BTS & social media

The Billboard Music Awards was a bit of a talk this year, if you didn’t know. Why is that? Well, nothing much, just BTS winning the “Top Social Artist Award”. YES. You read that right. This is first time in history that a Kpop group won a Billboard award. What’s even more interesting is the fact that this award has been won by Justin Bieber for the past consecutive six years and they beat out other nominees, which includes top artists like Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Shawn Mendez. If that’s not enough, they won it by hundreds of millions of votes!

How did that happen? How could a K-pop group win an American award, moreover a Billboard award?

Well that ladies and gentleman, is the power of their fans, their fandom, A.R.M.Y! In a lot of interviews, BTS expressed their gratitude to their fans for this award is only possible because of their support, especially since it’s a Top Social Artist Award. In their heartfelt acceptance speech, they specifically thanked their fans, who I talked about specifically in my previous post. “… Most importantly, this award belongs to the every people all around the world that shine the love and light on us by the million and make BTS proud.”

What is the Top Social Artist Awards? It is one of the two fan-voted categories in the award show. BTS winning the award means that they are the most connected artist with their fans in the social media. This speaks true as their twitter has an amazing amount of followers, with them updating on their ARMYs frequently, giving a wonderful fan service that’s enviable. In an interview with Good Morning America, they explained that they had used twitter since before even debuting and posts photos and real life content, so the fans can always know what they are doing (like what they had for lunch!)

As you might have known, I was an ARMY. I still like them now, although not so much as to call myself an ARMY. The point is, I have to acknowledge their strong social media presence. I believe that this is the reason they actually got the award, as they really give their best in making a personal connection with their fans. Apart from just twitter, they are also active on Youtube, and an even more intimate social media called the V Live, which is a live streaming application/website where fans can directly talk to their idols.

BTS winning an American award is a clear statement that Kpop has a global power and appeal, as Billboard . This award, apart from just being an acknowledgement of Kpop’s impact in the world, more importantly serves as a gateway to the US, where its entertainment and music industry is dominated by Americans. In the end, this is only possible because of social media. The message I want to get across is that when used in a good way, some great things can be achieved through social media, such as this. I really hope the generation nowadays can use it wisely and for positive things only!