Black Lives Matter: how K-pop stans drowned out racist voices by posting fancams – and fans matched BTS’ US$1 million donation to the BLM movement
It’s not just about music: K-pop fans are using their social media skills to effect change on today’s most important social issues, including racism
On social media, especially on Twitter, K-pop stans love posting fancams – videos focused on their favourite star – on conversation threads that have nothing to do with their K-pop idol. This is how they show the world that whatever the conversation, their minds and hearts only have room for their idol. Spamming with fancams is also a way of paying tribute to their favourite stars and getting them more attention.
But spamming with fancams has taken a more serious turn of late. With racism in the US dominating the media following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer, citizens went online to stage protests, spread awareness and raise funds in support of #blacklivesmatter.
K-pop fans, known for their power to make hashtags trend in a matter of minutes, were quick to drown racist voices using the opposing hashtag #whitelivesmatter by flooding it with fancams. On Twitter and on Instagram, the hashtag was filled with memes, fancams, and posts from non K-pop fans expressing solidarity.
According to CNN, K-pop stans also spammed a police app, called iWatch Dallas, which the Dallas Police Department used to call on citizens to submit videos of “illegal activity from the protests”. In response, K-pop stans bombarded the app with fancams, and by that afternoon, the app crashed.
Many speculate that the “technical difficulty” was caused by fancam spam.