Tapping into some of the largest global fanbases, social media giant Twitter is set to host several Kpop-related campaigns leading up to World Music Day, which is celebrated worldwide on 21 June annually.
In a statement on Monday (14 June), Twitter said that it will organise campaigns using hashtags such as #KpopTwitter campaign where K-pop fans can participate and communicate and #KpopMasterpiece campaign to recommend hidden masterpieces.
Twitter also plans to organize various events such as #KpopFirstTweet campaign to find and share the first tweets of K-pop artists for a week period starting from June 14 on the Twitter Music account (@TwitterMusic) and the Twitter Korea official account (@TwitterKorea).
K-pop fans around the world can participate by posting a tweet using the above hashtags. Tweets that have garnered enthusiastic responses from fans will be collected and published on the Twitter blog.
Together with K-pop Radar, Twitter found that the social media platform has become “a critical tool for artists as they built global audiences”.
This analysis, “K-pop Generations Analysis by Twitter Usage”, looked at 69 total K-pop artists with more than 300,000 Twitter followers as of 1 May this year and analysed the artists by generation.
Naturally, the fourth-generation, considered the most recent, averages 323 Tweets before their official debuts.
This may be a key factor in the fourth-generation artists’ global fanbases and successes, as fourth-generation artists release their first overseas album 9 months earlier than the previous generation did on average, said Twitter.
First and second-generation K-pop stars communicated with their fans through closed communities, such as fan cafes.
From the third generation onward, artists shared content with their fans through global media platforms such as Twitter and started to communicate with wider fan bases through live streaming and text messaging channels.
Recently, beyond releasing content, K-pop stars are diversifying ways to communicate with their fans by actively utilising new features such as Fleets and Spaces on Twitter.
In addition, as offline concerts and fan signing events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they turn to online concert streaming, as well as #TwitterBlueroom live Q&A on Twitter, to connect with fans in real-time.
In terms of Twitter usage, there is a clear difference between the way that each generation used Twitter, especially in the following areas.
Excluding the first generation, who were active before Twitter launched, K-pop stars averaged 1.2 tweets per day for second-generation stars, 3.5 tweets per day for third-generation stars, and 7 tweets per day for fourth-generation stars.
Fourth-generation stars tweeted 5.8 times more than second-generation stars and two times more than third-generation stars.
Most second and third gen Kpop artists did not post tweets pre-debut; fourth gen tweet the most prior to debuting
Comparing first tweets to stars’ official debut dates, Twitter and K-pop Radar found, on average, that:
- Second-generation stars tweeted for the first time 1,154 days (more than three years) after their debut;
- Third generation artists tweeted for the first time 132 days (more than four months) after their debut;
- Fourth-generation artists tweeted for the first time 116 days (more than four months) before their debut.
Analysing the number of tweets for a year following artists’ debuts reveals other differences between the generations as well.
Most second- and third-generation artists did not post tweets before their debut and slowly increased their amount of tweets after their debut.
However, a notable exception is BTS, which opened its Twitter account in December 2012 — six months ahead of its debut.
As a K-pop group with one of the largest fanbases in the world, BTS actively communicates with its fans via social media, particularly its fandom ARMY. Currently, BTS has 36 million followers on Twitter.
Fourth-generation artists such as ATEEZ, THE BOYZ, ENHYPEN, Stray Kids, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, and TREASURE communicated with their fans after opening their Twitter accounts — months ahead of their respective debuts.
On average, fourth-generation artists tweeted an overwhelming amount before their debuts compared to second and third generations, with each artist uploading an average of 323 tweets, and accumulating 562,377 followers even before debuting.
Global content output fastest among fourth gen Kpop artists
In addition to communicating with fans globally via Twitter earlier than other generations, fourth-generation artists also released content for their fans globally faster than previous generations, on average, that:
- The fourth-generation artists released their first overseas albums nine months earlier than third-generation artists; and
- The fourth-generation artists also held their first overseas concerts 13 months earlier than third-generation artists.
Yeon-Jeong Kim, Head of Global K-pop and K-Contents Partnerships at Twitter, who led this analysis, observed based on the above findings that “direct communication with global fans through Twitter has now become a success formula for K-pop artists”.
“When BTS, a 3rd generation K-pop group, had intimate real-time conversations with its global ARMY, it set an example for the 4th generation to make this a feature of their engagement with fans,” said Kim.
Fourth-generation artists like THE BOYZ, Stray Kids, ATEEZ, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, (G)-IDLE, ITZY, TREASURE, ENHYPEN, and aespa, who have been using Twitter as an active communication channel even before their debut, are advancing to the global stages faster than the previous generations, which demonstrates that digital-based communication has a significant impact on growing their fandom.
Among the second-generation groups included in the Twitter analysis include TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, SHINee, and 2PM.
Among the third-generation groups surveyed include EXO, BTS, NCT, Red Velvet, TWICE, and BLACKPINK.
Among the fourth-generation groups included in the survey are Stray Kids, ATEEZ, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ENHYPEN, and aespa.
Most first gen Kpop groups excluded from data analysis due to being active pre-Twitter, currently do not have Twitter accounts
Twitter said that most of the first-generation groups such as HOT, Sechs Kies, SES, and Fin.K.L. were excluded from this data analysis as they were active before the launch of Twitter and do not currently have Twitter accounts.
Among first-generation artists, however, Shinwa continue to be active as a group and share their latest news through Twitter.
Seo Taiji, known as the ‘President of Culture’ and the originator of this chapter of modern K-pop, debuted as the group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992.
After the launch of Twitter, he opened his own Twitter account in April 2010 and has changed the account name to SEOTAIJI 서태지 in March 2021.
Currently, he is connecting with fans globally by holding concerts via global livestreams on Twitter.
