Long before the existence of Netflix, Viu, V Live and Weverse, being a fan of K-Pop or Korean entertainment was definitely one of the hardest things to do in 2009. With a lack of platforms and resources available, it was a struggle to find shows that had English subtitles for me to understand in less than 24 hours,  or even get close to having the idol-fan interaction. 

Before I share about how different the fan experience has changed over the past decade, let me bring you to the start of my fangirling days (Note: This is the writer’s personal experience and it is not applicable for everyone).

I was 13 when I was first introduced to the world of K-dramas and eventually K-Pop. Back then, I was pulled into the 2009 hit drama, Boys Over Flowers, and SHINee was my first K-Pop group because they sang the OST for the drama, Stand By Me. I started to grow curious about the whole K-Pop scene and how it worked.

It started off with Hello Baby, then Star Golden Bell Challenge, Strong Heart and many more. Compared to my local broadcast network, there was so much different content style to consume. One thing led to the next and I started to find out about all the K-Pop groups, their names, their debut dates. I literally knew every song that came out because I rushed home every Friday for Music Bank and most songs had a catchy lyrics or tunes like, “Nobody Nobody but You”, “Ring Ding Dong, Ring Ding Dong”, “Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry”, which were easy to remember.

Compared to my boundless amount of energy and never-ending brain capacity to memorize such information back then, if you asked me to even name what I had for breakfast yesterday, I would struggle like a two year old trying to sing the alphabet song. So that brings us to the question, how much has the fan experience changed in the last decade? Well, let’s find out!

1. Personal Resources

Before you start off a new-found hobby, while passion and dedication can bring you far, you are mostly restricted by a few things. When I was a teen, I was limited by two things —  money and parents’ permission.

 

Sure, I hated studying and was always a broke kid. I skipped meals to save money (Please don’t ever do this!) but it was considered a happy, stress-free period because I was so easily contented whenever idols visited my country and I could actually see them!

To list the things I’ve done:

Queuing overnight for better spots ✅
Screaming at the top of my lungs ✅
Going to the airport to welcome idols ✅
Going overseas for concerts ✅

Basically with an endless amount of energy, I did as much as I could to soak in the experience. I even started working at 14 at my aunt’s cafe during school term breaks, just so I could afford the tickets for these events and eventually, overseas. The only downside to being a teen was that I was not financially independent and could only attend events if granted permission. Whenever I came home past my curfew, I was grounded.

Fast forward to being 25 — while money and parents’ permission is no longer much of an issue, time and energy is. If you asked me to do any of the things I’ve done previously, I would probably give a hard pass and just sleep in because adulting and working is a chore and it tires me out more than standing in a mosh pit fighting for that good spot. 

Buying albums, merchandise, fan club membership, concert passes online — I wouldn’t bat an eye and swipe my credit card (In a responsible manner of course, since I have loans and bills to pay for.) Thinking back, juggling school and extra co-curricular activities isn’t as bad compared to adulting because life was so simple (but yay to current financial freedom). I am definitely more of a conservative fangirl now as compared to my old self. Being older grants you more financial freedom as a fan because you can afford more things now and even go to South Korea (Pre-Covid) for holidays and see your idols during comeback season but energy-wise? Hmm, I think I’ll be dead tired by 10PM regardless.

2. Platforms to Dive Deeper Into The Fandom

Do you remember those days where you could only consume content on YouTube with the lowest resolution of 144p video quality and watching it happily only to find out part [8/12] is missing, and no matter how you search on the platform, you can’t find the missing part and you have to piece the puzzle together by watching [9/12]? 

Well, that was fangirling in the early 2010s for you (To explain how limited our resources were, you may view an episode of Star Golden Bell over here). If you were lucky enough to have cable TV (I had KBS World!), you could consume high quality Korean content with English subtitles. The catch? I had to rush home every Friday after school to catch Music Bank and sit dutifully in front of the television just so I would not miss out on the performance. But in 2021? You can just search the performances on YouTube shortly after the programme is aired and there are even solo fancams provided by the various music programmes for you to just zoom in on your bias. 

Fun Fact: Solo fancams of idols were not really a thing in the early 2010s. However with EXID Hani‘s legendary Up&Down fancam, solo fancams have now become a K-pop mainstay.

We are so lucky to have various over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as V Live, Viu and Netflix for 1080p High-Definition and subtitles in various languages for K-Drama or K-Variety to consume in 2021. Imagine if we had to go through the pandemic without all these? I think a lot of us might not have enough content to help us through this period, especially when we are not allowed to go out.  

Through the globalization of Hallyu Wave, many tech and entertainment companies had to innovate to keep up with the ever growing demand to provide high quality content and subtitles in various languages to cater to fans all over the world.

If we had this back in the early 2010s, perhaps I might had been able to pick up the Korean language faster in my teen years while watching shows compared to picking it up in twenties during my university exchange programme.

3. Interactions with Idols

If you were an international fan, chances of you ever getting to interact with your idols were practically zero in the early 2010s. Okay, maybe when they visited your country for a performance and you get that small little wave (but they will not remember anything about you) or if you had the means and were smart enough to apply for fansign events in early 2010s, then 100%.

Back then you could only apply in Korea either through Daum Fancafe — where it was in Korean only — or by purchasing albums at the physical stores in Korea. 

Present day? Well it is truly a present (LOL) because with V Live, Weverse and Bubble, you can interact with your idols from your bed in your pyjamas without struggling with the language barrier These platforms provide translations without struggling to level up in Korean through the Fancafe. 

Access to such exclusive interactions does cost subscription fees and these expenses may add up if you are a fan of various groups who are active on different platforms but hey, I think it’s worth it. How else will you get to interact with your idols unless you actually fly to South Korea? 

Also, because of the pandemic, they have resorted to conducting fansign events online, which is even better because you get to interact with your idols, record the experience and keep it as a memory without leaving your house. Though it is normally not cheap to enter a fansign event (you usually have to buy several albums — more if the group is popular) and because it is a raffle system, there is no guarantee of a spot. However, with online fansign events, some people have claimed that they bought only one album and won a fansign event slot with their bias, so I guess it really just boils down to luck.

Fun Fact: B1A4 Gongchan burst out in laughter after finding out that a fan wore a blouse but wore pyjama pants for an online video fansign event.

While being a K-pop fan in your teens and adulthood have their differences, our love for our idols still remains the same. As we get older, we may be less active as fans because of changes to our priorities in our lives. But it is definitely not something to feel guilty about should we need to spend less time on our idols and focus on ourselves. A healthy fan life would be to actually put yourself first before your idols, and I believe every idol preaches and supports that notion.

So regardless of which life stage you are at now, and how early or late you might be into your respective fandoms, K-Pop is a place to meet new people, gain memories and hopefully forge new friendships out of it while sharing your love for your idols and that no matter how young or old you are, you are always welcomed 🙂 

Written by: Phebs
Featured Image by: Agnes