r/ARMYNeutral

Am I the only one that can’t shake the feeling that ARMY are blowing up this ridiculous Yoongi dating rumor just to get the attention off RM and J-Hope?

Idek how this rumor got so far, even media are reporting about it and the actress had to close her comments because ARMY were already bothering her. It’s extremely embarrassing.

(And no, I am not against Yoongi dating. But the actress posted a pic that was very clearly much older than when Yoongi was there.)

Edit: yes guys, I’m understand some of you may not have heard yet but it IS going viral. This is not the only socmed platform. In addition, several news outlets, both tabloid and serious, have reported on the rumor.

Rm has been banned from Pixel Project (violence against women organization)

Baby army here, so I have no further knowledge or experience in how exactly these livestreams work. From my understanding they are just streams of the main screen plus optionally the side screens. You can only see the concerts once or in the second screening and it’s not like a concert film that you can see as often as you want.
That’s why I don’t really get the appeal of these livestreams, especially when they cost around 40 $ for the most basic package. I feel like this is very expensive. Other tickets cost over 100 $ and almost as much as the cheapest tickets to see the real concert.

As the question suggest i have been wondering what is the reason korean ARMYS voices hold more value than international fans (not saying international ones isn't given any value don't make it waffle pancake situation) considering their korean fanbase is not stronger as it was before and it was the international fans from the beginning who helped them getting seen/breakthrough internationally, still very strong and getting stronger.

The only reason that i come up with is that a lot of non western artist BTS or probably bighit would want to keep their home base secure as in if BTS popularity goes down globally for any reason, they still would have the korean market/space to thrive in. And other reason i could think of is simply that they are koreans so they will value or care their people's voices more than the other ones.

what do you think can be the reasons for it? Or their could be other reasons for it? Because i genuinely cannot understand from BTS and even from bighit's business perspective.

Title

Hello, I write a music Substack and I wrote a post about what I believe are BTS's true strategic motives for not submitting for a Grammy this year. I feel like the mainstream media is supporting their decision and idolizing them for it, but I just felt like something didn't add up. Why would they suddenly pull out after wanting a Grammy so badly all these years?

I wanted to share it here since people here seem to have alternate takes on the BTS Grammy situation and also this seems like a good place to discuss potential criticisms of BTS without being attacked by the more passionate members of their fanbase. If anyone is interested in this subject and wants to read the article, I've linked it here and would love to know what you think of it and whether my analysis is fair. Maybe we can start a discussion here in the comments. Thanks!

The title. I've never seen so many fans ben disappointed in them before, across ALL channels. Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, reddit, weverse... WEVERSE.

I know there have been other things that have been talked about before (McDonald's, coca cola, Gemini) but there's always been more people defending it which drowned out the voices that called anything out.

It's like something has switched and the scales have tipped. There's a lot more fans willing to call them out rather than blindly defend the cb thing.

I think it's because cb and everyone (rightly) hates him.

Also, I don't if it's just the side of twitter I'm on, but it feels like for a lot of fans, a number of things have been building up and this was the final thing that they couldn't turn a blind eye to.

But I also don't know what's going to happen with it. I very much doubt they would release a statement but I also don't see it dying down anytime soon. So where do we go from here?

We love them but it's a very confusing time right now.

Edit: based on the replies, it's likely this will blow over soon. I guess it's inevitable really. I guess what feels different about this situation compared to the others is that I've never seen SO MANY army call them out on something. I've seen accounts and creators who have defended them in the past talk about this.

I've only been an army since 2018 so I idk if they've not experienced anything as big as this befire but it might be different for older armys.

I do think it's a damned if they do, damned if they don't situation. I can only hope they see what's being said and see it's coming not from a place of malice, and hopefully do better in the future.

I love BTS, and I’ve always supported them, but lately I’ve been feeling conflicted about the difference between what they say about their relationship with ARMY and how things sometimes play out when certain issues come up.

They often say that ARMY is their voice and that our bond is based on mutual respect. ARMY is always there to support BTS, defend them, and stand by them. But sometimes, when it’s their turn to speak up, it feels very quiet.

When BTS attended CB’s concert, some fans were disappointed because they felt his values conflict with the values BTS have spoken about. Fans expressed that disappointment, but I don’t feel their concerns were really acknowledged.

Some fans used Hobi saying that he cares about ARMY and RM wearing the Whitney Houston T-shirt as signs that BTS were trying to communicate something. But at the same time, they seemed unwilling to acknowledge that choosing to attend CB’s concert can also be seen as a statement — one that naturally made some fans feel that BTS were supporting the artist by being there. I don’t think it’s fair to interpret the things we want to see as meaningful statements while dismissing the meaning of their actual actions.

The other situation that stayed with me was when CB called a girl a h*e. I’m not saying BTS had to get involved or address every situation, but the silence was difficult to see. ARMY is often very quick to defend BTS when they are criticized, so it felt disappointing that there wasn’t the same energy when another woman was being publicly degraded.

Especially as a fandom made up largely of women who often talk about supporting and protecting women, I found that difficult to understand.

I’m not saying BTS need to respond to every controversy, and I’m not saying ARMY has to agree on everything. I just think that if ARMY is their voice, that voice should also be allowed to express disappointment, ask questions, and hold people accountable when something feels wrong.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and honestly, I just need to get it off my chest so I can move on.

I’ll admit, I’m not as knowledgeable about the music industry as I used to be, but anyway… when I clicked on Hobi’s Instagram story and saw he was at the CB/Usher concert, I immediately thought, *oh no… this is bad.* And it honestly made me wonder—how can someone like me, who really only listens to her favourite music and doesn’t follow all the industry stuff that closely, pick up on how bad this looks, but their own team apparently can’t? Like, how tone-deaf do they have to be?!

I have to admit, I was sitting on the fence about whether I even wanted them to apologise. I was conflicted about it. But then I saw CB commenting on a fan’s post and I was like, *okay, BTS really need to stand up for their fans here.* They should be calling CB out for acting immature AF.

Seeing Hobi at the Arlington concert, I genuinely do believe he probably feels bad and may not know what to say. But then Namjoon’s attitude has really rubbed me the wrong way. To me, he comes across as arrogant about the whole situation, and I just don’t like it.

I completely understand that their team and management are strict, and probably still have control over what BTS can and can’t say. But at the same time, fans have been with them through so much. They always talk about how much they care about their fans, so when something like this happens and there’s basically silence, it honestly feels like a slap in the face.

Maybe I’m being too emotional about it, but I’m just really disappointed. That’s honestly where I’m at with it.

I’ve been an army since 2015. That’s basically been a huge part of my life. I’ve watched BTS struggle, grow, succeed n eventually become the global artists they are today. At this point there are so many artists who would literally die for the opportunity to collaborate with them or even interact with them,just be in the same room with them. They’re the kind of celebrities people look forward to seeing in literally every possible way.

And that’s why I genuinely don’t get it why Chris Brown?

Out of the hundred of artist and celebrities BTS could potentially connect or collaborate with what situation put them in a position where they had to get close to Chris Brown specifically? I’m not even trying to start an argumen I genuinely just don’t understand the choice.

Like… out of everyone? Chris Brown? I’m just trying to wrap my head around it.

Was just watching back some surprise songs and couldn’t help but notice that whenever they pan to Jin, he’s just smiling along and not singing. I’m sure he’s tired after the long show, but a little disappointing…

It feels like we haven't actually learned anything new about BTS in a while now. Even the Hot Ones interview, which was heavily praised by both the fandom and the guys themselves, didn't really reveal anything new about the members. RM and Suga's old stage names are certainly not information earlier American interviewers were aware of, but it's not like this was some great piece of journalism. Look up BTS' pre debut history on the main subreddit and you'll get deeper cuts than that. The Rolling Stone interviews were kind of a nothing burger too.

I'm honestly surprised there hasn't yet been any real investigative journalism on BTS. I'm not looking for an exposé or a takedown, but it's objectively very frustrating that any and all interesting information about BTS is probably permanently on lockdown behind a million ironclad NDAs.

I personally find it alienating that the members are kept on such a tight PR leash that they can't even really be asked questions about their process or inspiration. I understand why it's done, and I know the guys have had to deal with intrusive, rude and inappropriate interviewers when they were still up and coming. But I don't think any artist worth their salt should be made comfortable to the point where any interview with them feels like a fluff piece.

TLDR: Hey guys, anything new you'd like to share maybe? The first album V ever bought? What music Suga's parents used to play? Any interesting dreams lately?

What Is BTS’s PR Team even doing ? Do they even have one or they’re paid to do nothing. Lmao

Gonna talk from pr perspective only. How tone deaf BTS and their team are ?

Whether you agree with BTS going to Chris Brown’s concert or not, (obviously it’s wrong) from a PR perspective, I genuinely don’t understand how anyone thought this was a good idea.

Chris Brown has been involved in multiple serious controversies over the years, including his assault of Rihanna and other abuse allegations. He’s a polarizing figure internationally, so it’s not exactly hard to predict the backlash that comes with publicly supporting or promoting him.

What confuses me is that BTS’s fanbase is overwhelmingly global. Yet it sometimes feels like the company only reacts when something becomes a major issue in Korea.

When the backlash is mainly international, they either stay silent or don’t seem to consider how international fans will respond.

If that’s actually how they’re approaching PR, it feels really outdated. BTS aren’t just a Korean act anymore, they’re one of the biggest global artists in the world. Their image depends on both Korean and international audiences.

Even if they personally wanted to attend the concert, why post it publicly? Isn’t that exactly the kind of decision a PR team is supposed to advise against? The job of PR is to anticipate public reaction and protect an artist’s image, and this feels like the opposite of that.

I’m genuinely curious what everyone thinks on this. The way they keep ignoring controversy outside of their country is getting annoying. They want the benefit from the global success but doesn’t want to deal with the rest ?

They demanded respect form Grammy fews weeks ago but they’re not even respecting their fans ?

This sub is described as:

>A subreddit for ARMY, non-fans, and civil critics to productively discuss all things related to BTS.

Rules include:

>No unhinged shooter or anti behavior
There are already existing fan subs and snark subs for BTS. If you want to glaze or hate, go to those subs.

But with all that being said, rather than write a text-wall to convince you to see things how I see it,

What is the purpose of a neutral subreddit of a fandom, to you? What differentiates a neutral sub from a general fan-sub? What belongs in a general fan-sub that doesn't belong in a neutral sub? And the opposite, what belongs in a neutral-sub that doesn't belong in a general fan-sub? Similarly, what differentiates a neutral-sub from an anti-sub?

For me I'm glad subs like these exist because I want a space to be critical about BTS without there being room for outright free-for-all toxicity towards BTS. But for some, it seems like they believe the second one is critical, they belong with the outright antis. Tried that, warped my mind, outright hated that experience in the end. Do not recommend.

I've seen people allege that this sub is becoming an anti-sub all because ARMYs are disappointed re CB and IMO having waded in those waters that is absolutely not the case. People here haven't been nearly as poisonous about it at all.

Similarly I've seen a comment allege that it is impossible to be neutral about BTS, and the second even a modicum of disappointment/criticism towards BTS exists in your heart and you express it, that makes room for antis to use and piggyback off your points. I don't necessarily think that has to be the case. I also don't think we have to care what antis do with our critical points after screencapping them. I think we can work to keep this place productively neutral without glaze or hate.

I want to hear from you, why you do, or don't agree.