(Blackpink perform at Sahara Tent during the 2019 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 19, 2019 in Indio, California. (Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella))
K-Pop fans are infamous across Stan Twitter for finding every opportunity possible to promote their favorite artists. But now they’re being applauded for using their platforms to fight for black lives the way they know best — spamming Twitter hashtags with fancams.
These bite-sized videos of their favorite idol are usually shared in the replies of popular tweets to convert more fans. The trend was first noticed when fans of LOONA, a popular K-pop group, used music videos in the replies to promote the band, but has since spread to all of Stan Twitter. Now, you can see fancams of anyone from Ariana Grande to Anonymous across the platform. Just scroll through the replies of one of Pop Crave’s tweets. This behavior has been berated by the larger Twitter community, but was recently called upon to be used for justice.
Following protests against police brutality towards black people and the recent murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, Dallas PD sent out a tweet requesting footage of any “illegal activity” be uploaded to its iWatch Dallas app. Within the span of one night, K-Pop stans flooded the app with fancams, drowning out any incriminating footage and effectively crashing it.
But they didn’t stop there. Inspired by critiques of #blackouttuesday drowning out information about the Black Lives Matter movement, fans went on to spam conservative Instagram tags like #maga and #bluelivesmatter the same way. They even made #whitelivesmatter the number one trending topic on Twitter on Wednesday morning.
The actions have garnered praise for the many fans who have stepped forward to use their platforms at a time when many others were criticized for staying silent with #blackouttuesday.
Fans have used the moment to call on K-Pop artists to speak on the issues. Many believe Korean artists should speak out as many have been accused of appropriating black culture. CL, a member of 2NE1, shared a message to Instagram in both English and Korean, explaining how much black culture has shaped not only her music, but the K-Pop world as a whole. “Artists, directors, writers, dancers, designers, producers, stylists in the K-Pop industry are all inspired by black culture whether they acknowledge it or not.”
If these fans and artists can step up and use their influence to fight for justice, then we should be matching the energy. For a list of petitions, protest resources, and other ways to help, check out this site.