u/Mysterious-Body-541

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate idols who communicate a lot with fans, it is lovely and it is part of their job and I get it. But sometimes I wonder if the constant pressure to always be present online must be exhausting. Honestly, I think I’ve outgrown the need for constant idol content.

These days I’d rather see my faves post occasionally and know they’re taking care of themselves, focusing on their work, or simply enjoying life away from cameras. And maybe this sounds strange, but when idols share things less often, those moments sometimes feel more genuine and meaningful to me.

Do you prefer frequent interaction and updates, or do you enjoy a bit more distance and mystery?

Were fans less parasocial in past?

I’m curious about 2nd and 3rd gen idols. Nowadays, idols can be in contact with fans almost constantly, but how was it back then? Were fans just as “delulu” as today, or was it less intense?

I’m not sure how fan interactions worked around, say, 2005-2018, I’m guessing there were fan meetings, fansigns, maybe fancalls? Did idols ever tell fans things like " you are my girlfriend" and similar stuff? How did fans handle that level of intimacy before social media?

For me, it’s Super Junior, I only discovered them this year 😭 Also SHINee and Exo, maybe Twice. I really regret missing their big moments during their peak, and sometimes I wish I could’ve seen some other fav groups from their debut to watch how they evolved over time. Most of the time I got into them through a member’s solo song and then went back to stan the group. Who do you wish you’d stan’d earlier?

Sorry for my ignorance, but I’m curious what was the rivalry like between those two groups? And who was their biggest rival, if any?

Their success totally surprised me in a good way, and it makes me think if idols or artists leave big companies and take the independent/creative freedom path, could they make it too? I’m convinced a lot of them have talents that never get fully shown. And I’m honestly surprised at how they keep hitting number one on the charts, even beating super catchy trendy songs and huge groups. What do you think causes that?

I don’t know all the details about AKMU’s history, but they feel like such a fresh wind, and I wish there were more like them. Not having to follow trends, whether in music or beauty.

And if not, which groups do you think will escape it?

At some point, will all groups start making extremely short songs around 1:20 with some trendy "brainrot" audios just because the audience can’t stay engaged for longer? Honestly, it’s a bit alarming to me. I’d love to get your perspective on this trend and whether you think it can be resisted.

I’ll admit it, I’m saying this as someone who will always love songs that are over three minutes long.

edit typos

Same members, same skills like vocals, dance, concepts, group chemistry. Now imagine boy group as a girl group, or a girl group as a boy group. Would fans even accept them, or do you think it wouldn’t work for some reason?

what’s that one take you have that would absolutely get you dragged by your fandom? You don’t have to name anyone or anything specific, just the opinion itself. Feel free to keep it vague or indirect no need to name anyone or anything specific (if you dont want to) Or go ahead and say it straight.

I’m honestly feeling really frustrated with fandom culture lately. I’m not that old—I remember being fan online of other artists before, and I never experienced this level of negativity back then. Today, it just feels insane and out of control.

I don’t use TikTok anymore. Opening a photo or video on Instagram, most of the comments are things I can’t even understand, fans repeating the same lines, memes and gifs over and over. It seems they cant even appreciate new song or anything else? I get the jokes and memes, but honestly, if I were an idol reading that, I’d be smacking my forehead. Feels like no matter if they drop the best song or kill it on stage, fans just react the same way every single time… like bots.

Then there’s Twitter, endless fanwars, tons of solo stan accounts… not to mention shipping accounts and NSFW content full of perversion and some k1nks which sadly seems very common in our fandom and I hate it and don’t care about that. I’m here for music, for my favs, performances, general info and of course all the other activities my favorites do. Not gonna lie, I don’t need explicit fantasies popping up everywhere. Ok that you’re into them, but can we keep that stuff private? I often realize that a lot of accounts belong to kids who are like 10 years old, which is honestly shocking and very disturbing to me.

I know we pick our favs partly because of how they look, but at the end of the day, this is still music and sometimes it feels like that gets completely forgotten. I really don’t feel like joining discussions or arguments like “he’s hotter than your bias.”

Im trying to curate my Twitter and I really think it is great source of new info, but honestly, if you’re looking for news, it’s almost impossible to avoid this stuff…

This isn’t about wishing failure on anyone. but which groups do you realistically think might not still be active in 5 years? and i don’t even mean necessarily disbanded maybe hiatus, solo focus, members going different directions, losing momentum, burnout, industry changes etc. kpop moves insanely fast now so sometimes i wonder which groups will actually survive long-term . please keep this respectful though