A Study on the Effects of Digital Media’s Network Attributes on Participatory Behavior: Focused on the Openness and Bonding of the A.R.M.Y Network

2-1 Digital Network Community

Advances in digital technology mean that fans have a wide variety of media to choose from, such as websites, video channels, fan sites, forums, and social media networks[4]. Fans interact daily through the media, engaging in online discussions related to their interests and engrossing themselves in certain music genres, products and issues. Through this process, fandom communities provide members with virtual spaces in which to establish relationships and communicate with other fans who share common interests[4]. Digital technology greatly extends fandoms as communities[5].

In particular, social media is well suited to the social activities of fandom[6]. Fans manage friends by expressing themselves and linking relationships with other members while forming strong relationships with celebrities[6]. Fans form groups to carry out social activities through social media rather than participating in weekend fan rallies that physically move or fan sites where they have to read large amounts of content generated by others[6]. Digital technology enables fandom members to operate within a much different structure than in the pre-digital era[7]. The potential of digital fandom as a social community can be illustrated above all by the organizational characteristics of fandom.

Online community organizations are based on self-ethical norms[8][9]. Individuals determine the norms of the community on their own[9]. They move away from hierarchical vertical structures, forming communities into horizontal structures that are autonomously connected around sharing and collaboration[8]. Members of the community engage in collective action based on group values while incorporating these values into their own[2]. Such collective behavioral performance, which is the essential characteristic of the fandom community[2], is revealed in a unique way.

Individual fans use various methods to extend their interests into the public domain. Specific tactics employed to induce other fans to participate are consequently the same as the communication methods used by individuals, such as analyzing text, processing information, and sharing information with other members while searching for the necessary information[6]. Fandoms create basic conditions to participate in collective action by improving their ability to communicate and network with other fans within their community[3].

2-2 Types of Capital in Digital Network Community

In the community, individual fans work to gain psychological rewards such as individual self-esteem or recognition from others rather than economic rewards[8]. In particular, fans in the online space form communities through a process called gift exchange[10]. The principles of not seeking profit and not hurting anyone have so far been maintained within fandoms regarding the notion that profit-seeking or compensating actions are inappropriate[10].

However, the image of friendly and egalitarian fandom communities[6] is different from reality. Hierarchy and tension always exist within fan communities[11]. Fans are in the paradoxical situation of sharing common interests with their fan targets while competing for access to them, knowledge related to them, and their status within the community[11]. As a result, hierarchies specifically regarding various types of capital are present within fan communities[4]. Bourdieu pointed out that such capital is unevenly distributed in the form of economic, social, and cultural capital[12].

Fans use various forms of capital to take initiative. They define their own identities within a community by exerting effort and enthusiasm for their fan targets (psychological capital), by having knowledge about the fandom (cultural capital), by establishing relationships with important people within the fandom (social capital), and by investing in a fan target in ways such as consuming official goods (economic capital)[4][11].

Research on brand fandoms specifically address how fandom communities utilize cultural capital and social capital in online and social media spaces[13][14]. Members share the feeling that they are together, emphasizing bonds within the community [13]. Fans maintain the community by welcoming and integrating new members and feeling a sense of responsibility for the entire community[13]. As a result, the community provides them with both cultural and social capital in the process of forming its collective norms[14].

According to a recent study of the BTS and Super Junior fandom, fans use media to invest in cultural capital, such as purchasing albums or goods and buying concert tickets, and to build social capital through the formation of relationships and the recognition of social hierarchy and identity within the community[4]. While the cultural capital of an individual fan can be used to build new social relationships around common interests, social capital makes it easy to form cultural capital representing new knowledge related to the fandom[4].

2-3 Digital Network Community and Participation

Some scholars argue that the effects of online interaction are negative for the formation of social capital because online interactions consume limited time[15], while others suggest that the online space fosters social activities and expands them to the real world[16]. In this paper, the social networks experienced by individuals using digital media are classified into two types following Putnam[17]: bridging networks and bonding networks. A bridging network is an open and inclusive network where emotional bonds are weak, whereas a bonding network is an exclusive network of strongly connected individuals[17]. Online spaces are inherently suitable for the formation and maintenance of weak ties between members [18]. In contrast, anonymity and interactivity, which are characteristics of online spaces, also induce strong bonds between members because they easily link people to common interests[19]. Digital spaces can foster unique interactions because they bring together various members in ways that transcend demographic, sociological, regional, and cultural differences. The relevance of bridging and bonding networks to social capital is of great concern to scholars[20]. In this context, how types of networks and social media used by fandom are related to participatory social capital is an interesting research issue.

• RQ> How are digital media’s network attributes (bridging vs. bonding) related to participatory social behavior?

2-4 Types of Social Participation

In terms of collective behavior, Putnam specifically divided social capital into three types: social activities related to community interests, donation and charity activities based on altruism, and civil movements oriented toward public interest, human rights, and social justice[17]. In this study, we explain different types of social participation among the BTS fandom by applying characteristics of collective behavior of the community, centering on the three types of collective behavior described by Putnam[17], while considering the four dimensions below, derived from the existing literature.

First, social participation can be divided into active or passive participation based on spontaneity. A fandom can be defined as a voluntary community based on membership and shared emotional connections[21]. Second, the persistence of participation plays an important role in determining the nature of participation: whether one simply participates in social action or steadily determines the outcomes of participation[22].

Third, social participation can be classified according to participation in online virtual spaces and participation in terms of actual action in real space[2]. Recently, fandoms have formed communities that transcend time and space through online and social media. On the other hand, participation in the real world includes various forms of collective action, ranging from idol performances, events, regional assemblies, to protest rallies and street demonstrations. Therefore, the participatory social behaviors of fandoms can be examined in four dimensions: voluntary, continuous, online, and offline.

4-1 Sampling and Procedures

In this study we conducted 20 in-depth interviews. The age distribution ranged from 13 years to mid-50 years, and the occupations included an elementary school teacher, students, office workers, professional jobs (an announcer, a writer, a producer), and stay-at-home wives. Males are underrepresented in ARMY, and we interviewed only two male ARMY members. In-depth interviews were conducted from September 10 to October 25, 2019, mostly face-to-face except for ARMY 2, 8, and 9, who were interviewed over the phone. Each interview took an hour and a half on average.

4-2 Results

Most of the ARMY members first discovered BTS on YouTube, a vast repository of BTS content that allows ARMY members to view relatively long videos such as BTS music videos, behind-the-scenes fancams, and BTS' own channel, at any time. In contrast, V-Live is a unique platform through which BTS members directly broadcast in real time. Although there is little contact with other fans, BTS members, even if their personal information is not directly disclosed, often show their human selves while telling behind-the-scenes stories about the songs. For fans, the way BTS looks on stage and the way they look on V-Live is completely different. Unlike YouTube, V-Live seems more private to ARMY members.

A college student, ARMY since 2014, would find videos related to BTS with his friends in the past, but these days he shares videos when alerted to him on Twitter. As online content is quantitatively abundant, fans experience information more efficiently by sharing images or news within the ARMY network. Sharing information in daily life is a realistic way to become a fanatic. Weverse, the official BTS fan site, was newly launched in 2019 and has characteristics of both an official site and Twitter. Weverse provides abundant information about BTS, such as video content and writings and selfies from BTS members, and builds the ARMY community by taking advantage of an open network. This ironically has the effect of dismantling the existing community, which used to have its own identity. The recent influx of older and younger fans into the ARMY community has caused its unique identity to gradually disappear. A twenty two-year-old ARMY confesses, “My aunt can’t recognize the faces of BTS members, but she says she is an ARMY.”

Currently, the ARMY community using digital media is highly diverse. The type of fandom also varies because BTS fans are attracted to BTS’s strong charismatic image as well as their friendly neighborhood image. The broad spectra of fandoms subsumed within the ARMY community comprises myriad networks of small groups, which fosters social capital. In terms of social capital, The ARMY community is open-minded outside, which is a bridging property, and connected inside, which is a bonding property. An office worker of 31 age began ARMY activities because she liked the openness of ARMY. “We got close quickly because of the homogeneity of liking something together. The feeling of being open was nice.” Since she publicly announced herself as an ARMY member at work, she realized that her status in the company has risen in line with BTS' global popularity. The moment one declares oneself as ARMY, one comes to identify oneself with BTS. The ARMY community features an open culture referred to as ‘Anyone Together.’

A male office worker hesitated to actively engage in ARMY activities due to social prejudice. However, watching reaction videos posted by male ARMY members overseas on YouTube, he had confidence that "I'm one of the male fans who like BTS." If he hadn't seen YouTube videos, he would have limited himself to listening to BTS music without participating in any ARMY activities. The ARMY culture welcomes any fans regardless of age or gender.

Twitter is the communication platform that most ARMY members use to contact BTS members privately. It is an official channel of communication that connects stars and fans directly, and a place where fans communicate with each other [24]. Twitter use can easily expand a fandom community because it offers anonymity without taking the source of information seriously[25]. Jenkins also emphasized its usefulness as a platform for expressing oneself while sharing information[6]. In other words, Twitter users can express themselves by choosing the specific community that fits them. When people communicate in Twitter, the way they express themselves becomes similar. Bonds formed within Twitter are “very close and even exchanging phone numbers, and participating in events together” (ARMY 7, a high school student, 16). Working environments online or in social media spaces is strongly influenced by community culture, which is based on the message and social values of BTS.

“I usually use Twitter, YouTube, and Weverse. I'm not lonely at all. And there's all the information I want. I always feel like I'm with ARMY. I think it's natural to do something together because of the environment around me” said ARMY 4, an office worker of 28 age. All ARMY members do things together and share experiences in the name of ARMY. There are online events to celebrate the birthdays of BTS members or to donate coffee proceeds in the name of ARMY. Individual fans are one among many, but still experience the ability to make changes in society[25]. The psychology of fans participating in social activities is based on spontaneity and efficacy of acts[26], and the satisfaction experienced by fans in this process leads to social capital[27].

The ARMY is not just a fandom organization, but a community of social practices. In reality, it is not easy for an individual who sympathizes with the social message advocated by BTS to practice it alone. “If I suddenly try to do volunteer work, people around me will ask. I think it's very important that I have friends who feel the same way” (ARMY 1, a writer, 42). The confidence that an individual fan has in the community extends from a sense of belonging, which leads to voluntary fan behavior[28]. Individual ARMY members exhibit interests in social issues that are greatly influenced by other ARMY members, who they meet through digital media. ARMY 4, an office worker, learned about social issues through ARMY-related posts on Twitter, such as a big fire in the Amazon or a massacre in Africa. The openness of the ARMY community provides opportunities for ARMY members to participate in society. On the other hand, when certain issues are publicized within the community, individual fans are not free from the influence of the community because individual fans are active within the community, which means that they experience social norms through interactions with other fans[29].

Last winter, ARMY 19, who had seen other ARMY members heeding BTS’ messages and volunteering, felt ashamed that she had not volunteered herself and engaged in volunteer work for the first time since joining the ARMY. She joined other members working in a nursing home making kimchi. “I am doing it under the name of ARMY. It's possible because there are ARMYs around me.” (ARMY 19, an office worker, 31). Within the ARMY community, individuals are free to transform themselves into leaders, organizers, and followers, while flexibly choosing their own identity[30]. The important thing is that members work in horizontal relationships rather than vertical hierarchies[30]. The open and equal relationships between members of digital fandoms induces friendly interactions and bonds between members.

In conclusion, various digital media used by ARMY member, such as YouTube, V-Live, Twitter, and Weverse, have qualities of both bridging and bonding properties, leading ARMY members to move toward societal practice. It is necessary to take a full-fledged look at the relationship between the properties of the network and social participation in digital media that ARMY actually uses, which has confirmed the results of <STUDY 1>. In <STUDY 2>, we will break down the RQ to specifically understand the relationship between the network attributes (bridging vs. bonding) of each digital media and the fandom's social involvement.

• RQ -1> How do Twitter’s network attributes of a fandom community relate to participatory social behavior?
• RQ -2> How do Youtube’s network attributes of a fandom community relate to participatory social behavior?
• RQ -3> How do Weverse’s network attributes of a fandom community relate to participatory social behavior?
• RQ -4> How do V-Live’s network attributes of a fandom community relate to participatory social behavior?

5-1 Methodology

5-2 Study Results

4) Results

Regression analysis was conducted with the network attributes (bridging/ bonding) of media as an independent variable and participatory social behavior as a dependent variable to verify the research question (Table 1). The bridging and bonding network attributes of digital media experienced by the ARMY community were identified as having positive influences on participatory social behavior: voluntary, continuous, online, and offline participation (p=0.000).

Table 1.

Network Attributes & Participation

We then verified how the network attributes of Twitter, the social medium used most often by the ARMY community, relate to participatory social behavior. Multiple regression analyses were conducted among ARMY members (129 individuals) who used Twitter for more than two hours per day (Table 2). When Twitter's bridging and bonding network attributes were injected at the same time, the bridging network attribute yielded significant results for all participatory social actions, while the bonding network attribute yielded no significant results except for continuous participation (p<0.05).

Table 2.

Twitter Attributes & Participation (N=129)

Subsequently, we examined how the two types of network attributes were related to social participatory behavior among users who accessed YouTube, Weverse, and V-Live for an average of more than two hours a day (102 individuals on YouTube, 74 on Weverse, and 69 on V-Live). When two network attributes were injected at the same time, the bridging property of YouTube had significant consequences for all participatory social behaviors, while the bonding property affected only voluntary and continuous participatory behaviors (p<0.05) (Table 3). In the case of Weverse, bridging network attributes affected all participatory behaviors, but bonding network properties had no effect at all (Table 4). Finally, for V-Live all participatory behaviors were positively influenced by bridging network attributes, while most of them expect continuous participation were not affected by bonding network properties ( Table 5).

Table 3.

Youtube Attributes & Participation (N=102)

Table 4.

Weverse Attributes & Participation (N=74)

Table 5.

V-Live Attributes & Participation (N=69)

In sum, the bridging nature of the digital media used by ARMY members positively affected social participation. However, we confirmed that the bonding nature of a network did not affect most participating social behaviors except in the case of Twitter use and continuous participation, YouTube use and voluntary and continuous participation, and V-Live use and continuous participation. We confirmed that the open nature of the ARMY community using digital media is closely related to participatory social behavior, but the strong bonds shared by ARMY members within the community do not significantly affect social participation. It was also confirmed specifically that digital media used by ARMY, such as Twitter, YouTube, Weverse, and V-Live, do not differ much in inducing participatory social behavior.