BTS Fans Defended the Group After Twitter Users Made Fun of Them Via an Acronym Game
The internet can often be used as a force for good, but there are also many instances where it is a platform for negative words and offensive comments. This is something BTS fans had to grapple with when a Twitter game turned into a haven for trolls to bash the K-pop group.
However, instead of engaging in the flame war, ARMY decided to defend the group in a different way. Read on below to find out what happened.
The Twitter hashtag #BTScouldAlsoStandFor invited negative comments about BTS
On August 2, the Twitter account Acronym Alternatives, which often asks users to come up with new meanings for popular acronyms, decided to play a game with the name BTS. While BTS’s name officially stands for “Bangtan Sonyeondan” (which means “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”) or “Beyond the Scene,” Twitter users were asked to share other possibilities.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, trolls descended upon the hashtag to make fun of BTS, saying that their acronym stands for things like “Boys That Are Sh*t” or “Boneheaded Trend-chasers in Society.” There were also xenophobic comments that made fun of the K-pop genre and BTS’s appearance.
Fans defended BTS and promoted their upcoming single
It did not take long before ARMY descended upon the hashtag to defend BTS. Some people joined in on the game to give positive meanings to the name BTS, such as “Bloody Talented Singers,” “Booooi They Sexy,” or “Breaking Twitter Single-handedly.”
Numerous fans also used the opportunity to promote BTS’s upcoming single, “Dynamite.” A few folks joined in on the game to say that BTS stands for “Buy Their Single,” though others simply spread the word about it.
Many fans believe BTS deserves more respect from the general public
At the end of the day, what happened with the #BTScouldAlsoStandFor game is another sign that BTS is not taken seriously by the general public. Fans have long complained about American news outlets and music audiences only seeing BTS and other K-pop groups as a novelty acts instead of real artists who deserve more recognition for their work.
“I don’t think people in the US will ever look at K-pop as more as weird Korean boy/girl groups,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “They’ll never achieve respect, they’re all spectacle. That’s all. There is no legitimacy to [their award show] nominations, they’re mere popularity votes pandering to rabid fans so as to get ad revenue for attracting rabid fans to TV broadcasts. [It’s] not based on respect. It makes me nauseous.”
Meanwhile, another fan said, “I’m hoping groups can be seen as respectable artists in America. I know BTS is getting more popular in America, but they are still being treated as a trendy foreign act rather than artists.”
Throughout history, boy bands and girl bands have had a hard time being taken seriously, so BTS fans are not alone in wanting their favorite artist to get more respect. Even despite the trolls and negative treatment BTS often receives, there is no denying that the group has achieved way more than most people would have thought possible.
