What K-Pop Social Media you should join and what to know

For those who are new to my articles, you may not know that I first heard of K-Pop in 2017 and would be an official ‘hardcore’ fan until 2020, following a two year break before looking back into K-Pop again by slowly writing articles from 2022 to 2024, my relationship with social media and my views on K-Pop have changed a lot over the years. Facing many disbandment, small companies closures and more, I have officially decided to close this chapter within my life. Including taking time away from the genre itself as the new year appears right around the corner. 

Personally, I think my experience and using various social media to follow artists and idols within the K-Pop scene can help you navigate the crazy world of social media, content and K-Pop’s impact on it. Within this review I will be providing some sources of what I have read throughout writing this draft or what I think you might find interesting. Including a overall review of my WeVerse Experience from 2023 to 2024. 

Let’s begin. 

K-Pop and breaking into global markets and introducing themselves to global audiences. (Social Media).

For a lot of individuals or older K-Pop fans, K-Pop has always been around and even more of a ‘niche’ community then what it currently is. With smaller fandoms and smaller or no international promotions at all, it was difficult to get correct subbed content or any form of promotion for the longest time. Up until what appears to be 2010, K-Pop groups and artists would begin to use social media to introduce themselves to global audiences and new markets, promoting their charms, music and choreography abroad. Although streaming culture wouldn’t be as big as it was now, getting even a million views would be such an incredible achievement and one to boast about. 

K-Pop would start off with the first generation (1992 to 2002) with artists S.E.S, Shinhwa, Baby Vox and Scheskies before the second generation would begin (2002 to 2012) thanks to Wonder Girls, BigBang, T-ara, SHINee before the next generations (third and fourth) would begin not to long after. 

With each generation a new wave of promotion and want to reach new audiences and markets would appeal to artists, including joining international social media apps to do so. According to this Digital X and Statista Article, they would talk about Instagram, FaceBook, BAND, KakaoStory and X (Twitter) being some of the most popular/ most used apps in South Korea. Due to the variety of these apps themselves, it can also lead a lot of fans (espically young fans) to gain a unhealthy relationship with social media, while some consider a healthier relationship with social media as a k-pop fan (with examples from this well written article by Pei Yin Joyce) Chan), some might also consider it to be overwhelming to. 

Considering these factors, let’s look into some of the basic and most used platforms for following South Korean stars and singers for fans, including what app or site might be best for you and how to navigate the lands of SNS (Social media) as a K-Pop fan with advice from a former hardcore fan. (Consider checking out these resources as well, here, here, here, here, here, and here). 

1. Instagram

Instagram can become an overwhelming platform when following a lot of artists or when browsing the ‘explore’ page. But it is defiantly one of the better apps for those interested in finding new artists easily. When scrolling to the end of a page or artist page, Instagram will actually introduce you to new profiles or artists you may not have heard about before. This is an awesome discoverability that comes with the app and provides new K-Pop fans with finding even more great artists and looking into other genres. 

Interior Design, Photography, Challenges, Dance Challenges are also popular content by this app. You also have the chance of bookmarking different posts into different collections to look at later, or share a funny post. Just like anywhere else on the internet be aware that sometimes the comments aren’t always the nicest and to be aware of that. 

2. Reddit

If you are kind’ve introverted like me and don’t always want to receive updates or be tempted to check a platform daily, or maybe even want to lessen your social media usage, reddit is one of the platforms I enjoyed the most as a fan. When I first deleted twitter, it was a place I could get reliable information about a source, or group updates. Even if your group is semi popular internationally, you might be able to find a fan created community on reddit that provides updates on all the members, their activities, campaigns or modelling activities. 

Reddit is basically a social news website and forum that allows talks, mega threads, information, and often times depending what is added and how many group members are within a group or band. It often includes a list of their social media and direct links to those pages. It’s a site I don’t feel bad if I don’t interact with fans or am only there for updates, unlike many SNS (social media) accounts, you can actually view communities on reddit without signing up. 

3. WeVerse

Originally I joined WeVerse when there was only two groups on WeVerse and would later leave, not re joining until 2022 and 2023 when the app was more established, more artists and more fan interactions. At first I really enjoyed the app and watched a lot of livestreams and was active in numerous different communities up until recently. 

I think for new fans or maybe if you want to keep track of your kids internet usage or are unsure about letting them join all these different apps, I would partly recommend it. Although some communities can be more pressuring or toxic then others, blocking things that make you uncomfortable can be done and also reported on this app and is more manageable then many. Fans can write letters directly to their artists and sometimes even get noticed by them. I would consider looking into WeVerse yourself to see if its a good option for you. 

4. Twitter/X

Originally when I was first getting into the music genre itself twitter was a place I was on a lot, it was easy to use and I could easily have plus 3 accounts on the site itself. With the different niches of hobbies and communities its an app easily based on community and engagement. Although there is great communities and people on the app itself, it is also one of those apps known for its hate, toxic and mean spirited environments. Be aware of this and do some research on the app itself before choosing to join it. Lots of great updates and accounts but defiantly something worth looking into. Some sources I came across when writing the draft for this include: here, here, here and here).  

When it comes to the social media experience, theres no doubt that every social media app isn’t for every one, and we can’t deny that a lot of content is just reposted on different sites (most commonly happens with Youtube shorts and Tik Tok), but although at times we can view it as annoying, its also kinda good if you don’t want to always join each social media app and follow tons of your artists on different apps for the same content. But with that causes lots of negatives to each positives to. Just know that Twitter is seen as one of the most negative sites. 

5. Tik Tok

For me personally I only used Tik Tok to promote the boy group Kingdom (now called The Kingdom) for a short time with short filmed videos and intro videos of the group. Promoting the group to a new audience and trying my hand at editing. This would only last half a year before I would decide to part ways with the app itself. 

A lot of the people (although I realize its not everyone), the audience is often younger and immature. Being ‘fights’ happen more frequently in the comment sections and false information is easily transfered more often between commenters. 

Like any social media platform, each holds their target audience but often also holds various niche content and communities. As stated by many and in Dong Sunhwa (of the Korea Times) would mention. In 2019 when rapper and singer songwriter producer Zico would release ‘Any Song’, it would conquer numerous streaming charts with the help of TikTok and seemingly the creation of viral short dance challenges to promote the track. 

If you, your friend or kid is interested in joining Tik Tok or has that interest in dance, Tik Tok would probably be the right choice. (Although the same content can often be found on Youtube in the #shorts section of a channel).