ARMY - the BTS fandom 💜

ARMY – the BTS fandom

By @kinzii_xo & @Mum23ks

ARMY, the powerful and ever growing fandom of BTS, has received notoriety as an entity all of its own. The link between ARMY and BTS is strong, and one thing that links us is the colour purple. If you aren’t ARMY then purple is probably just a colour to you, but to us it means so much more. Kim Taehyung, aka V, explained purple as;

“Purple is the last colour of the rainbow colours. It means I will trust and love you for a long time.”

From that moment on ‘I purple you’ became the new ‘I love you’ between BTS and ARMY.

Love Yourself World Tour

In recent years the fandom has grown and continues to grow, and nothing says ‘popular’ quite like a worldwide tour that has sold out in every destination. On the 25th August 2018 BTS kicked off their Love Yourself world tour in Seoul, Korea. Each time a date was released it sold out, some dates selling out in minutes. Arena’s in London, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin all completely sold out in hours along with all North American dates too. Due to The demand in the US, a fourth Los Angeles date was added along with the landmark concert in New York. BTS are the first Korean act to perform at a US stadium and the 43000 tickets sold out in under 10 minutes.  Demand was so high that thousands of ARMYs did not manage to get tickets to the shows and were left heartbroken.

For the ARMYs lucky enough to get tickets for the tour, they camped out days before the concerts and the merchandise sold out in hours.  There were stories of ARMY helping each other out in queues and constant messages on social media full of advice for ARMY attending the concerts. In the hours following each concert there were fancam videos online and one clip in particular of Yoongi performing Seesaw, currently has over 16.5 million views on Twitter.

At the concerts, Big Hit worked with ARMY to agree on banners for ARMY time. These banners were printed with special messages voted for by ARMY on Twitter, then printed and put on seats in the arenas. These proved to be amazing keepsakes for ARMY especially since BTS always posted a photo of them holding the banners after a show, which once again shows the bond between BTS and ARMY.

Voting

ARMYs are the driving force behind many of the awards and titles that BTS have won. The Billboard social 50 number 1 spot is something that ARMY do not want to give up any time soon. To date, BTS have spent 99 weeks at number 1 and ARMY spend every minute of the day ensuring they stay there.

Recently BTS won Best International Group and Social Media Star at the UK Radio One teen awards which was voted for by ARMY and was a magnificent achievement for UK ARMY in particular.

BTS have broken records and appear in the Guinness book of world records for Most Twitter engagements. On 23rd April 2018 BTS recorded 330,624 tweets which eclipsed the number held by Harry Styles in second place (147,653). In August this year, the MV for IDOL received 45 million views in its’ first 24 hours and 113 million views in its first week. ARMY were determined to get IDOL to the top spot after narrowly missing out with Fake Love and DNA.

Awards season is once again upon us and already ARMY are out in force on social media, hoping to ensure BTS sweep up. Having already won the 2018 MTV EMA Biggest Fans last week, and sweeping all four categories they were nominated in the People's Choice Awards yesterday (11th November 2018) which included Social Media Celebrity, Favourite Group, Music Video and Favourite Song; the MAMA’s are definitely titles that ARMY would love to add to BTS’ already phenomenal year.

Gifts to BTS

ARMY do not take lightly the incredible things BTS have done and do for their fans, and are always trying to find ways to repay them, though none seem enough. Many ARMY have reportedly bought BTS gifts, such as nice shirts, pyjamas, accessories like snapbacks and beanies, and BTS often show how much they love and appreciate their ARMY and the gifts they receive by wearing them and showing them off! They are always so humble and grateful and they appreciate their ARMY just as we appreciate them. Whatever it is, be it voting hard to win them awards, adopting a crab and a koala, or naming a star after them (yes that really happened and yes it is real), ARMY are always trying to find ways to show them just how important they are to so many people.  

ARMY  X BTS X UNICEF Love Myself, End Violence

In late 2017 BTS partnered with UNICEF to sponsor their campaign #ENDViolence, which aims to protect young people around the globe against violence. BTS have always been passionate about being a voice for younger generations. They have helped so many through their music, as well as donating to charities and helping communities. They have an amazing influence, so it made sense for BTS to create a campaign of their own to support and help raise money and awareness for #ENDViolence. They called their campaign ‘Love Myself’.

In the first year of their campaign, BTS and their ARMY have helped raise well over £1,000,000! The money raised for the campaign goes to support and help protect young victims of violence and sexual assault. They help give young people a voice, and hope for a better future. Nobody should have to live in fear. We can help to protect them and make places that are supposed to be safe, safe again.

To read more about the LOVE MYSELF campaign: https://www.love-myself.org/eng/home/

Unicefs Official #EndViolence site: https://www.unicef.or.kr/event/bts_endviolence/eng/

You can donate directly here: https://www.unicef.or.kr/donation/en/

Interviews with ARMY

The best way to find out what being ARMY is like is to ask ARMYs themselves, so we decided to reach out to some of them and ask some questions, which are as follows;

Your name and/or handle, your age, any other basic information you wish to include about yourself.

Q1. Name 3 thing you love about BTS.

Q2. What does being ARMY mean to you?

Q3. What 3 words do you associate with ARMY as a fandom?

Q4. Do you have a bias? If so, who?

Michayla/@mum23ks, age 39, UK

A1. Their connection with ARMY. How humble & genuine they are. Music & choreography.

A2. ARMY for me is acceptance into an extended family who hold each other up and share a love for BTS. Being ARMY is about an identity as a BTS fan no matter what age, gender or race you are.

A3.  Love, Purple, United.

A4. All 7 members of BTS are individually phenomenal and collectively they are amazing. I do have a bias though… Tae (V).

Sadie/@Kinzii_xo, age 20, UK

A1. I love their music of course, their passion, and their personalities.

A2. Being ARMY to me is like having another family, but one that you chose. It’s a place where I can share my love, adoration, admiration for BTS and their music.  It’s a family, and I would say being ARMY is part of my identity.

A3. Individuality, Adoring, Passionate.

A4. I love all seven members. They all have amazing personalities and I love them all. I do have a bias though, well two; Jungkook and RM.

Miranda/@MazzaPanzza69, age 18, UK

A1. I love their uniqueness, I love their style, but most importantly is, I love everything about them. What isn’t to love!

A2. The ARMY means everything to me. Its a way where BTS can interact with their fans and we are able to help them as much as we can.

A3. Amazing, talented and unique.

A4. My bias is V.

Iyla/@kissandmckup, age 15, UK

A1. The message that they spread via music and social media etc (Loving yourself). The talent. Their kindness and love for their ARMY!

A2. Being an ARMY to me means to be a supporter of bangtan for as long as I can. It means supporting them no matter what! Being an ARMY is great as everyone is kind to one another and we are like one big family.

A3. Friends. Kindness. Love.

A4. Min Yoongi!!

Eryn/@seokjins_food, 14, UK

A1. BTS are so hardworking and do everything to make their fan They are so TALENTED it’s unbelievable. Although they are worldwide famous they still stay humble and donate money to charity.

A2. Being an ARMY has brought many opportunities to my life and makes me the happiest. I have met many, many friends through being an ARMY and all ARMY’s are lovely, apart from solo stans.

A3. Passionate. Hardworking (edits, fan art, fanfic etc). Crazy.

A4. Yes, of course, it is Jin.

Karys/@Gigawhat12, age 13, UK

A1. I love their dedication and passion for music and song writing and also how extremely meaningful and beautiful their lyrics are. All their voices are incredible and beautiful too. They have helped so many ARMY who have had or are having a dark or tough time, which I really appreciate and love and find amazing. Their music and lyrics inspire so many people and make them, including me, really happy. I love that they always express how much they love ARMY and show much they appreciate us and how much we mean to them.

A2. To me, it means being a part of something, like having a huge friendship group or family. Before, it was just me and I wasn’t really part of anything, but now I’m an ARMY; someone who shares the same deep love for BTS with so many people across the world. I feel like I have a place to belong and I’m lucky to share this and many other experiences with these people. I have made a few friends and have become closer to people because of BTS, which means a lot and I’m thankful for that. I’m proud to be an ARMY.

A3. Kind. Powerful. Incredible.

A4. Yes, Jimin is my bias.

Louise/@loumeechan, age 37, UK

A1. Music. Choreography. The love for their fans.

A2. Being a part of like minded community, feeling included, making new friends, being able to talk about the band to people who understand and know who the band is.

A3. Inclusion. Dedicated/devoted. Supportive.

A4. Yes of course, the beautiful and talented Park Jimin.

Thank you for reading our blog! We hope you liked it! You can follow us and @BTSRadioUK on twitter.