Dilemma of Multifandom: Does the MAMA Filter Out Fake Fans From Real Fans?
Disclaimer: There is a fair amount of generalization in this post, so please bear with me. I will try to keep it as objective as possible, but I don’t think it’s possible to write something of this nature without generalizing at least a tiny bit. I used Arabic numerals for small numbers to prove my point more clearly. I didn’t proofread much, so please forgive my grammar xD
If you are an international fan who have been around the K-Pop world for a long time, I think you will know about Korean fans’ view on being “multifandom.” Of course, the degree of unacceptability will vary within individuals. However, most hardcore Korean fans (those who religiously vote, stream, purchase, etc.) will consider any jahbduk (multifandom: stanning multiple groups) as fake fans. Here’s why.
Korean fans believe they feed their artists. You know, like a father or a mother supporting his or her offsprings. I do not think that is being too farfetched, considering album and concert ticket sales are probably an artist’s top sources of income. They have great pride in the process of growing up together, building the fan-star relationship, and sharing the honor of their artist’s success.
Now, building upon the idea, imagine you are the chief of a clan, working hard to support everyone in it. But let’s say you decided it would be nice to be the chief for two or more clans. Your resources are limited, and you have to figure out a way to distribute them. You say you love each of your clans equally. But can you show that by distributing your care evenly? And even if you manage the seemingly impossible feat, are you really doing what is best for each of your families?
Take MAMA voting for example. Let’s say you support three boy groups, Group A, Group B, and Group C. You are limited to 10 votes per IP address a day (correct me if I’m wrong). You would be giving only 3~4 votes to each for Artist of the Year if you want to split. Let’s say you vote for Group A 4 times. This leaves 3 votes for Group B and C each. You harmed Group B and C’s chance of winning by voting less for them. Looking at it from the point of view of Group A supporters, you could have gave Group A 6 extra votes per day, but you didn’t. Fans who only support Group A will consider you a third of a fan. But since you wasted 3 votes each for Group B and C, you technically only helped Group A to gain 1 vote, making you one tenth of a fan. Wow, a triple whammy. Can you really call yourself a real fan of any of the three teams?
Sure you can. Well, depending on your definition of a fan. You did vote for them, which shows you do care about them. But is that really all a fan needs to do? Koreans don’t think so. As Jessi once said, your three faves aren’t on the same team. This is a competition. There is only one Artist of the Year, and only that group will get covered in the main article on Naver as the winner of the glorious category. Let’s say Group A won. Who knows, maybe Group C could have won if 10,000 “multifandomers” like yourself did not waste their votes on the other two teams. “How disloyal of you,” say Korean supporters of Group C.
So are all international fans who are “multifandom” disloyal? No. Disloyal is hardly the right term. In fact, most international fans are not loyal to one specific group, so how can they be disloyal? Not only do international fans not hold the same responsibilities as Korean fans do, they do not need to. I am not trying to be rude or generalize (I sincerely apologize if you are offended). It’s the truth. Before i-fans are fans of a group, they are listeners of K-Pop. Koreans don’t listen to K-Pop. They simply listen to… music. Korean fans appreciate other artists as casual consumers. They listen to their songs, watch their music videos, and sometimes check out their live performances, even. They respect their hard work and craft. But doesn’t that pretty much sound like what a fan would do and think?
Yes and no. Koreans don’t really need to be a fan of an artist to listen to his or her music. Just easy, passive listening. However, international listeners will place themselves in the fan category if they are doing all of the things listed in the previous paragraph. It is easier for international listeners to form special connections with the artists they listen to. That’s inevitable because the path they take to discover a group and to like its songs is much more active, adventurous, and significant than that of Korean listeners. It requires i-fans to step out of their comfort zone, learn new Korean names, read romanized and translated lyrics to sing along to and comprehend the song, find the fan subbing channels, etc. With such efforts, it is understandable why international listeners feel the number of fandoms they are in reflects their knowledge and experience in the K-Pop world. Many i-fans join K-Pop because of the tight-knit communities. It’s always nice to be welcomed by a group of people. It’s almost like a cool thing to be part of more fandoms.
So it all comes down to this. Koreans are already exposed to all different sorts of Korean music. They were born to it. It requires something really special for them to be drawn by one specific artist. Almost like destiny. Once they become fans, they have an intimate relationship with their artists. They watch them perform more than five days of the week during promotions, raise money to buy them gifts, attend their fan meetings and fan signs, and so on. They cry together, laugh together, dream together, and develop together. Unfortunately, international fans do not have such opportunity. For international fans, every K-Pop star is a representative of the genre. Each and every group that delivers great quality K-POP to them is precious. Koreans think the same, too. They appreciate the many singers who present great music. It’s just they don’t call that “stanning.” They reserve that term for the very special one and only. Because the term is used very frequently, almost synonymously as “appreciating,” Korean fans, in a way, misunderstand international fans for being “disloyal” and liking “whatever’s good and new.” International fans can also have the one and only true group they will stay loyal to, but restraining themselves to one artist will severely limit their K-Pop experience. It only makes sense for them to explore and be into multiple groups.
With that said, don’t be sad or angry when you see groups like Red Velvet not doing well for Daesang-tier awards, such as Song of the Year. Almost everyone likes Red Flavor and Red Velvet is probably on almost everyone’s “multifandom” list. But when it comes to voting, multifandom doesn’t exist, just like how it doesn’t exist in the dictionary. When they have to choose one, they will choose the Group A in their hearts. The question is… What do we call them? Fake fans? Casual fans? Not fans at all? Does it even make sense for a fan to be “casual?” I would say the answer is “cannot be determined, nor should anyone try to determine.” I think it’s more important for K-fans and i-fans to understand their differences when it comes to their ideas of “fandom” and that neither is superior to the other. Any type of positive attention to the group is a good thing. It’s during the award seasons when the divide between fully dedicated fans and “casual” fans is exacerbated, due to the drastic take-all or nothing nature of voting. The situation will be mitigated once the stupid awards are over.
Personally, I am thankful for all the international fans who listen to and follow K-Pop, especially i-ReVeluvs. They are the ones making the genre more dynamic and diverse. I know many ReVeluvs who try their best to get involved in activities such as streaming on Melon and voting on music show programs, which are not easy to do overseas. Korean fans are surely aware of that and are very thankful.
But what if Group A and Group B are competing for first place on Music Bank? Who will you vote for? :)
