Why I am Leaving the BTS Fandom

I have been a BTS ARMY for over a year and a half now. And while the group has brought me nothing but happiness especially in my lowest moments no matter what I have to admit that I am recently getting turned off of being an ARMY due to the extremely rabid behavior of certain fans. Initially, I thought I could just laugh it off as these kids clearly have nothing better to do with their lives but for the past six months it has finally begun to sink in how toxic these fans truly are. They will send death threats to anyone who has shown even the slightest disinterest in the group. They will start fanwars with fans of other K-Pop groups just for the sake of it. They will demand that everyone, including non-fans, stream BTS’s music just to get them to the top of the charts because they cannot simply handle them not being #1. They will throw tantrums on social media when another artist (especially a Western one) wins an award in the same category as them and once again, send death threats to said artist. They will pull the mistreatment card every time either the group as a whole or one member doesn’t get enough credit for their talent. They will send death threats (notice a pattern here?) to any female who is within a five-foot radius of the members, accusing her of “stealing” their favorite member. They will hate on any member for doing things that you would expect from adult men (ex. Smoking, being in a relationship, going to nightclubs). They made such a big deal about BTS’s exemption from mandatory military service that they acted like being the world’s biggest boy band is enough to give them a free pass even though multiple famous South Korean male celebrities (fellow idols included) have served or are serving and it is their obligation as South Korean men. And then there are the ones who will pit the members against each other. They will either love one member but dislike the rest or love all members except one even though it is blatantly clear that all 7 of them contribute something special to the group. The list could go on for the mentality of these fans and it doesn’t just apply to BTS but literally any K-Pop group out there. Celebrity worship is just plain wrong but K-Pop stans really take it to the next level and frankly, seeing how these stans act, especially on Twitter, is not very good for my mental health.

Don’t get me wrong, I will still continue to support BTS no matter what whether together or individually and will still keep up with the content they put out. But knowing that some, not all, of their fans willingly engage in this kind of drama makes me not want to call myself an ARMY anymore. Yes, these guys are very good-looking, talented, and deserve their success but remember that you do not know them personally. You are not their family or friends and everything they say about ARMYs being their best friend, girlfriend, etc. is just pure fan service. At the end of the day, you just pay their bills and they have to fake certain things if they still want to be an idol (or at least make money). And I’m 100% sure that even the members themselves are fed up with how their fans are acting. Speaking of, I also want to leave because of the members. I don’t want to sound negative but they just seem so untouchable now. I haven’t been a fan for even two years but having watched their older content they seemed a lot more relatable and earnest. Now they all have solo careers, military service, and each member is becoming a brand ambassador. But it happens so I won’t hold any grudges against them. But their authenticity from before, especially through their music, is what made me a fan. I will definitely still be a fan but I don’t want to associate myself with any fandoms anymore because I don’t think it is right to put myself in a box. An overly obsessive box especially.