PurpleSky: ARMY on Bluesky & the Social Web

Saskia

08 Jul 2024 • 2 min read

Time and time again, we have seen communities emerge on social media based on similar interests. Within those communities have been sub-communities and within them friendship, or perhaps better labeled as acquaintance, groups.

This structure, where we seek out people who like the same things, leads to huge online communities of fans. Whether it's TV, music, even politics - people come together to talk about their interests.

Fandom is often underestimated, but it can be a very powerful tool.

Arguably, no fandom is bigger than that of K-Pop group BTS. The fans call themselves ARMY and they're certainly a formidable foe.

As a group, they move in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. They have enormous power when they come together, as seen in the past. BTS' climate activism has inevitably rubbed off on the fans and they work hard as a unit to make real change.

Fandom can make or break social media.

Now, some ARMY are making the move to Bluesky. A somewhat new social platform, built to challenge Twitter, by offering a more transparent and democratic alternative.

This migration may be small compared to the numbers of BTS fans on social media, but it is powerful.

When I first went on Bluesky this week I was blown away by the hijacking of the 'Discover' feed. Every other post was about BTS & ARMY, either from fans of the group or welcoming (but slightly confused) individuals who had woken to a similar feed as I had.

Thankfully, I have a couple of friends who are ARMY themselves so it didn't take me long to realise what was going on. But I was shocked at the apparent scale of it.

I don't know how many new ARMY accounts have joined Bluesky, it could only be a couple of hundred - a small node in the inner workings of the fandom itself - but they conquered the 'not-quite-an-algorithm' with little effort.

If all it takes are a few new accounts and a few likes to transform the social experience for unsuspecting users, should we be worried?

I don't think so. I think we need to build in safeties to prevent spiked engagement taking over some decentralised platforms (similar issues have occured on Mastodon), but this migration is good news.

Decentralised social technology needs fandom.

This is how we spread the message that there are better online social alternatives to siloed directorships. We encourage people to be themselves, celebrate what they love, and show off the fact that this space is built (and currently is) better than the old one!

If other platforms are going to take away the features they love, why should fans stay there? Hopefully more people will test the waters with new social platforms, enjoy it, share and get others to join in.

Up next is introducing the idea of federation to ARMY, so no matter which platform they're on they can connect across the Social Web. I think they'll like that one, after all, isn't fandom just a big community - no matter where you're from?

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