What is ARMY?

In recent years, social media has increasingly become associated with the term Army. But what exactly is Army? Why do many people express concern when it comes to Army? Let's find out through the following article.

1. What is Army?

Army /'ɑ:mi/, an English term meaning Military, crowd, or army. Mostly understood as the military, a force tasked with protecting national sovereignty, sometimes undertaking combat missions, maintaining order, and social security.

In the phrase Department of The Army, Army refers to the United States Army, responsible for conducting combat missions in land warfare campaigns.

However, in recent times, Army has been used by young people to refer to fans of the BTS (South Korean) music group and revolves around BTS. BTS often calls their fans Army, and these fans also identify themselves as Army.

ARMY stands for Adorable, Representative, Master of Ceremonies, Youth. Roughly, it means Representing the adorableness of youth. Using Army to name the BTS fandom signifies that fans will always stand by BTS. Just as every Boy Scout needs a bulletproof vest, for BTS, that's ARMY.

2. The significance of Army to BTS

Army is one of the largest fandoms in the world, breaking records in its own unique way by engaging in new activities to support BTS. With their love for BTS, Armies have helped BTS set Guinness World Records for the most user-interacted tweets, most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours, and most viewed K-pop music video on YouTube in 24 hours.

Also, thanks to the massive Army, BTS defeated Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez to win the Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist and became the first Korean artist to win this award in 2017.

In the fierce competition among fans of Taylor Swift, Fifth Harmony, One Direction, BlackPink, and CNCO, BTS's Army won the Choice Fandom Award at the 2018 Teen Choice Awards.

To show gratitude for the efforts of Army, the BTS boys frequently organize events to express love to their fans. They often receive thanks and warm welcomes from these boys because more than anyone else, they understand the influence of Army on the band's musical journey and contribute to the recent awards.

3. Why is the Army Fandom so bitterly hated?

Alongside the positive aspects that Army brings to the group, it cannot be denied that Army is increasingly disliked by many people, especially other fandoms. Let's explore the reasons why Army is most hated today.

Idolization Delusion

Once someone becomes a fan, everyone wishes their idol to become famous, praised by many. Therefore, they often do various things to achieve that. However, the methods employed by Army make many people unacceptable. They always appear arrogant, dangerous, and aggressive in the BTS-is-everything mindset, regardless of consequences. They are ready to suddenly give their idol the title of 'million-selling artist.' Constantly leaving exaggerated comments on fansites, boasting and exaggerating their idol's achievements. And most importantly, they are willing to demean other music groups recklessly; to them, this is the era of BTS.

Ready to attack other artists

It all started when BTS released the song 'Run' and at the same time, they saw the release of Epik High's song also titled 'Run'. Armies made noise on forums, disregarding understanding, believing that Epik High had stolen BTS's song. However, Epik High's song was released six years ago, while BTS's was released just over a year ago. Not stopping there, to defend their idol, Armies once prepared about 600 Spam messages to confront other competing singers.

In a scandal where BTS was suspected of plagiarizing SHINee's MV, to prevent attacks from the SHINee fandom, Armies went on the offensive, targeting Key – a member of SHINee who was the first to be hit. Right after the scandal appeared, his account was added to a group chat, then continuously harassed and spammed from early morning.

Belligerent

Frequent Army disturbances

Many Armies are consistently restless, often engaging in conflicts with other fandoms. They are willing to spend a lot of time creating numerous memes mocking idols and other fandoms, constantly posting ridicule articles. Added to that is the condescending attitude towards fans of other artists with highly offensive words, disrespectful articles, and various childish spamming methods.

Tarnishing their own idol

Armies believe their actions are protecting their idol. However, their thoughtless, arrogant actions make other fandoms look down on BTS's idol. Not to mention, with their current arrogant nature, sooner or later, an amalgamation of antifans from other K-pop fandoms will form. In the long run, it will affect BTS's reputation, and Armies will lose respect in the entertainment industry.