K-pop fans

Korean Pop Music, also known as K-pop, has been a strong global phenomenon in the past decade. The K-pop phenomenon has affected a lot of people, raising admiration and concern simultaneously. People who devote themselves to Korean music stars or celebrities are called K-pop fans; usually teenagers between the age of 12 years old until 18 years old though it is not strange such fans over 20 years old or maybe even older.

A K-pop fan admiration towards his or her favourite celebrity stop a little short from obsession as they have the tendency to do things beyond a normal fan would do. Apart from buying their favourite artist CD, posters and attending concerts; They would buy various merchandise products and some to the point of purchasing or using any products that isol rek . They are widely seen on social networking sites. They create various Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram accounts dedicated to their Korean idols.

Sasaeng Fans

Main article: Sasaeng fan

Stalker-like-fans, which are also known as abnormal supporters, are being called “Fans” as they have done something too exaggerated or even illegal to their idols.[1] They are mostly female or high-school students. Managers of the Korean stars have spoken to Korean media, revealing that the popular stars own between 500 to 1000 sasaeng fans.[2] The most common activities sasaeng fans engage in include following their idols’ cars everywhere, taking various secret pictures, and disturbing their private lives by sneaking into their dorms. Even the idols themselves have told the press that sasaeng fans have made them feel as though they were living in a jail as they were being watched and followed all the time. Block B, a Korean boyband, has asked sasaeng fans to stop visiting their dorm.[3][4] One of the extreme case of showing appreciation and love to their idols is by writing him letter using the blood of period and pubic hair.[5]

What have they done for the celebrities?

There are so many hardcore fans out there who are doing things that are way beyond normal. These teenage girls would do anything for their adored idols, and even treat them like God and Goddess instead of a star. Female fans all around the world seem to overreact to the same actions done by their idols and they have coincidentally done similar unplanned things that shock societies every time.[6]

Fan bases

K-pop idols often have an official fan groups. Some notable examples SHINee's SHAWOL, Girl’s Generation's SONE and EXO's EXO-L.[7] Fans often share photos that they have secretly taken within these fan bases, which greatly infringes upon the privacy of the idols. A number of the high school fans have broken into the dorm rooms of idols to steal underwear or daily essentials for selling or self-keeping.[8]

Airplane-followers

The most exaggerated thing that sasaeng fans have done is that they would buy plane tickets and follow their idols to their destination according to their schedules even they live far away. Sasaeng fans do not simply follow their idols to the airport, instead, they take the same plane with them in order to take photos and ‘protect’ their precious idols. More seriously, sasaeng fans would occupy the whole Incheon Airport whenever their idols have to travel overseas for work, blocking the roads and facilities for the locals and traveller inside the airport.[9][10]

The behaviors of K-pop fans in Korea and China

Korea

Present dedications: Fan-girls in Korea tend to love the idea of making large or even larger posters for their favourite idols for their birthday or anniversary presents, hanging all over the subway station ( mainly in Myeongdong station ) or even on the bus advertisement. Furthermore, some die-hearted fans in Korea would always chase after their idols. Even though they are mostly high school girls or even younger, they would wait outside the companies’ building just to take pictures with the celebrities. As long as they can see their idols’ face or even receive a wink from them, they will scream very passionately. This act can be specified as a kind of worship rather than simply loving their music and images.

China

Some fans from China are also overly addicted to the Korean idols, they did exaggerated and obsessive behaviours. For instance, on the 25th Golden Disk Awards in 2010, fans of Super Junior raised money to make a cup which was made up of real gold after their idol lost in the award. The cup costs over hundred million Renminbi dollars. This is regarded to be an obsessive behaviour.

Dedication

K-pop fans are not only attracted to an idol's music, but an idol's appearance and personality as well. Idols are ranked at the fans’ top list. They put the K-pop stars in the first priority as they believe that they are their motivations. Fans have mentioned that their idols can provide emotional support, believing their idols can help them at their back and every move they make, they will follow like those are the guides as “they are likely to listen to the comments and influence of a celebrity than their parents” (Theodosiou, 2012)[11]

Without a doubt, management companies also create images in an attempt to gain and retain fans. Many fans believe that their idols are perfect and they would follow their trends or whatever they do in order to show their support. The fans believe their strengths come from their respective idols, and they would like to show love and appreciation to them by using different ways, such as attending concerts or fan meetings. However, there are some fans who attempt to follow these idols everywhere. Consequently, management teams of these celebrities hire security guards to accompany them when they have public events. There have been a few cases of security guards using force against K-pop fans as a result of their harmful actions in attempting to get closer to the idols.[12]

There is another reason why teens worship their idols. Self recognition is an issue which all teens would face. To overcome the problem, they will fill their emotional vacuum through worshiping idols. “Celebrity worshiping could thus have a prevalent influence on shaping their followers’ values, attitudes and behaviors” (Schultze et al. 1991).[13][14]

Consequences

Worshipping idols have both positive and negative effects. However, for those who are overly- attached and addicted to the Korean stars are considered to have great impacts on their personal developments in different perspectives.

Academic development

These obsessive fans have no idea of planning their academic schedule. Most of them have bad time management skills and allocate nearly all of their time on chasing the idols. With less time to study and more time to worship their idols, they are very likely to fall behind the learning progress and can hardly catch up with new knowledge.

Financial management

Buying posters, making banners and gifts to their beloved stars are likely to impose financial burden on the overly-attached fans. They may even follow the idols closely by taking the same flight with them. To be more concrete, they are just the shadows of the idols and following them without being limited by the boundaries. Also, the concert tickets which cost nearly $1000 per person are another huge expenses. Most teenagers are not mature enough and do not have the ability to earn money. They simply spend the money earned by their parents which may pose serious financial burden to their family. Without clear understanding on financial management, they may become materialistic.

Materialistic value

As teenagers adore their idols, they would try to imitate the lifestyles of their celebrities. With the help of advertisements promoting products using celebrity models, “young people who have a higher motivation to view advertisements will be more likely to imitate celebrity models” (Chan & Prendergast, 2007).[15] Therefore, they are very likely to buy products that are promoted by their idols, thus greatly affecting their value towards material.

References

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ [2]
  3. ↑ [3]
  4. ↑ [4]
  5. ↑ [5]
  6. ↑ [6]
  7. ↑ http://www.sbs.com.au/popasia/blog/2014/08/05/video-exo-announce-their-official-fan-club-name-mobile-app
  8. ↑ [7]
  9. ↑ [8]
  10. ↑ [9]
  11. ↑ [10]
  12. ↑ [11]
  13. ↑ [12]
  14. ↑ [13]
  15. ↑ [14]

[1] Chen, Jasmine (2013, Nov 22). The Differences between Sasaeng Fans and Normal Fans. Retrieved from http://exploringkpop.blogspot.hk/2013_11_01_archive.html

[2] Soh, Elizabeth (2012, Aug 2). “Sasaeng Stalkers” (Part 1): K-pop fans turn to blood, poison for attention. Retrieved from https://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/blogs/singapore-showbiz/sasaeng-groupies-gone-wild-part-1-k-fans-141105992.html

[3] KoreaBoo (2014, Oct 21). Block B pleads to sasaeng fans to stop visiting their dorm. Retrieved from http://www.koreaboo.com/trending/trending-block-b-pleads-sasaeng-fans-stop-visiting-dorm/

[4] EXO Love (2013, Aug 16). EXO reveals the hardship of having Sasaeng fans. Retrieved from http://exo-love.com/exo-reveals-the-hardship-of-having-sasaeng-fans/

[5] Donna (2013, May 28).10 Craziest Things that Fans Did for their Idols. Retrieved from http://www.oddee.com/item_98593.aspx

[6] B, James (2014, Nov 4). 2PM Entertains Over 7,000 Fans In Beijing For Go Crazy World Tour. Retrieved from http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/131634/20141104/2pm-entertains-over-7-000-fans-in-beijing-for-go-crazy-world-tour.htm

[7] Jnkm (2014, Jan 20). Sasaeng Fan Sells EXO Members’ Underwear. Retrieved from http://www.soompi.com/2014/01/20/sasaeng-fan-sells-exo-members-underwear/

[8] mykpopidol (2012, Aug 7). Surrounded by Fans, Luhan EXO-M Fell at The Airport. Retrieved from http://mykpopidol.blogspot.hk/2012/08/surrounded-by-fans-luhan-exo-m-fell-at.html

[9] ExoticPlanet (2013, Sep 30). [NEWS] SASAENG FANS NEED TO STOP!!!!!. Retrieved from http://ourexoticplanet.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/sasaeng-needs-to-stop/

[10] Theodosiou, Barbara (2012, Mar 30). Celebrity Influences and Their Negative Impact on Today's Youth. Retrieved from http://www.reneweveryday.com/blogs/addicts-mom/celebrity-influences-and-their-negative-impact-on-todays-youth/

[11] Oddnessweirdness (2012, Nov 7). KPOP WTF: IDOL MANAGERS BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT FOR HITTING FANS. Retrieved from http://oddnessweirdness.blogspot.hk/2012/11/kpop-wtf-idol-managers-back-in.html

[12] Schultze, Q. J., Anker, R. M., Bratt, J. D., Romanowkski, W. D., Worst, J. W. & Zuidervaart, L. (1991) Dancing in the Dark: Youth, Popular Culture, and the Electronic Media. Grand Rapids, MI: Williams B. Eerdmans.

[13] Farzana, Farah (2013, Sep 8). Kpop Fans Speech. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/166412903/Kpop-Fans-Speech

[14] Chan, Kara.,Prendergast, Gerard P.(2007, Nov 30). Social comparison, imitation of celebrity models and materialism amongst Chinese youth. International Journal of Advertising 27(5): 799-826