A Thought-Provoking Analysis of Itzy Instagram Follower Counts

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    Given that it's been four full months since Itzy members opened their individual Instagram accounts (they debuted them on February 11th), I thought it would be fun and instructive to examine some data and trends related to their follower counts. Thus, I looked up numbers for daily changes in followers from K-Pop Radar and input the figures into a spreadsheet for analysis (as I did for Aespa and Twice previously).


    The first chart I generated shows the daily change in Instagram followers for each member:


    ItzyIG_Change_20240611.png


    I also created a chart showing the total number of Instagram followers for each member over time:


    ItzyIG_Total_20240611.png


    Some thoughts and questions for consideration:

    • All Itzy members received a big increase in followers on February 24th and 25th. Was this because they kicked off their Born to Be World Tour in S‍eoul on these two dates?
    • Ryujin and Yeji have consistently held the lead in Instagram followers ever since everyone's accounts were made public. What makes them the most popular?
    • Chaeryeong and Yuna's follower counts tracked very closely early on, but why did Yuna start pulling ahead in the mid-April time frame?
      • Yuna did upload a couple of sexier Instagram posts around this period (see here and here), which did seem to provide her with a boost in followers relative to the other members.
      • Yuna also saw a boost in mid-May. Could it be because of this Instagram post?
    • In each of the cases where members had birthdays in the tracking period, the birthday girl always had the highest number of new followers on that day: Ryujin (April 17th), Yeji (May 26th), Chaeryeong (June 5th).
    • Early on, Ryujin and Yeji consistently gained more daily followers than the rest of the members, but by late April, this gap had mostly disappeared. Why?
    • All members saw a spike in followers on April 17th. What could be the cause of this?
    • "Algorhythm" was released on May 15th, and all member subsequently saw a rise in daily follower additions. I'm not entirely convinced that the single release was the reason though.
    • In late May, all members saw an increase in new daily followers. Could this be because of Itzy's university festival performances?
    • Why the huge decline around the start of June? I suspect that this may be due to a change in Instagram's algorithms related to follower counts.
    • Is there any hope for Lia, or will she f‍orever be stuck at the bottom?
    • What made Yeji gain so many new followers around June 8th?

    For reference, here are links to each member's Instagram accounts: Yeji | Lia | Ryujin | Chaeryeong | Yuna


    MidzyTaglist

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    OMG that's why too much information but thanks very insightful.


    I expected Ryujin and Yeji to have the most followers of the bat plus both of them are very active on their IGs.


    Yeji increased after she posted more IGs such dance challenges with other artists, ...etc


    Lia is on hiatus so she doesn't post. I believe once she is back her follower count should increase.


    I think I realized with other Kpop artists that Zuck your blood himself (Zuckerberg) and his teams are changing the algorithms to make it hard for artists to gain followers. Maybe to pay the artists less money!!

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    Quote

    All Itzy members received a big increase in followers on February 24th and 25th. Was this because they kicked off their Born to Be World Tour in S‍eoul on these two dates?

    I would say this makes sense. More people followed hoping to see concert snippets etc

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    Ryujin and Yeji have consistently held the lead in Instagram followers ever since everyone's accounts were made public. What makes them the most popular?

    They are generally regarded as the most popular members in genral, and Ryujin in particular is the most active on her account. And also the most "natural" in that she posts more life stuff. She also posts feet pics.

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    Chaeryeong and Yuna's follower counts tracked very closely early on, but why did Yuna start pulling ahead in the mid-April time frame?Yuna did upload a couple of sexier Instagram posts around this period (see here and here), which did seem to provide her with a boost in followers relative to the other members.

    Yuna also saw a boost in mid-May. Could it be because of this Instagram post?

    Yuna is the third/second most popular member, and is also quite active on Insta as well. Plus yeah, she thirst traps the most. This obviously drives numbers.


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    All members saw a spike in followers on April 17th. What could be the cause of this?

    Ryujins Birthday? It was pushed a lot, and all other members posted stuff on their instas and I THINK Ryujin linked to each one as well.

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    In late May, all members saw an increase in new daily followers. Could this be because of Itzy's university festival performances?

    I'd say this is it for that

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    Why the huge decline around the start of June? I suspect that this may be due to a change in Instagram's algorithms related to follower counts.

    This is a big standout. Would you be able to compare it to other GG members from other groups, like aespa, twice etc? See if it was a consistent thing?

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    Is there any hope for Lia, or will she f‍orever be stuck at the bottom?

    Depends how active she will be when she returns. I SUSPECT she will be a bit of a social media butterfly/meme queen.

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    What made Yeji gain so many new followers around June 8th?

    Dance challenges, particularly with aespa girlies

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    Quote from SafariDebut

    I expected Ryujin and Yeji to have the most followers of the bat

    But why? What do you think makes them the most appealing members? Talent? Visuals? Personality?

    Quote from SafariDebut

    plus both of them are very active on their IGs.

    Yeji, Ryujin, and Yuna all have roughly the same number of Instagram posts though.

    Quote from SafariDebut

    Lia is on hiatus so she doesn't post. I believe once she is back her follower count should increase.

    I certainly agree, but at the same time, I think it will be very difficult for her to make up all her lost ground.

    Quote from SafariDebut

    I think I realized with other Kpop artists that Zuck your blood himself (Zuckerberg) and his teams are changing the algorithms to make it hard for artists to gain followers. Maybe to pay the artists less money!!

    Does Instagram actually pay its users? I believe that brands simply pay people directly for sponsored posts.

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    Quote from wsoet

    But why? What do you think makes them the most appealing members? Talent? Visuals? Personality?

    Yeji and Ryujin were more stan attracting from early on


    Yuna was underage for Itzy's first few years, which probably limited her popularity to some degree


    Chaeryeong dealt with the "ugly" label for the first few years as well, which impacted her confidence and how much she showed of herself. That's improved these past few years and she's start attracting a lot more fans.


    Lia had the bullying accusations and untalented accusations levelled at her that really impacted her popularity.

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    Quote from Epyon-556

    I think Yeji's challenge videos with Giselle and Karina dropping the day before put her in the eye of some new followers.

    I think you're right, as the Giselle/Karina dance challenge videos were both released on June 7th. Now do we know why only Yeji was allowed to participate in them?

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    Quote from ThePhantomThief

    She also posts feet pics.

    I looked through all of Ryujin's posts just now, and could only find three images that might be construed as feet pics. I just don't think there's enough foot content for this to be a major driving factor. Is she known to have the best feet in Itzy?

    Quote from ThePhantomThief

    This is a big standout. Would you be able to compare it to other GG members from other groups, like aespa, twice etc? See if it was a consistent thing?

    I compiled the data for Aespa and Twice, and indeed, both of those groups also witnessed major declines in followers at the same time. Thus, I think we can safely conclude that there was something on Instagram's end that changed. Perhaps they decided to purge a lot of users deemed "fake".

    Quote from ThePhantomThief

    I SUSPECT she will be a bit of a social media butterfly/meme queen.

    Meme queen isn't a trait that I'd typically associate with Lia, but thinking about it more, you might be right. I'll be curious to see if there's a perceptible change in her personality following the hiatus.

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    Quote from ThePhantomThief

    Chaeryeong dealt with the "ugly" label for the first few years as well, which impacted her confidence and how much she showed of herself. That's improved these past few years and she's start attracting a lot more fans.

    I feel like people began praising Chaeryeong's visuals a lot more during the "Sneakers" era. What changed during this time period?

    Quote from ThePhantomThief

    Lia had the bullying accusations and untalented accusations levelled at her that really impacted her popularity.

    What was the final outcome of those bullying accusations? It seems that there wasn't really a resolution as to what actually happened.

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    Quote from wsoet

    I feel like people began praising Chaeryeong's visuals a lot more during the "Sneakers" era. What changed during this time period?

    What was the final outcome of those bullying accusations? It seems that there wasn't really a resolution as to what actually happened.

    Return to black hair and had a pretty viral episode on the Youngji show.


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    Quote from wsoet

    I think you're right, as the Giselle/Karina dance challenge videos were both released on June 7th. Now do we know why only Yeji was allowed to participate in them?

    I never assume it's a question of "allowed" at first. i just assume that she was the only one there/available. Or, other challenges were shot with the aespa girls for the itzy comeback.


    Quote from wsoet

    I looked through all of Ryujin's posts just now, and could only find three images that might be construed as feet pics. I just don't think there's enough foot content for this to be a major driving factor. Is she known to have the best feet in Itzy?

    I'm NOT a foot man so... I can't say about the quality of her feet. But it's just a smaller meme because three odd foot images from here are still more than most. Especially when they are the first pic in an album



    Quote from wsoet

    Meme queen isn't a trait that I'd typically associate with Lia, but thinking about it more, you might be right. I'll be curious to see if there's a perceptible change in her personality following the hiatus.

    I've tended to notice that the more "westernised" or foreign born members of groups tend to lean into popular meme stuff on social more than other members. Yunjin and Rose for instance.
    Lia was also the only one in the group who knew why foreign fans were going apeshit over "Do I look like your mommy".



    Quote from wsoet

    I feel like people began praising Chaeryeong's visuals a lot more during the "Sneakers" era. What changed during this time period?

    She changed her look around Sneakers. Went back to black hair but also had a big change to her make up and styling in general that accentuated her features and gave her a more mature look. Previously she had some of the worst styling and makeup in the group, which sometimes wasn't flattering/brought attention to features that some people considered ugly.
    The Youngi show appearance then made many people suddenly notice her change-up.


    Quote from wsoet

    What was the final outcome of those bullying accusations? It seems that there wasn't really a resolution as to what actually happened.

    It's murky and was always murky. It was much more a case of she-said/she-said than a lot of other bullying issues at the time, with a lot less evidence. From what I remember the accuser wasn't even the victim either.
    OH and there was a drop of info two years back showing that it seemed Lia was bullied pretty badly as well. Can't post a link here but googling "ITZY LIA'S SCHOOL VIOLENCE'S ACTUAL TIMELINE CLARIFICATION" should get you to it.

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    Quote from Epyon-556

    Return to black hair and had a pretty viral episode on the Youngji show.

    Quote from ThePhantomThief

    She changed her look around Sneakers. Went back to black hair but also had a big change to her make up and styling in general that accentuated her features and gave her a more mature look. Previously she had some of the worst styling and makeup in the group, which sometimes wasn't flattering/brought attention to features that some people considered ugly.
    The Youngi show appearance then made many people suddenly notice her change-up.

    Yeah, I think that's right. I remember being a little shocked seeing Chaeryeong with her new look around that era. It does puzzle me why she was often given questionable styling and makeup. My guess is that the stylists were trying to be "edgy" or "creative", even though Chaeyreong, as we see now, looks the best with more "normal" styling. Or, if we're going to be a bit more conspiratorial, maybe she was "sabotaged" in order to focus attention to some of the other Itzy members.

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    Quote from ThePhantomThief

    I'm NOT a foot man so... I can't say about the quality of her feet. But it's just a smaller meme because three odd foot images from here are still more than most. Especially when they are the first pic in an album

    A Google search for "Ryujin feet" quickly pointed me to WikiFeet, a repository for photos of celebrity feet that includes quite a few K-pop artists. The site allows users to assign a rating of 1 to 5 for each celebrity, and also displays the number of users that voted for each rating. I was thus able to calculate a simple weighted average of these ratings for all Itzy members, and it turns out that Ryujin does indeed have the best feet in the group, at least according to this particular community of foot aficionados.

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    Quote from wsoet

    A Google search for "Ryujin feet" quickly pointed me to WikiFeet, a repository for photos of celebrity feet that includes quite a few K-pop artists. The site allows users to assign a rating of 1 to 5 for each celebrity, and also displays the number of users that voted for each rating. I was thus able to calculate a simple weighted average of these ratings for all Itzy members, and it turns out that Ryujin does indeed have the best feet in the group, at least according to this particular community of foot aficionados.

    I fear your dedication to quality data is leading you down a path of madness my friend.


    Turn back now, before it's too late.

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    Quote from ThePhantomThief

    I fear your dedication to quality data is leading you down a path of madness my friend.


    Turn back now, before it's too late.

    Indeed, I could certainly see this being a "slippery slope" of sorts, as due to my curiosity, I've already computed the highest-rated members of other groups as well, such as Aespa (Karina), Blackpink (Jisoo), (G)I-dle (Minnie), IVE (Wonyoung), Le Sserafim (Kazuha), and Twice (Nayeon).

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