By Tangerine
In winter of 2014, two legions converged on an icy road, armed with vitriol and parasocial fervor. Girls’ Generation (SNSD) and 2NE1, two top k-pop girl groups, released music within the same week. They faced off on music shows, weekly broadcasts that award first place based on sales, chart performance, airtime, and fan voting. As the final week of promotions approached, while the artists were battling on television, fans were fighting a battle of their own. Twitter user @koreanhooker fired: “I love Girls’ Generation’s nurse concept, are they looking after 2NE1 and their mentally unstable fans?” User @CUNTYBLACKJACK (blackjack refers to 2NE1’s fandom) returned with “I hate SNSD so much I hope they all get lung cancer performing live.” The combatants were facing off in an ancient and endless battle called fanwar.
There are a variety of weapons in a fanwar. The first maneuver is to think of a degrading nickname for the rival group or fandom. “SNSD” becomes “SNSTD,” “Girls’ Generation” becomes “Girls’ Penetration,” “Blackjacks,” become “Blowjobs,” or the tamer “Flapjacks.” GIFs are also a weapon of choice, such as an edited GIF of Taylor Swift that makes it appear as though the pop princess herself is hate-tweeting your rivals. These attacks are launched largely over Twitter (now X), as well as forum websites such as Soompi, allkpop, and the now-defunct omgkpop. Another famous tactic of fanwar is a “black ocean”, where the audience turns off the cheering sticks which usually light up a concert arena and force the current act to perform for a dark and unenthusiastic audience.
But fanwars aren’t solely driven by bitter, overly-invested fans. Today’s music industry is fiercely competitive and detail-oriented. With entire Twitter accounts dedicated to tracking which group has the most-streamed non-single track in September of 2024, it’s inevitable that fans feel pressure to get their favorite group to first place in all of these microscopic competitions. The only winners are the agencies, whose revenue streams in as fans sacrifice precious money and time to ensure their favorites come out on top.
Behind the shield of internet anonymity, it’s easy for disagreements to escalate, until the original point of the argument is all but forgotten. Being a fan makes one part of something, which is all anyone has ever wanted since caveman times, and what better way to unite than against a common enemy? As our political process deteriorates into name-calling and fear-mongering, our corporate overlords have learned to encourage this tribalism wherever there is money to be made, so that getting an essential vaccination means being either a Pfizer or Moderna girlie and simply listening to music becomes an act of identity. The week of March 30th, 2014, marked the end of promotions for both SNSD and 2NE1. Vicious attacks were launched against the appearances, bodies, and talents of women who had done nothing to spark the fanwars that were being fought on their behalf. On March 30th, girl-group 4minute beat both groups to win first place.
Comments