Last Updated on August 3, 2023 by BTS 101

BTS on Weverse

BigHit launched Weverse in June 2019 and each of the members have their own personal accounts there. It’s a social media platform that is meant for the members to interact more directly with an audience that is only ARMY – a safe space for them to share more personal thoughts and announcements.

You can sign up for a Weverse account on their website and also install their app. Once you have an account, you can join various fandoms – of course, join BTS! Inside the fandom area, you can view:

  • the Main feed – this is where any ARMY with an account can make a post, kind of like Facebook. The individual members will sometimes surprise ARMY by commenting on their posts!
  • Moments – these are visual posts kind of like an Instagram post that are accessible at the top of the main feed, you can only comment or like these for 24 hours after posting but they stay around for viewing after that.
  • the Artist feed – this is where you can see posts made by the members themselves, usually sharing selfies or just generally posting about what they are doing – they will often comment on each other’s posts.
  • Media area – this is where Weverse posts things like Run BTS episodes, photo galleries, MVs, and paid content like In The Soop, Bon Voyage, and online concerts.
  • Lives – as of summer 2022, Weverse is now able to host livestreams of the members, and these will be saved so you can re-watch them if you miss one.

You will most often find V and Jin leaving comments for people; j-hope and RM posting pictures of their daily adventures; and SUGA posting selfies. Jimin will occasionally swoop in for a festival of commenting on the rare occasion, while Jungkook is a unicorn that hasn’t really been seen on Weverse much at all. (Okay, that was until 2023 – suddenly he is all about the sudden and frequent Lives, brace yourself!)

You can become a paid member of Weverse which gets you some benefits like the ability to buy exclusive merch (like ARMY bombs), digital photo packs, and priority access to ticketing.

BTS Live on Weverse – Know Your Etiquette

If you catch one of the members going live on Weverse, please **interact in the comments section like a good ARMY.**

What does this mean?

DO NOT:

  • ask them to speak English or any other language – they are in their safe, comfortable space here. You can follow what they are saying with the help of devoted ARMY live translators on Twitter (find our list here) or watch the live later on when it is captioned.
  • ask them “Where’s XXX other member” or “Have you seen XXX member lately” – THIS member took the time to come and visit us, please keep the focus on them
  • ask them to do stunts like touch their nose / look behind them / say your name / wish you happy birthday –> they are not trained monkeys here for your y/n moment
  • pout, threaten, or accuse them of being “mean” for not answering your question / obeying your demands (this should go without saying but you would be shocked at how often this happens)
  • ask them very personal questions about who they are dating, where they live, or their families
  • ask them to be your boyfriend for 10 seconds – it’s just juvenile and they are grown men now. SUGA seems to have a pretty high tolerance for the “Marry me Yoongi” comments but even those are getting pretty old.

DO:

  • Keep it positive at all times
  • Tell them how much we appreciate them coming to see us
  • Tell them how much we love and support them at all times
  • Tell them how much you enjoyed / liked their latest music
  • Tell them it’s okay to speak in Korean, because we will learn it for them!
  • Wish them well with upcoming events or performances or travels, let them know we’ll be watching and are looking forward to it, and that we’ll be waiting for them to come home safely
  • Ask them questions about the making-of music process or their thoughts on their latest music

Most of the members other than RM can’t read non-Korean comments fast enough to actually understand and respond to them, so if you’d like to communicate with them in Korean, we do highly recommend using these phrase-list resources provided by Twitter translators. Online translators like Papago and Google Translate can often get the nuance wrong and take a different tone from what you intended.

BTS and Twitter

BTS embraced Twitter back in December 2012 and it was their primary social media presence up until 2021. They have one main account (@bts_twt) and all members used to post tweets there on a regular basis (but much less so since they got individual Instagram accounts in 2021). Most of ARMY hangs out there too and there is an avalanche of daily content, chit chat, sharing of old photos and links, discussion of upcoming events, and more. A Twitter account is also the easiest way to vote for fan-voted awards like the Billboard Music Social Award, so go get one!

Some accounts to follow to start you off include:

  • BTS members account: @bts_twt – this is where the members themselves will post selfies and notes to each other. All the members show up here from time to time but Jimin, SUGA, and RM are the most frequent posters; usually all of them post birthday wishes when one of them has a birthday.
  • BTS official: @bts_bighit – this is the BigHit account for BTS and where they will release official shots from photo shoots, links to Bangtan Bombs and TV appearances, and upcoming information.
  • HYBE Labels official account: @HYBEOFFICIALtwt – this is the HYBE parent company account where you’ll get news about the new headquarters (opened May 2021) and direction for the company; it’s amazing what ARMY can deduce about the future of BTS from HYBE’s annual shareholder reports.
  • Bangtan Style: @Bangtan_Style07 – is able to ID the clothes the members wear on every occasion almost instantly. It’s mind boggling how much j-hope’s wardrobe is worth.
  • BTS Trans: @BTS_Trans – Bangtan Subs Twitter account, they translate Weverse and Tweets by BTS into English.
  • Qdeoks – also known as niki, nikiki, and @rubberdoekies. A mysterious Twitter user who always seems to have insider information about BTS before it’s officially announced, who live-streams a lot of paid and Korea-only content so everyone can access it, and posts digital versions of their DVDs online. There’s an ongoing rumour that Qdeoks is actually SUGA; that seems unlikely, but she’s someone who probably works for BigHit. She usually gets to keep/use her Twitter account for a few months at a time before it gets yanked for copyright infringement – then she’ll pop up again with a new account shortly afterwards. She also has a website with tons of illegal content – https://deokdeokgoose.com/ – but it also gets taken down on the regular due to copyright issues. In any case, it’s worth it to try to see if she’s up and running and find her on Twitter to get all the scoop! 
  • Twitter translators – translators on Twitter come and go so it’s hard to make a permanent list, but see below for some suggestions. There are always a handful of dedicated ARMY on Twitter who try to live-translate vLive appearances and other TV appearances as they are happening, and who translate their Weverse posts (as the Weverse auto-translator is notoriously and hilariously terrible). Always be gracious to these valiant volunteers – like their tweets, let them know you love them by thanking and commenting, and donate if you can. Some to try (as of summer 2021) include:
  • DoolSetBangtan (https://twitter.com/doolsetbangtan) doesn’t do much live translation, but is well-known for her excellent translations of their lyrics on her blog, with discussion of Korean cultural references and nuances of language – a must read.
  • BTS Chart Data (@btschartdata) has millions of followers with good reason – they keep track of BTS stats worldwide and they also organize online listening parties that are very popular. They’re on hiatus but greatly missed so do follow in case they return.
  • BTS Index (@index_bts) gathers all of BTS’ appearances on their comprehensive website and posts regularly on Twitter when something new comes out, from interviews to videos to variety show appearances.
  • BTS Daily Info (@BTSDailyInfo, also on Instagram) is another good account to follow to just keep up with the daily flood of new content and not miss anything.
  • Specialty accounts – there are Twitter accounts devoted to many special interest ARMY groups, such as those interested in cooking, knitting, languages, statistics, science, etc. You can find a great list of suggestions here.
  • There are a lot of really creative and funny fan accounts on Twitter too – you’ll quickly find your own audience. But we personally recommend these fan accounts that speak directly to our hearts:
    • Seokjin Fridge (@refrijinator) – Hilarious postings comparing Jin to a variety of fridges.
    • TinyTAN Official (@TinyTANOfficial) – These are the makers of the adorable TinyTAN videos and they post frequent content here, images and shorter video clips.
    • BTS lyrics (@versesofbts) – get a daily song lyric quote
    • Dream Glow Magazine (@dreamglowmag) – Feeling creative? Dream Glow is a beautiful magazine published in the US by a dedicated team of volunteers, featuring poems, stories, and artwork created by ARMY and inspired by BTS (but not necessarily strictly BTS themed). They also created this awesome and funny Buzzfeed quiz.
    • Little Poems (@littlepoems) – posts charming combinations of a beautiful BTS photo and a matching short love poem – very swoony and romantic!
    • nia (@hopeggukkie) is one of a small group of ARMY who have been composing a song in honour of BTS, and compiling a fan-made video to share with the band, since Festa 2020. Follow her for news about future ARMY-made creative musical projects.
    • BTS MVP (@BTSMVP14) – Two Canadian fans who have a BTS themed YouTube channel – they sometimes have giveaways too (full disclosure – this is our Twitter account!).
    • Kate Halliwell (@katehalliwell) and Jenna Guillaume (@jennaguillaume) are two journalists who write funny and charming articles about a variety of kPop bands, including BTS from time to time. You should read Kate’s breakdown of BTS’ hair eras on The Ringer immediately, and then follow that up with her charming and delightful analysis of every pre-MOTS BTS era.
    • Robyn (@bangtanwineclub) – Canadian funny lady who also hosts online BTS listening parties sometimes. She also has a BTS related podcast with her sister Tara.
    • East2West (@E2Wofficial) – Twitter account for East2West, which is a dance crew located in Montreal, Canada. They do amazing dance covers of kPop songs including some amazing BTS versions (and some funny ones too – check out their “high heels” versions of some BTS choreo!). Set aside at least a whole afternoon to dig into their YouTube channel, too.
  • Lastly, if you want to follow me, the writer and runner of BTS101.info, you’ll find me @strongpower7th1.

BTS Twitter Icons

When Twitter users are translating for BTS or quoting them, they often use icons to represent each member rather than typing out their whole name. There are a few different sets of emoticons for the members you might see, because there is no “official” set. Here are two different ones.

This set was used by BigHit themselves when captioning a vLive BTS did to celebrate hitting 10M followers on Twitter (which is what gave ARMY the idea):

This is the more commonly used set by Twitter translators these days:

BTS on Instagram

In December 2021, all seven individual members started their own Instagram accounts, and immediately caused a huge flurry of activity on that platform. Their efforts to learn the nuances of Instagram were charming and hilarious and totally relatable.

As of June 2022, the members are taking some time to focus on solo work and their Instagram accounts are meant to be a platform for them to promote their own solo activities. So far RM and j-hope seem very keen and post often; V and Jungkook are loving and hating it (and often delete things they have posted); and Jimin, Suga, and Jin seem relatively uninterested but do post the occasional selfie. In any case, it’s worth it to follow them all and see their individual posts from their time spent apart and to get news on their upcoming solo albums.

Find Bangtan on Instagram here:

  • rkive – RM
  • jin – Jin
  • agustd – Suga
  • uarmyhope – j-hope
  • j.m – Jimin
  • thv – V
  • jungkook.97 – Jungkook deleted his entire account and the app in February 2023; he said it was because he didn’t really use it (and it had been a while since he updated). Who knows if he will be back! Fun fact: his userid was originally abcdefghi__lmnopqrstuvwxyz – very clever, JK!

You’ll probably also want to follow Wootteo, the adorable little astronaut that created his own account to promote the release of Jin’s solo song The Astronaut in October 2022. Jin apparently controls the content of this account himself and some of the other members have posted on it.

Other Social Media Platforms

Other than Twitter, you can also find official BTS accounts on Facebook (also BigHit), Instagram, and TikTok, although they are pretty sporadically updated and usually just re-post the official content from Twitter. BTS used to be more active on TikTok and you can still find them posting cute dance videos there on occasion, especially j-hope and Jimin.

In summer 2023, Jung Kook discovered Stationhead while promoting Seven – an online live radio broadcasting platform – and you can sometimes find him dropping in unexpectedly over there on the @btsofficial account.

In August 2023, Jung Kook shared a link to an Enhypen TikTok on Weverse and accidentally revealed that he had an underground TikTok account with the username “Ian.” (It was one of his potential stage names suggested pre-debut, along with “Justin Seagull.”) While ARMY mercilessly made fun of him, he decided to lean in and kept the account, renamed it “LetJungCook7” and making it public, allowing us to see videos he liked (mostly hilarious ARMY edits). You can follow him (while he still has the account) here.

ARMY on Social Media

As for ARMY, you’ll find them all over and one thing you’ll soon discover is that ARMY is endlessly creative. Especially on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, you will find many ARMY accounts that post daily memes that are truly hilarious, post old images that are iconic and heartwarming, and post fan-made art and animations that are gorgeous and inspiring. The best thing to do is to create an account on the platform you’re most interested in, and get interacting! There is literally no end to the deep well of fresh BTS fan-made content that will bring you daily joy.

Be sure to search for ARMY groups in your area, too. Even if you just want to lurk, most major cities across North America have their own BTS fan group that plans activities and does giveaways. There’s also a BTS Canada and BTS US group that have websites and social media accounts full of localized information about appearances, tickets, and local times for aired events that are worth finding and following.

Social Media Etiquette for ARMY

We all love BTS, but do try to show that love in positive ways.

The number one rule of being an online ARMY is to allow BTS to have their privacy at all times. This means:

  • do not stalk them, follow them, or try to take their picture if you happen to see them visiting your town or travelling for unofficial personal trips
  • do not approach them for autographs or photos if you see them in any unofficial capacity, including at airports or on airplanes
  • do not attempt to break into restricted areas, such as backstage at concerts or award shows, or closed sets for MV or Music Show recordings
  • never share information about their hotels, cars, or other identifying location information on your socials – if they go live after a concert and you recognise the hotel, keep that intel to yourself!
  • If you happen to see them at a non-official event – such as visiting a museum or restaurant in your city – do not mention it online until WELL AFTER BTS has left the area or city. The last thing you want to do is send up a flare calling all ARMY in the area to mob them. And of course, do not take any pics or videos or share visuals online.
  • If you see information of this type in your social media stream – notices that they are somewhere on private holiday, or pics of them with friends or family – NEVER share, promote, or like that content.

Should you do anything more proactive to protect the members? Often times people who post this kind of content are attacked online and reported to the platform in question. If you’re a brand new ARMY, it is best to leave this kind of activity to established long-time fans who know how to have the content removed with a minimum of fuss. Remember, drawing attention to this kind of privacy violation, even if you’re trying to do the right thing, only amplifies it and makes it more visible online. Just refuse to interact and move on.

Want to hear more about how to act if you see BTS in person, but not on an official schedule? Check out the BigHit Fan Club Etiquette Policy.

Some other social media do’s and don’ts:

  • If you pay to become a Weverse member, part of that membership includes access to exclusive online digital Fan Club photos and other content. Paid Fan Club content of this nature should not be shared on your general social media accounts. It’s nice to want to share with poor ARMY who can’t afford a membership! But BigHit strongly discourages it and has even pulled Fan Club content in the past because they felt it was being too widely shared with non-Fan Club members.
  • Don’t engage in fan wars. Every music group has its fans and sometimes other groups say negative things about BTS or ARMY. RM would greatly appreciate it if you just looked the other way and let that slide. BTS were once underdogs, but they now have the biggest, most loyal fandom worldwide, so it’s on us now to be gracious and not react to put downs from smaller fandoms.
  • Try to stay away from definitions of what “is” and “isn’t” ARMY. Accounts that declare that “you’re not ARMY if…” introduce a lot of negativity and division to the fandom. While we all want to support the members with streaming and attending concerts and donating to their selected charities, everyone is doing what they can and enjoying BTS in their own way.

Negativity Online

In general the online community is really positive. But you may come across “solo stans” or “akgaes” – people who believe one particular member is being downplayed too much, and as such should go solo – and these fans tend to be a little aggressive and angry, so for positivity’s sake in your timeline, it’s best to stay away. There are also “sasaengs” – these are obsessive fans who go too far to try to have contact with BTS, from approaching them during their private time, breaking into backstage areas, and ignoring barriers and protocols to get into their personal space at the airport. You might see other negative terms being thrown around too, like “manti” (fans who think they know better than BTS’ managers and organize campaigns to demand changes to how their careers are being managed, more on mantis here), “delulu” (someone who is obsessed with unproven rumours or fantasies, often romantic in nature) or “koreaboo” (someone who is not Korean or of Korean heritage, but who is obsessed with the culture to the point of claiming to be a part of it and speaking as an authority). Usually the larger ARMY community will identify and decry these types of fans right away; luckily they are a very small percentage of fans and you can find lots of fun, friendly, quality fans online to interact with instead.

Although we HIGHLY recommend not engaging with negativity online, and just moving on to your more positive moots, if you ever do come across an accusation against BTS that gives you pause, this Anti-Manti site is an excellent resource that includes quotes from many different interviews to counter common accusations made against the band.

How about “fansites”? A fansite or fancafe is a website or social media account run by a fan who is both an experienced amateur photographer and focused on one particular member. You’ll see fansites getting a lot of discussion on social media these days and feelings about them run strong and are highly divided. These types of fans have been common in Korea since the birth of Kpop, and in the early days of BTS, the high-quality images and fancams they produced of the members allowed international audiences to really get to know them well and become fans. Fansites often organize events for the various members, coordinate the giving of gifts to the band from fans, and travel around at their own expense to attend as many concerts and appearances as possible.

Historically, fansites have not been sasaengs – that is, they stick only to public appearances and schedules and don’t harass the members on their private time; they just try to get really great, high-definition footage of their particular member during concerts, interviews, and other public appearances. They’re also not usually solo stans; although their focus at events is to get quality shots of one member, they are not in the business of promoting a solo career for that member, and often work hand-in-hand with other fansites to make sure all members receive coverage. And they’re not paparazzi either; they usually do it for the love of the band and are happy to share their photos and images online completely for free, or for a small fee that is used to promote the band. In Korea and Japan, fansites are tolerated and even encouraged by labels for young bands in particular, as they help promote their music and their brand at no cost to the record company; in the early days of BTS, fansites were critically important in promoting the band through events and billboards, and even paid for some of the outfits they wore in MVs and at award shows.

However, western audiences in particular have really turned on fansites in recent times.

  • For one, now that pretty much everyone has a fairly good camera in their pocket, fansite images aren’t as important to the fandom anymore.
  • For two, many newer fans of BTS don’t make a distinction between fansites and sasaengs/solo stans, and many westerners view fansites as invading the members’ privacy. There is especially hot debate around arrivals and departures from the airport. Although BigHit posts their travel dates, good ARMY do not consider these to be “public” appearances; Tae in particular has said he prefers for ARMY who see him at the airport or on a plane to pretend like they don’t recognize him. However, the airport in particular still draws a lot of photographers even when COVID restrictions should prevent this, and fansites usually get all the blame when it’s unclear how many actually are fansites, and which are just over-eager fans, sasaengs, or professional paparazzi. (In any case, be a good ARMY by staying away from the airport yourself and never, EVER sharing their hotel information if you happen to come across it.)
  • Third, BTS no longer accepts gifts from the fandom of any kind, so fansites have turned their attention away from gift giving and more towards splashy, expensive birthday events, and many ARMY feel this money could be better spent on charity work endorsed by BTS.
  • Lastly, large, professional-grade cameras are not usually allowed at concerts in western countries, and many western fans feel that they are helping protect the members and follow BigHit’s rules by reporting fansites who have smuggled in equipment. Although fansites and their camera equipment tend to get a “look the other way” treatment at concerts in Korea, fansite cameras can definitely block the view of other fans, and the members themselves have said they prefer to see faces, not a sea of cameras and phones, when performing (good advice for ALL ARMY, especially those in the front rows).

As a result, many fansites that helped share BTS content in the early days and helped grow the fandom worldwide are now seeing a lot of hate online and are closing down; with cell phones being so common now, and BTS having such a huge fanbase worldwide already, perhaps they are just an idea whose time has passed for this band. Here’s a pro-argument about fansites on Reddit and here is a good anti-fansites thread on Twitter.

Please read up on them and make up your own mind, but remember, no matter which side of this argument you land on, BTS has a literal army of lawyers at their disposal and probably don’t need you to be turning your own social media into a personal crusade on their behalf. Choose the content you want to view and interact with and please let others make up their own minds.

Sometimes on social media, accounts want to talk about something negative – like negative press coverage or saesang activities – without drawing the attention of BTS themselves to these issues. In this case, you might see people using the code “875” on social media to replace “BTS” and “431” to replace “ARMY” so that their comments are not directly searchable or linkable to BTS themselves.

Standing Up for Social Causes

BTS uses their massive international platform to promote social causes from time to time. Unlike many other Kpop idol groups, BTS has not been afraid to speak out for controversial causes that they feel are important.

BTS and the United Nations

Love Yourself is a campaign run by UNICEF, the children’s arm of the United Nations, inspired by the BTS era of the same name. BTS are ambassadors for this program that aims to help young victims of violence and bullying worldwide. BTS has made several public appearances in support of this program and approved merchandise to be sold as fundraisers for the program.

In 2018, BTS was invited to speak at the United Nations in support of this program, and as the leader and English speaker, RM was the one who spoke at the podium. His speech is really moving and inspirational and well worth watching. 

BTS was invited to speak at the UN General Assembly in New York again in 2021. It was their first trip outside Korea in almost two years, due to the Covid-19 crisis. They gave a speech in Korean as a group about how youth is reacting to the crisis with hope, strength, and fresh ideas for solutions. They also performed Permission to Dance at the UN (pre-taped the day before their live speech) and it is so inspiring. There was an interview, too.

YouTube Class of 2020

BTS was invited to be the headliners to a virtual “graduation ceremony” that YouTube put together in June 2020 to support the first class that lost their graduation events to the COVID-19 crisis. They performed Boy In Luv, Spring Day, and Mikrokosmos and their performance is lovely.

More importantly, each member gave a heartfelt and inspiring speech to the graduates, drawing on their own experiences and offering hope and encouragement. Check them out on YouTube.

BTS at the White House

BTS were invited to meet with President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris at The White House at the end of May 2022. They were there was Special Envoys for the South Korean government and discussed efforts to end Asian prejudice and hate in the United States and worldwide.

They gave a few short remarks at the White House press briefing before the meetings, and then clips of the closed meetings were later posted online. They got in a few great photo ops as well before flying home.

Busan 2030 World Expo Honorary Ambassadors

BTS have been appointed Honorary Ambassadors as Busan vies for the 2030 World Expo. They will hold a global concert in October 2022 to promote Busan’s chances and highlight the area. There was a ceremony on July 19, 2022 to officially swear them in.

BTS and other Social Causes

BTS has been very supportive of the LGBTQ community, which is historically unusual for Kpop acts and South Korea in general, although times are slowly changing. RM and SUGA in particular paved the way by tweeting their support of LGBTQ artists and songs, and collaborating with several on occasion. SUGA has indicated in a roundabout way in several interviews and rap lyrics that he’s open to both genders when considering an ideal mate, and can often be seen sporting LGBTQ branded gear from his favourite fashion lines. You’ll also find heartwarming stories online of the rest of the members being very kind and openly supportive of LGBTQ ARMY at fanmeetings and online.

BTS also is well-known for their charitable donations. It has been a longstanding tradition with them to donate to a charity of their choice on their birthdays – Korean health, education and youth-related charities are a common favourite. They also famously donated $1 million to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

Back in 2014, BTS and BigHit donated money to support the families of the victims of the Sewol Ferry Disaster, a ferry sinking in Korea that killed over 300 people, mostly young students. They also supported charities that aimed to improve safety protocols and make the government more accountable. Some people believe that their song Spring Day is a veiled reference to the disaster, and many of the victims’ families look to that song for comfort and healing.

In early 2020, BTS launched the Connect, BTS initiative where they acted as patrons for five major art installations around the world. They chose artists that they felt matched their message of global connection to support. The installations were presented with free admission and BTS made videos for each installation showcasing the work and endorsing it. In the summer of 2022, they further showed their interest in art by creating online Street Galleries to promote the Google Arts and Culture reserve.

With the COVID-19 crisis causing an increase in Asian-related prejudice worldwide and particularly in America, BTS has spoken out on Twitter to share their own first-hand experiences with prejudice and call for awareness and a stop to Asian hate online and in local communities. Their Tweet condemning Asian Hate was the most retweeted tweet of 2021.

ARMY Charitable Donation Efforts

When BTS donates to a charity, ARMY often takes that as a call to action. These tend to happen organically – there’s no real organization – but a good place to start is the One In An Army twitter account (@oneinanarmy). Often ARMY will just spontaneously donate to the same charities BTS has selected; for example, ARMY on Twitter organically spread the word and managed to match BTS’ donation to Black Lives Matter within 24 hours. ARMY celebrated the fact that Megan Thee Stallion went to court to ensure the release of her collab with BTS on the song Butter by raising over $100K in her name in one day for charities that supported women worldwide and in her home town of Houston, Texas.

You can also find kind and generous ARMY online willing to donate money to broke ARMY for the purposes of boosting charting numbers. They will give dollars to people who are willing to use the money to purchase BTS’ latest release on various digital platforms (try @borahaeFunds in the United States, @fundsforbangcan in Canada, or @FundsForBTS_UK in the UK).

ARMY can also make a difference without actually donating money. In 2019 they famously snapped up thousands of free tickets to a Trump rally, causing him to expect an enormous crowd and then be embarrassed when only a few thousand actually showed up. And they have flooded hateful hashtags on Twitter with their own happy BTS content in order to render those hashtags useless – an inspirational act that has really made a difference and won ARMY members a lot of respect.

Joining In on Comeback Fun

Being active on social media is essential if you want to share in the comeback fun!

Whenever BTS has new music coming out, their PR machine swings into action and that usually means a ton of fresh content. They’ll release promo photos, teaser trailers that hint at the first single, graphic clues for ARMY to puzzle over endlessly, and more. When Butter was announced, millions of ARMY literally watched an hour-long video on YouTube of an animated pat of butter melting. It’s exciting, thrilling, and a bit of a frenzy! Watch for new content to be announced/released on Weverse, Twitter, Instagram, the Bangtan TV/Hybe YouTube Channels, and on the BTS official website.

Once new music gets released, experienced ARMY are ready to support BTS online with charting and the numbers game. Our goal is always to show the members the love by trying to get their new songs to break records and perform well on the charts and in streaming numbers. It’s a super fun time but also a crazy time – remember to have fun and just focus on what you’re able to do, without too much pressure. Twitter is the best place to go to find out what ARMY events are planned and to get advice from experienced ARMY on how to best boost charting numbers.

A comeback might include:

  • Watching the YouTube premiere of their video – usually the Hybe channel or the Bangtan TV channel will provide a “countdown” video that starts 15 minutes before the official video is released, and it actually helps to watch this countdown, then let them auto-forward you to the new video when it begins – the auto-forward ensures we all begin watching the premiere at the same time and solidifies the count for the YouTube premiere numbers. ARMY usually tries to break records for the first 24 hours and the first week, so that means watching the new video a few times daily (not that you wouldn’t be doing that anyway!). Be sure to “watch like a human” – interact with your account by watching 2-3 other videos in between each viewing of the main video, leaving comments, and liking things – so your views are not marked as bot views and removed.
  • Purchasing the song on iTunes, Amazon music, or other digital platforms – if you can swing it, actually buying the track instead of just streaming it counts for a lot more when it comes to charting numbers. Buying remixes of the lead single and instrumental versions also counts towards the chart numbers for the main track, so be sure to buy them all. If you’re willing to purchase but can’t afford it, there are some Twitter accounts that fundraise for this purpose (try @borahaeFunds or the ones in this tweet in the United States, @fundsforbangcan in Canada, or @FundsForBTS_UK in the UK). If you’re really keen you can also create multiple accounts and purchase the track several times over to help support BTS. Note that buying the track as a gift for others does NOT count for charting, and buying more than 4 copies of a track (including remixes) in a single order counts as a “bulk buy” and is only ONE entry for charting, so best to break up your purchases into smaller chunks. More on this topic at the BTS US ARMY website and there’s great info on all streaming/buying/radio stuff for Canada on the BTSxCanada website.
  • Streaming the new song on your preferred platforms – this includes the YouTube video as well as places like Apple Music and Spotify. It is essential here to “stream like a human” – that means do NOT watch the new video or play the new song on a continuous loop. Experienced ARMY will play a couple of other songs or stream a couple of other videos between the new song; they will also interact with their platform from time to time by liking or commenting or changing up their playlist. Usually playlists are available on all streaming platforms that will mix it up for you, just search for them by the name of the current single.
  • Attending online streaming parties – these can be a lot of fun! Twitter account BTS Chart Data (@btschartdata) or BTS KKUL FM (@BTSKKUL0613FM) are your essential accounts here. They both organize online streaming parties where hundreds of thousands of ARMY listen to the same playlist at the same time on Stationhead, swapping tweets and grooving together online. These parties also help boost the BTS chart numbers as many platforms “claw back” some listens/views that are deemed to be bots – these are highly controversial and the watch/listen parties help us assure the platforms that our streams are real. Starting with the Butter release, the BigHit official Twitter account has also organized listening parties on their own streaming website and you should give those a try too.
  • Requesting the song on your local radio stations, or voting for their weekly/daily countdowns – this also helps with charting numbers and generally helps convert their new songs into viral hits. The Billboard chart calculates overall rankings based on sales first, streams second, and radio airplay third, so all three of those things help boost BTS on the charts.
  • Monitoring Twitter for a flurry of promotional appearances – when a comeback is happening, there will be a flood of new interviews and TV appearances, and you won’t want to miss a thing! If you live somewhere where you don’t have access to new appearances, fear not, ARMY has your back. On Twitter you can usually find a few brave souls who are live-streaming various appearances (even paid ones), so dig around and look for a feed (try: @SmeraldoWithLuv, @qdeoks). Many shows will also live-stream their BTS segments on YouTube themselves, or at least post the completed clips there after the fact.
  • Be a good ARMY! Any comeback means a bunch of new baby ARMY joining the fandom, so be sure to welcome them with open arms – answer their questions, let them know you’re excited to have them on board, and direct them to BTS 101 for all the background info.

Don’t panic online when you see charting numbers suddenly drop – both YouTube and Spotify are notorious for “clawing back” views for “bot reviews” and these usually work out over time. Just have fun and do what makes the most sense for you and is the most enjoyable. See you online!

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