Chuxuan Zheng
Pronouns: She/her
Research Mentor(s): So Yeon Park
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Stanford University / NonUM
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 6 – 4:40pm – 5:30 pm
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: So Yeon Park, Chuxuan Zheng
Presenter: 39
Abstract
ARMY, BTS’s fanbase, is probably the biggest and the most powerful fandom community in the world. In 2020, they launched the #MatchAMillion campaign and successfully raised over a million dollars for Black Lives Matter in one day. However, while we have witnessed well-organized successful feats, little is known about how people find and take roles within such organically formed fandom communities. This study investigated how people find their place in an active rhizomatic community. We conducted a survey study on Twitter and garnered 968 responses from BTS fans who identified as being ARMY. There were 776 participants who reported that they had a role as ARMY, and their role was overall very clear. Yet participants felt that it was on average slightly challenging to find a role: 42.46% of the participants responded that it took a few months or more to adjust and find a place within ARMY. We performed a thematic analysis on over 200 free-text responses to the question of what the adjustment period was like. This study aims to provide guidance for online fandoms to support new fans in transition as well as provide implications for social media platforms to help users find belonging in such rhizomatic communities.
Interdisciplinary, Social Sciences
