How to be an ARMY who respects BTS and other fans

Everyone loves BTS in their own way. Some people collect albums, some travel to concerts, some know every episode of Run BTS by heart, and some show up on Weverse once a week and are perfectly happy with that. There's no test you have to pass to be part of ARMY. But there's one thing that should hold true for everyone: behind BTS are seven real people, and they have a right to privacy, safety, and a life off the stage.

The line sometimes seems obvious, but it's easy to lose sight of within a fandom. If you happen to run into a member eating at a restaurant, out for a walk, traveling with friends, or spending time with family, your first instinct might be to grab your phone. That's exactly the moment worth remembering that not every moment is a public event. Secretly photographing someone, following them down the street, or immediately posting their location isn't any less invasive just because a fan is the one doing it.

The BTS members themselves have asked for that kind of space more than once. Airports are an especially sensitive topic, since members arriving or departing can turn into people pushing and running after them, which isn't just unpleasant for the members but for other travelers and staff too. The same goes for hotels, restaurants, gyms, and other places they haven't come to perform at. If someone's there privately, the nicest form of support is sometimes simply leaving them alone.

K-pop also has a term, sasaeng, for people whose behavior crosses a much more serious line. These are obsessive fans who try to get hold of private phone numbers and addresses, track artists, show up at their private schedules, or otherwise intrude into their lives in other ways. Sasaeng isn't some kind of honorary title for "biggest fan." Quite the opposite, the word is used for behavior that can threaten an artist's privacy and safety.

But something doesn't have to be that extreme for it to be worth pausing and asking whether it's okay. Sharing a photo taken without a member's knowledge might seem harmless, but if the photo was taken during their private time, every new share just grows the audience for something that maybe was never supposed to become public in the first place. The same goes for information about hotels, flights, family members, and other details they didn't choose to share themselves.

Respect matters within the fandom itself too. You don't have to buy every album, stream all night, or know what Jungkook said on a live seven years ago to be a "real" ARMY. Support isn't a competition. In the same way, there's no need to attack other artists or their fans to defend BTS. The seven members won't become any more successful because someone spent three hours in their name arguing with a stranger online.

There's also how we treat the members themselves. Having a favorite is completely normal. Insulting the other six because you love one isn't. The same goes for endlessly analyzing their friendships, personal relationships, glances, touches, and every single person who shows up next to them. It's fun to follow their relationships and inside jokes, but none of us actually know their private lives the way they know each other.

Maybe the simplest rule is the one that doesn't even need writing down as a rule: if you'd be uncomfortable with a stranger doing the same thing to you, you probably shouldn't do it to them either. You wouldn't want someone following you to your hotel, photographing you while you eat, asking for your brother's number, or posting where you currently are just because they recognized you on the street.

ARMY is a massive fandom, and it's impossible for millions of people to always agree on everything. That's exactly why fandom culture is built out of a lot of small decisions. Not sharing a private photo. Not spreading an unverified rumor. Not pushing toward a member you spot during their private time. Not attacking someone for having a different bias. And simply letting the seven people you love just be seven people sometimes.

In the end, being a good fan doesn't mean being present for every moment of their lives. Sometimes the best way to show how much you care about someone is knowing when to give them space. 💜