business & work matters. We've joined them on this journey, we're not guiding them. So next time a solo whines for sympathy, just block them.

Another group we have to be careful about are legitimate trolls from the sociopolitical sewers of the Internet. Gamer//gators, 4 //chan users, right wingers - they hate male groups & hate BTS, so for them, it's fun to cause fanwars.

They are already inside girl group fandoms and the fact the "blue haired fat girl" anti-feminist trope was at one point used against ARMY by a certain fandom - that likes to throw the word feminism around - is a dead giveaway of gamer//gators.

The hatred from the right wing and 4//chan types isn't new, Kpop has been on their radar for ages, but they especially hate BTS because ARMY consist mostly of feminists & people who believe in social justice.

Accounts that have a sequence of numbers in their username are sockpuppets, not just in terms of stan Twitter, in general. "Jay456486344" or "Casey73056786" aren't real people, they are bots, some more, some less sophisticated.

They're most notably used by political trolls to divide the general opinion, so you can see a lot of them under political articles. Their goal on stan Twitter is the same - they think it's fun when we fight & insult each other.

Now, the name+number bots can come from rival fandoms, certain countries are more tech savvy than others, but generally, that's the rarer case, but not unheard of.

Now, sockpuppets of any kind causing drama isn't the sole reason why ARMY have a bad reputation. Do note that Kpop used to be driven by certain fandoms & many perceive BTS' success as unfair bc they're used to their companies' groups being the top.

I'm not going to name names here, but let me put it this way: anybody who says that we're toxic is revising history. For one, we were one of the first fandoms to unite the Korean and international side bc that used to be quite unheard of.

The fandoms claiming feminism now used to call groups like Secret and Sistar fat whores & didn't like 2NE1 bc they weren't pretty, skinny and girly. The gg fandoms claiming to be lesbians are pretty homophobic in general, too.

It's become a fad to say that ARMY are the worst, a personality trait, if you will. Truthfully, we aren't worse, we're not even close to some of the bullshit other fandoms pull and have pulled, but envy is driving the narrative.

A lot of it comes down to people fetishizing Kpop to feel special, to put themselves outside the box. They think their faves deserve BTS' achievements because *they* stan them, bc *they* find them special.

I noticed BTS in 2013 & at that time, I was already with one leg out of Kpop for many reasons. Part of why I prefer not putting BTS into that category is bc my attraction to them was through things I missed from Kpop, so naturally, for me, they aren't what Kpop is for now.

If anything, BTS is the future of Kpop. I do think we need to cut down on the "Kpoppies" and "BTSPOP" mantras since they are cringe to sb 18 years into the music, but that kind of dick measurement contest is always part of fandom culture.

The best way to exemplify how bandwagon the hate toward is is to look at how exaggeration is selectively taken seriously. A different fandom can claim to be industry leaders or whatever, and it's taken as what it is. An ARMY posts the same & people riot.

If I say that BTS are the best artists from SK, hundreds of ppl will ration the tweet, belittling me as a queer female, because I dared to use a normal emotional exaggeration - something that's standard for all of stan Twitter.

Imagine somebody taking sg like "Namjoon invented langauge", or "Jungkook invented tattoos" seriously...

Adding this to the thread, basically how journalism victimises fans for the sake of engagement: https://twitter.com/borasaekfarmer/status/1337460857928867840?s=19