Since mid-February, there have been countless concert and event postponement and cancellation announcements, disruptions in merchandise and album distribution, and even a ban on live audiences at music shows. 

All these changes have wreaked havoc on fans and idols alike. Many fans have expressed their frustration at the loss of the one thing they had been looking forward to all year being taken away without any hope of a new date in sight. Idols have also expressed their frustrations at the inability to see their fans for such an extended period of time, having to go on music shows to promote to empty studios, and even debuting without meeting their fans for the first time. Because of the world situation, fans and idols alike have been getting creative with how to fill the time and keep themselves from going crazy. 

The Fans

Dress Up Like Your Favorite Album 

This trend emerged when a GOT7 fan @majukyum showed off her album fit on Twitter and soon the trend took off. Fans dressed up in all kinds of outfits, ranging from traditional all the way to rave gear. Fans of all shapes, sizes, and ages took part in this activity, which no doubt sparked the clearing of some fans’ closets where they discovered old pieces that they may have forgotten about. We go more into this in a separate article here.

Get Your Tickets for ________ Online Concert

No doubt inspired by the announcement of BTS’s BANGBANGCON, fans have begun hosting online concerts of their own. Fans share concert clips and fancams under hashtags like #______onlineconcert. This way fans can relive or experience these moments for the first time while easing the FOMO that is no doubt bubbling below the surface. 

Pick Your Quarantine House

While “pick your seat” graphics are super common within fandoms, these new versions hit a little closer to home. Who would you want to be stuck inside with for an unknown period of time? These conundrums often leave fans trying to rationalize between their bias or bias wrecker, or would they want a peaceful vibing house or an energetic borderline chaotic house? These are the choices that can create riffs between friends and fans alike. Check out the graphic below about which SM Entertainment house you’d want to stay in below, created by @jeshika2014 on Twitter! 

Online Random Dance Plays

With many already using online tools such as Zoom and Google Hangouts for their studies or jobs, fans have decided to take something they have been forced to use and turn it into something they enjoy using. Through coordinated efforts, fans have been hosting virtual random dance plays for anyone all over the world to participate in. A good example of this has been what YouTube channel The J has been sharing, their most recent one being uploaded on April 7. Check it out below! 

The Idols

TikToks

While many idol groups and soloists already had accounts they would occasionally post to, many more have popped up within the last few weeks. TikTok makes it easy for idols to make fun content, participate in the many challenges and even create a few of their own. An example of this is the #BoredInTheHouse challenge that is currently trending among idols and soloists across the platform. 

“Texting Fans” 

A few groups and solo artists have been sharing phone numbers with us that allow fans to “text” them. These numbers are used usually for sending exclusive updates to fans. However, recently fans are discovering that they really are talking to the idols and not bots. Most recently Eric Nam has been exposing fans who have accused him of being a bot when he was just wanting to check in on his fans. These subscriptions are going to cause fans to have trust issues in the future. Lesson learned, don’t clown the bots.  

Endless Notifications and Constant Attention

If it’s not social media, it’s the fancafes. If it’s not the fancafes, it’s VLIVE. Idols are spending more time on all of these platforms these days trying to connect with the fans they miss as desperately as fans miss them. With the constant stream of content, it is definitely spamming fans’ phones, much to their delight. It’s hard to miss them when they are always paying attention to us, and we love every minute of it. However, we all hope they are able to return to the stage in Korea and abroad very soon. 

Final Thoughts 

The world is crazy right now; all of us are feeling the toll on both our mental and physical health. Don’t feel like you have to fill the time with something, or choose to fill the time with everything you want; the choice is yours. Take care of yourself during this tough time and if you want to chat with us, hit us up on any of our social media platforms; we love hearing from you. And remember, everything is going to be okay.