When do we become "ARMY"?

A common question

The world-renowned BTS fandom, ARMY.
However, it seems there are various hurdles for different people when it comes to calling oneself that.

"Am I an ARMY?"
"Am I qualified to be an ARMY?"

I see this question often.
Recently, a Noter who writes very lovely posts was honestly struggling with this, so I couldn't help but think about it along with them.

The inseparable relationship between K-pop stans and fandoms

K-pop gives fandoms fan names, which creates an identity and leads to these kinds of worries.
It's more than just "I'm in the fan club"; it feels like a struggle of "Can I have a persona as an ARMY?". Is it like being a 'Ribon' kid back in the day?

The first question: "What even is ARMY?"

When I first fell down the rabbit hole, the very existence of "ARMY" was a mystery to me.
I felt something beyond just being a fan in the bidirectional love and active engagement with Bangtan, and my honest reaction was, "Uh, what am I supposed to do?"

Eventually, you learn what it's like to be an ARMY.
In my case, I started by watching and thinking, "Armys are cute," and I feel like the realization that I was an ARMY came later.
As I watched everyone talking about various things, I wanted to join in, I wanted to talk too... and that's how I gradually became a participant.

ARMY in the narrow sense and ARMY in the broad sense

In the narrow sense, I think ARMY refers to fan club members. Because the fandom name is ARMY.

However, as mentioned above, there is a surprising amount of free content on the Weverse BTS community and YouTube. I'm a corporate slave who was a bit taken aback at first, wondering if they were even breaking even! lol
I don't know what the future holds, but at this stage, they haven't introduced paid DMs, and in countries where few people have ARMY bombs, they use their smartphones, so I don't feel like being a paying member is the most important criterion for being an "ARMY" to them.

So, that means BTS themselves accept it quite broadly, and I think it just depends on how the person feels.
My current conclusion is that this is the standard for ARMY in the broad sense.

Why do worries arise?

I personally came to the realization that "I am an ARMY" quite easily, but I wonder why I didn't worry about it much.

It might be because I concluded that "it's up to me" based on the observations mentioned above, but I also felt it might be because I'm naturally the type of person who doesn't care about others... so I'll try to explain why I think that's relevant.

Doesn't "qualification" come from comparison?

This is my own reasoning, so please listen with the premise thatit's normal for there to be different peoplebut... those who are worried about "ARMY qualifications" often say, "I'm not like this, so maybe I'm not an ARMY," and I think there is someone they are comparing themselves to in those cases.

In short, I imagine they reach that conclusion after seeing people who are going all-out in their fan activities, like spending a lot of money, or working hard on streaming, music videos, and voting, thinking:
"ARMYs are amazing"
"I can't do that"
"I can't call myself an ARMY yet"

Especially for students, they are in a unique world where everyone around them is a peer, teacher, or guardian, and there's little disparity, but on social media, they see people living all sorts of lives, so I think that's why they get concerned.

What you see isn't everything

But on the internet, you only see a fraction of other people.
Only a small portion of the vast number of ARMYs are on social media, and in my experience, I think 90% of people who have accounts barely post anything.
You don't have to think that the small handful of people who do post, and only what they choose to share, represents the whole.

As for fan psychology, rather than saying, "Goods are expensive and I can't buy them, but I'm happy there are so many free videos," people are more likely to want to say, "I bought every version!" or "I got tickets, so I'm going to all the shows!" and those things leave a stronger impression, right?

What you see on social media is closer to an exception than the standard.
That's why the "phenomenon where looking at social media makes you feel down because everyone else seems so shiny" happens, but since you just don't see the people who aren't shiny, I think it's better for your mental health not to worry about it.

You and I are on different scales

That said, "observing others and comparing yourself to them" is a basic skill for living in a social group, so I think it's necessary in its own way. I don't mean to say you should stop comparing.
Please don't imitate people like me who can't stop running down the beaten path even when they know better ( ;∀;)

When comparing, people unconsciously put each other on the same scale.
However, the other person and you are not the same weight. Your ages, social standing, and assets are different, so it's not anyone's fault if you don't balance out.
It's okay to compare. I just think it's easier if you have the perspective of "is it even necessary to balance out?"
When you see a wonderful ARMY, you can just admire them saying "Wow 💜," and there's no need for you to get on the scale with them, is there?

If you think "only people who have equally cleared the same qualifications can become ARMY," you will end up demanding that of yourself and others, so I recommend accepting that others are others.
I think the only qualification needed to be an ARMY is "liking BTS and caring about them."

Of course, financial support is important, but...

The artists aren't volunteers either, so let's support them financially if we can!
I also think it's worth joining the FC. You have to join at least once to see all the membership-exclusive content (completionist).

Simply whispering "I love BTS..." in a corner of social media, or liking their videos—those things are important, too.
Even whales are sustained by plankton so small you can't see them. It's exciting to think that the "likes" we generate every day turn into view counts, records, and help carve their names into history!

That's why, by the time you start using "we" as your first-person pronoun, I feel like the ARMY persona has already taken root inside you...

ARMY are friends, don't be afraid!

There are a huge number of ARMY, but their actual state is completely unknown. That's because the numbers vary too much depending on the platform.

By the way, I wrote 31 million community subscribers at the time of that article, but now there are 33 million. The power of a comeback to attract 2 million people in 3 months is terrifying ( ;∀;)

Just as it's hard to reach a consensus when taking a majority vote in a classroom or workplace, there are all kinds of people when there are this many of them.
But for example, even if someone says, "I wish people wouldn't call themselves ARMY if they don't spend money," that person almost never actually comes up to you and says, "Why are you calling yourself ARMY when you don't spend money?"
In the first place, if you don't write "I don't even spend money..." yourself, others won't know, and if you do write it and get harassed, just block them☆

When you're trying to enter a fandom, the nervous feeling of "Will someone say something if I do this?" is two sides of the same coin as the anticipation for a new world, so everyone experiences it to some degree.
I think the more cautious you are about observing beforehand, the more you feel that way, but if you worry too much, you won't be able to move, so just make a decision at a reasonable point and take the leap.

There are also many ARMY in the world who are dying to be kind to newcomers. There are far more of them than the mother-in-law types who want to nitpick newcomers.
Just as mothers can talk forever about pregnancy and childbirth, ARMY also love hearing stories from newcomers about "how I fell down the rabbit hole" and "what I don't understand and am struggling with right now." I'd bet my Casio Mini on it. So please come quickly. We're waiting!!

Bonus: When do we graduate from being a "newcomer"?

Because this community has a long history, there are various layers piled up like "Dynamite newcomers," so I have no idea how long you're allowed to call yourself a newcomer.
I think people who worry about "qualifications to call oneself ARMY" will eventually start worrying about "I'm still a newcomer..."

The position of "I'm still a newcomer (*ﾉωﾉ)" is fun, but if you think of it in terms of work, when the next new person joins, it's a "you're a senior now!" situation, so you end up watching your surroundings to see how long you can get away with being carefree.
By the way, the release of "Dynamite" was in the summer of 2020, which is already 5 years ago, so from my perspective, people who joined around that time are completely mid-level and witnesses to history. Oh my god...!

That part is a level-up that comes with the passage of time, so I don't think saying "I'm not a newcomer anymore" means you're slighting the veterans, but I do feel a slightly naive reaction.
Sorry for the sudden ILLIT reference, wondering when we can become "NOT CUTE ANYMORE." I'm digging through the HYBE channel right now, so I couldn't help it lol

Well, I think I'll eventually get annoyed and just decide "that's enough" and take the plunge. When you think that, that's the time to jump.
ARMY everyone, please evolve or B-cancel at your own timing. Fighting!

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