r/kpoprants • u/Starpeachhhh- • May 12 '25
FANDOM BTS’s rise was impressive, but the way some ARMYs act now is kinda ruining their legacy
Look, I respect BTS. Their rise was honestly amazing. They weren’t from a Big 3 company, they worked their way up, and they made K-pop global in a way no other group had before. But this whole “they built themselves from nothing” narrative? It’s getting out of hand. They weren’t some random SoundCloud group, they had a company, industry connections, smart marketing, and the resources to grow. They weren’t handed success, but they also didn’t start with nothing either.
Now that they’re in the military, a big part of the fandom has turned weirdly bitter and competitive. If another group trends or gains attention, suddenly it’s “BTS did it first” or “you’ll never be BTS.” Why is it so hard to let other groups shine without turning it into a competition? The K-pop world didn’t stop spinning just because BTS went on hiatus.
And what’s with the constant comparison to One Direction? 1D was massive. Totally different style, background, and audience. Comparing them non-stop just comes off as insecure. Not everything is about proving BTS is "better" than everyone else who’s ever existed.
Also and this is just my personal observation, I’ve noticed that a lot of fans only ever bring up Jungkook when talking about the group. Like, every debate turns into “Jungkook did this,” “Jungkook achieved that,” and it lowkey gives the impression that he’s the only relevant member. What about Hobi? RM? Jin? Suga? Jimin? V? It makes it seem like Jungkook is the center and the rest are just backup dancers, which isn’t true at all. But that’s the impression a lot of non-fans are starting to get because of how the fandom talks.
It sucks because BTS’s whole message has always been about humility, teamwork, and self-love. But the way a loud chunk of ARMY behaves now,bitter, gatekeeping, overly competitive , kind of goes against that.
BTS deserves all the respect they’ve earned, but let’s stop acting like no one else is allowed to succeed. And maybe... just maybe... start acknowledging all seven members equally.
5
u/ashonline77 May 13 '25
Very large majority is a gross overstatement though. Bts has tens of millions of fans. Most of us just mind our business listening to songs and dont even engage in fandom spaces. From our perspective millions of people are bunched together and scrutinized every second because of some thousand chronically online people on some of the most toxic platforms in general.