Here’s what happened.
Netizens are calling out a toxic sub-community in BTS‘s fandom.
On March 18, Reddit user @okaywhatttt on the community r/kpop_uncensored compiled a list of photos of ARMYs who were complaining about several issues on BTS’s Weverse page. This is the “FEED” page where fans are allowed to freely create and upload posts, and it is where people were called out for having “toxic” behaviors.
The complaints revolved around member V‘s newest song, “FRI(END)S’,” which was released on March 15.
On one hand, some ARMYs were horrified upon learning that a lesbian couple was seen kissing in the background of the music video. They claimed that it was not appropriate to include “violent kisses” and a “lack of modesty” in the video.
Others said they were “disappointed” in V for allowing this kind of “disgusting” content to make it to the final cut, saying they were brought to tears by his choice.
This led to a wave of criticism from K-Pop fans on Reddit. They pointed out that the toxic fans had no real reason to be upset, and if they disliked the support that V showed the LGBTQ+ community, they should have “just [moved] on.”
After all, BTS has a long history of being allies. This is something that fans of all ages should be aware of.
On the other hand, another subset of toxic behaviors in the Weverse community included multiple posts shaming V’s co-star. Some were seriously upset at him for “breaking the hearts of ARMY” by being pictured in a romantic pose with the opposite sex.
Why are you breaking the hearts of [ARMYs]. I’m so sad I can’t stand anyone else by your side…
— Fan
Others were “crying” because they were jealous of the woman. They acted as if they were breaking up with V for infidelity.
One even changed the narrative and gave the two a siblings background instead.
Netizens pointed out that these fans have a clearly unhealthy parasocial relationship with their idols, building them up in their heads as their real life boyfriends. They added that it was “delusional” to a high level and that they should ideally be “sen[t] help.”
At the end of the day, they couldn’t help but comment that Weverse as a platform tends to gather toxic responses notably often.
