THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN KPOP: TWITTER (PART 1)

'iMagiNEd iF yoU STannEd kPOP!1 1' - Stan Twitter, Probably

Sandara Park amused catching up on Twitter memes. She also reads this blog. You should too.

Welcome back y'all for this week's discussion! That's right. Today we will be talking about that bird. The place where you say whatever is on your mind and vent out frustrations in hopes of striking a cord with other people and blowing up: Twitter. But unlike us, Tweets sent out by the accounts of our favourite artists' are curated and checked to prevent any mishaps. This topic is going to be split into two different parts as they pretty much are their own separate things, so make sure to look out for part 2 later on this week!

You got 280 characters to say whatever. Make it count. Twitter (of course) is a social media platform where information is spread through keywords, hashtags and retweets. So how exactly is Twitter used to promote artists and increase engagement levels? Let's take a look!

Similar to how groups utilise Instagram (have you seen the post?), Twitter is used to spread information about a group. However, unlike Instagram, the amount of tweets being sent out by a group is less restricted than Instagram. Instagram posts by accounts are far fewer than the amount of tweets. With Instagram being a more visual-based platform, it makes sense that posts are reserved for more visually-stimulating content. This includes comeback teasers, videos, achievement posts, selcas, etc. Not only do Twitter accounts of your favourite groups tweet about these things, but they also include extra information such as fan-cafe updates, V-LIVE (we talked about this!) livestream links, magazine shoots, retweets of interactions with other groups/celebrities, vlog links, and more. Check out BTS' Instagram and Twitter pages for example. The Instagram account is limited to photo teasers of upcoming music releases, but Twitter is used to share more content like awards shows, interactions with celebrities, etc.

Worldwide trends on Twitter the day of member Jungkook's birthday. 11th was #JungkookSSMBlog (not shown)

Also similar to Instagram, some groups may also run a 'member-run' account in which the tweets sent out include messages and photos from the members. These accounts have little to do with promotion, and act as fanservice to keep fans entertained and bring up engagement. Groups that do this include both BTS and X1!

We're nearly at the end! So how does tweeting help engage fans and bring awareness to your faves? Simple! #Hashtags, Retweets and Likes! Twitter measures engagement which eventually get topics to their trending page from which worldwide tweets are seen by all users. And what's the most important thing to a kpop stan on Twitter (except destroying others in stan Twitter wars, COMING SOON), getting their faves on the trending page. By simply tweeting, a group with a sizeable and dedicated fanbase can retweet and like up a post, tweet themselves using the same hashtag made by the official account, or just tweet in general about something using the same keywords to create a trending topic (see what BTS fans 'ARMY' did for a member's birthday *SHOCKING*).

So that's basically about it! K-pop groups use Twitter to get their names out there, and its up to fans to try and make more fans through the power of retweets and funky hashtags. Remember to tune in later on this week where things will get a little SPICY. We tackle the infamous world of Stan Twitter! Yes, both the good and the bad will be DEBUNKED at the end of this two part special.

​Isaac, 03/09/19

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