When K-pop star Karina published a handwritten apology on Instagram earlier in March, it was both contrite and excessive. “I genuinely apologise for unexpected my fans who haveactually supported me,” the frontwoman of the woman group aespa composed. Her offense? Publicly acknowledging that she was in a relationship with star Lee Jae-wook. That Karina felt obliged to state sorry for being in a relationship has puzzled lotsof outdoors the K-pop scene, however it opens a window into the world of the market’s “super fans”. They stream their preferred stars’ music round the clock – even if on mute while sleeping – to increase chart rankings, organise mass ballot sessions throughout award seasons, and insomecases even sponsor digital signboard advertisements in locations like Times Square, New York. When news of Karina’s relationship broke, some fans drove a truck to her management company. “We supported Karina’s intense future, thinking in a shared dream, however it was our misunderstanding,” roared an electronic signboard on the automobile. “Is the love offered to you by your fans not enough?” another checkedout. This stands in contrast to how stars’ romantic lives are typically publicised, and insomecases commemorated, in other parts of the world. Take Taylor Swift, for example, whose presence at last month’s Super Bowl to watch her sweetheart Travis Kelce is stated to have singlehandedly improved TELEVISION viewership of the videogame, making it the most-watched broadcast in the UnitedStates because the 1969 Moon landing. Polls state one in 5 Super Bowl audiences were rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs – which ultimately won the yearly league – since of the pop star’s relationship with Kelce. So why are the mindsets various in K-pop? “The fans feel jilted,” stated Korean media writer Jeong Deok-hyeon, including that K-pop fans frequently view themselves as being in parasocial relationships with the idols. These refer to one-sided relationships where one celebration usesup an obvious quantity of time, psychological energy and cash on another whom they are amazed with, however who might not understand they exist. “As the market significantly motivates fans to reveal their fandom through consumerism, their desire to be ‘compensated’ [for their investments] grows. This contributed to fans making needs which often border on dangers,” Mr Jeong informed the BBC. Some think the artistes themselves and their management firms have helpedwith a “false intimacy” inbetween idols and fans. Even as justrecently as 10 years ago, it was typical practice for K-pop firms to restriction brand-new stars from dating or even have a individual mobile phone. Agencies have likewise started developing social apps for their artists which appear to deal fans a peek of their idols’ daily lives. SM, the K-pop-producing powerhouse behind groups like aespa, presented an app in 2020 developed to appearance like a individually messenger app, however is in fa
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