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BTS stans built the trolling blueprint, and they’ve proven they can disrupt it. By Olivia Carville - October 28, 2020
One day in June, barely a week after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd and ignited nationwide protests, people started tweeting #WhiteLivesMatter so frequently that it became one of Twitter’s most popular hashtags worldwide. The white supremacist phrase is a call to arms. But the tweets weren’t what they seemed. Anyone who clicked the hashtag or typed it into Twitter’s search bar looking for fellow racists instead found video clips featuring Korean boy bands.
More than 22,000 tweets about Korean pop stars flooded hashtags like #WhiteLivesMatter that evening, according to researchers. Some typical accompanying text: “Stan twitter RISE.” This avalanche of tweets effectively commandeered (dominated) the hashtag and rendered it all but unusable to white supremacists. K-Pop devotees are familiar with this tactic, known as "keyword squatting," because they use it all the time.
Stan culture takes its name from the main character in an old Eminem song about a psychotically obsessed fan. Often, "stanning" means pumping up YouTube view counts on new music videos or voting for a band in numbers high enough to crash whichever website is soliciting votes for an award.
In the past few months, K-pop "stans" have regularly hijacked Trump-supporting MAGA (Make America Great Again) social media hashtags. They’ve led get-out-the-vote efforts against President Donald Trump. And many were among the online pranksters who boasted about helping derail a Trump rally in Tulsa where he’d said 1 million people planned to show up, and barely 6,000 did. K-pop fans, as well as TikTok users, mobilized to reserve tickets to the rally, skewing the Trump campaign’s projections and securing empty seats. The empty-ish stadium infuriated Trump and came to be seen as a turning point in the presidential campaign. While K-pop "stans" probably won’t swing the election, their trolling is enough of a cultural force that political consultants have taken notice.
The stan activism has been dominated by fans of the band BTS, the kings of K-pop. It was a big deal when, in June, BTS tweeted a statement of support for the Black Lives Matter movement to its 26 million followers and announced that it had donated $1 million to the cause. “We stand against racial discrimination,” the band said. “We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together. #BlackLivesMatter.”
Some fans, like Daezy Agbako, have followed the lead of their favorite bands. This spring, Agbakoba was the first to tweet the hashtag #MatchAMillion, imploring her fellow "stans" to add another $1 million to BTS’s Black Lives Matter donation. They did so in a little over 24 hours. “It shocked me, because I didn’t realize how much influence we actually had,” she says. Since then, she’s been applying to grad schools and working with other young American ARMY members to rally opposition to Trump and his alt-right followers. “The state of our country is getting to a really dark place,” she says. “I think it would be important to try and help against that in any way we can.”
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BTS stans built the trolling blueprint, and they’ve proven they can disrupt it. By Olivia Carville - October 28, 2020
One day in June, barely a week after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd and ignited nationwide protests, people started tweeting #WhiteLivesMatter so frequently that it became one of Twitter’s most popular hashtags worldwide. The white supremacist phrase is a call to arms. But the tweets weren’t what they seemed. Anyone who clicked the hashtag or typed it into Twitter’s search bar looking for fellow racists instead found video clips featuring Korean boy bands.
More than 22,000 tweets about Korean pop stars flooded hashtags like #WhiteLivesMatter that evening, according to researchers. Some typical accompanying text: “Stan twitter RISE.” This avalanche (rapid flow) of tweets effectively commandeered (dominated) the hashtag and rendered (delivered the message) it all but unusable to white supremacists. K-Pop devotees (fans) are familiar with this tactic, known as "keyword squatting," because they use it all the time.
Stan culture takes its name from the main character in an old Eminem song about a psychotically obsessed fan. Often, "stanning" means pumping up YouTube view counts on new music videos or voting for a band in numbers high enough to crash whichever website is soliciting votes for an award.
In the past few months, K-pop "stans" have regularly hijacked Trump-supporting MAGA (Make America Great Again) social media hashtags. They’ve led get-out-the-vote efforts against President Donald Trump. And many were among the online pranksters who boasted about helping derail (destroy; put an end to) a Trump rally in Tulsa where he’d said 1 million people planned to show up, and barely 6,000 did. K-pop fans, as well as TikTok users, mobilized to reserve tickets to the rally, skewing the Trump campaign’s projections and securing empty seats. The empty-ish stadium infuriated (angered) Trump and came to be seen as a turning point in the presidential campaign. While K-pop "stans" probably won’t swing the election, their trolling is enough of a cultural force that political consultants have taken notice.
The stan activism has been dominated by fans of the band BTS, the kings of K-pop. It was a big deal when, in June, BTS tweeted a statement of support for the Black Lives Matter movement to its 26 million followers and announced that it had donated $1 million to the cause. “We stand against racial discrimination,” the band said. “We condemn (express complete disapproval of) violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together. #BlackLivesMatter.”
Some fans, like Daezy Agbako, have followed the lead of their favorite bands. This spring, Agbakoba was the first to tweet the hashtag #MatchAMillion, imploring (begging) her fellow "stans" to add another $1 million to BTS’s Black Lives Matter donation. They did so in a little over 24 hours. “It shocked me, because I didn’t realize how much influence we actually had,” she says. Since then, she’s been applying to grad schools and working with other young American ARMY members to rally opposition to Trump and his alt-right followers. “The state of our country is getting to a really dark place,” she says. “I think it would be important to try and help against that in any way we can.”
versión en español
versión en español
supremacía Como el Ejército Global de K-Pop Superfans
BTS stans construyó el modelo de troleo y han demostrado que pueden interrumpirlo. Por Olivia Carville - 28 de octubre de 2020
Un día de junio, apenas una semana después de que un oficial de policía de Minneapolis asesinara a George Floyd y desencadenara protestas en todo el país, la gente comenzó a tuitear #WhiteLivesMatter con tanta frecuencia que se convirtió en uno de los hashtags más populares de Twitter en todo el mundo. La frase supremacista blanca es un llamado a las armas. Pero los tuits no eran lo que parecían. Cualquiera que hiciera clic en el hashtag o lo escribiera en la barra de búsqueda de Twitter en busca de otros racistas, en cambio, encontró videoclips con bandas de chicos coreanos.
Más de 22.000 tuits sobre estrellas pop coreanas inundaron hashtags como #WhiteLivesMatter esa noche, según los investigadores. Un texto típico que lo acompaña: "Stan twitter RISE". Esta avalancha (flujo rápido) de tuits efectivamente requisó (dominó) el hashtag y lo dejó (entregó el mensaje) casi inutilizable para los supremacistas blancos. Los devotos (fanáticos) del K-Pop están familiarizados con esta táctica, conocida como "ocupación de palabras clave", porque la usan todo el tiempo.
La cultura Stan toma su nombre del personaje principal de una vieja canción de Eminem sobre un fan psicóticamente obsesionado. A menudo, "apostar" significa aumentar el número de visitas de YouTube en nuevos videos musicales o votar por una banda en números lo suficientemente altos como para colapsar cualquier sitio web que solicite votos para un premio.
En los últimos meses, los "fans" del K-pop han secuestrado regularmente los hashtags de las redes sociales MAGA (Make America Great Again) que apoyan a Trump. Han liderado los esfuerzos de movilización contra el presidente Donald Trump. Y muchos estaban entre los bromistas en línea que se jactaban de ayudar a descarrilar (destruir; poner fin) a un mitin de Trump en Tulsa donde dijo que 1 millón de personas planeaban presentarse, y apenas 6,000 lo hicieron. Los fanáticos del K-pop, así como los usuarios de TikTok, se movilizaron para reservar boletos para el mitin, sesgando las proyecciones de la campaña de Trump y asegurando asientos vacíos. El estadio vacío enfureció (enojó) a Trump y llegó a ser visto como un punto de inflexión en la campaña presidencial. Si bien los "stans" del K-pop probablemente no influirán en las elecciones, su troleo es una fuerza cultural suficiente para que los consultores políticos se hayan dado cuenta.
El activismo stan ha estado dominado por fans de la banda BTS, los reyes del K-pop. Fue un gran problema cuando, en junio, BTS tuiteó una declaración de apoyo al movimiento Black Lives Matter a sus 26 millones de seguidores y anunció que había donado $1 millón a la causa. “Nos oponemos a la discriminación racial”, dijo la banda. “Condenamos (expresamos total desaprobación de) la violencia. Tú, yo y todos tenemos derecho a ser respetados. Estaremos juntos. #Las vidas de los negros son importantes."
Algunos fanáticos, como Daezy Agbako, han seguido el ejemplo de sus bandas favoritas. Esta primavera, Agbakoba fue la primera en tuitear el hashtag #MatchAMillion, implorando (suplicando) a sus compañeros "stans" que agreguen otro millón de dólares a la donación de Black Lives Matter de BTS. Lo hicieron en poco más de 24 horas. “Me sorprendió, porque no me di cuenta de cuánta influencia teníamos en realidad”, dice ella. Desde entonces, ha estado postulando a escuelas de posgrado y trabajando con otros jóvenes miembros del EJÉRCITO estadounidense para generar oposición a Trump y sus seguidores de extrema derecha. “El estado de nuestro país está llegando a un lugar realmente oscuro”, dice ella. “Creo que sería importante tratar de ayudar contra eso de cualquier manera que podamos”.
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