What do u guys think about the current state of kpop and the fandoms now?

whilst I haven't been a kpop fan as long as others (2019 debut year for selfie)

it seems kpop is as same as ever - obviously there is much more of a western push since that's where the money is but other than that the fighting is the same

Quote from catzi

This is not supposed to be a "kpop used to be so much better before etc" because I know that's annoying and we will never go back to how it used to be, for better or worse. I still enjoy what we have now but idk I think all this obsession with success kind of made kpop less fun and too serious. Even the fights before were more fun with all the memes. Kpop groups can release so many fun songs and concepts but if it's not successful, stans now just dismiss it. I miss the time when I was a newbie into kpop and used to see popular groups and nugus exactly the same way, only judging their music, mv and choreos. But now everything seem so polished so it's not cringy or whatever, but haters would hate kpop anyway with or without the camp, and polishing it to the point any western artist could've released the same stuff kind of kills what used to make kpop fun and full of life. It's not like kpop artists stopped releasing fun stuff, it's more like the reception to anything released became colder, idk. I like a lot of kpop content, but I see kpop stans talking shit about kpop all the time and it's so weird to see fans talking shit about something they should enjoy. It's almost like they're embarrassed to like what they like and kind of kills the morale of kpop stans overall.

I may not be making sense I'm just saying whatever cross my mind rn. Feel free to rant about what u think here release what's on your mind

I felt this way for a long time and agreed with so much with what you said, its the first reason I decided to step away from 'stan' social media in the first place because that's how I felt to. Apart from certain people being really toxic when I was on it, I was on so much of it all the time that's how I felt, I miss the original concepts like these that still stand out to me to this day, sure the concept about the vampire is a little cringy but the talent and performance is impressive, same with their light up chair dance practice, it was unquie!

"I like a lot of kpop content, but I see kpop stans talking shit about kpop all the time and it's so weird to see fans talking shit about something they should enjoy. It's almost like they're embarrassed to like what they like and kind of kills the morale of kpop stans overall."

I think a lot of people feel how I feel, like their embarrassed about it in some way, or possibly jealous of some fans?, its a big reason why I hate weverse. Everyone is trying to be a 'successful' fan and pressuring others, at least on NCT's, P1H's board post that I see. I Dislike the app but want to keep using it for livestreams.

In the past I was really cringy and would re play War of Horomone by BTS dance practice until it hit a certain amount of views in the thousands. Overly being expressive about it. It makes me wonder if these fans feel the same in some kind of way?

When it comes to content,

I'm introverted in a lot of situations, but music is a conversation I love having, Im' careful what I say because of how cringy I used to be. When it comes to content I think it also depends on the groups you follow and if they cater to younger audiences.

I think my boys EPEX really put it best how I feel about it, "

"Stained, Talk in Social Media

Suspect, innocent, all mixed up

Contaminate other people's pain with words

Messed up in the feed, this ain't it".

(Overblown imagination is pretty toxic)

After 15 years being kpop fan, finally i reach stagnant point rn. I feel bored for last months. I already saw many group debuted, growth and disbanded. I watched many kpop hot drama/scandal too.

If not for BTS comeback and I land 2, maybe i'll out from this forum and Kpop world.

Quote from visualkei4402

I miss it when idols went on variety shows and interacted with each other. I know some groups didn't have a great experience with them but they were often really fun.

Last time 2pm went on knowing bros (it was after serving in the military), they were absolutely hilarious. No one in 4th gen comes close in terms in comedy. I know it's not important anymore but it made kpop feel less serious.

This.

It's what I liked and miss the most of the 2nd gen era, when idols of all kinda groups went en masse to variety shows: Invincible Youth, Star Golden Bell, Star King, Intimate Note, Star Dance Battle, there were so many.

What was great about it, was that you had all those fun and interesting interactions between idols of different groups, and because idols went on so many variety shows, they grew and evolved as variety talents and idols of different groups were closer and more interactive with eachother, and you saw sides of them that you usually don't see.

Because of all those idols going to all these variety shows, K-pop in 2nd gen times were more than just music and spazzing about your ultimate bias; they were an introduction to other groups and individual members in them and an introduction to all kinda aspects of South Korean culture and the country itself. In fact, K-pop taught me about South Korea and I learnt to appreciate it via K-pop.

It also enriched the whole K-pop experience as a fan.

It's what I feel is lacking the most in later K-pop generations, especially since the gaze of the K-pop companies has become mostly focused on the West and success and popularity in SK itself and as a result variety show attendance by idols has become far less important to those companies.

For the new groups, all their music show performances, even one some of the end of year shows, are exactly the same. If you have seen the group perform two or three times, then its no point watching them again because its just the same but in a different outfit.

Saving grace is some of the senior groups just do what they want.

Growth of boy groups worldwide seems to have stagnated.

Girl groups have really opened up in the last 3 months. Its anyone's game now.

Mmm, im into kpop since 2018 and if i remember right the obsession with success was already there, a time with no obsession exists? How was that?
Why you change? You say you used to enjoy kpop in a different way. What happen?

You care too much for what success stans think. There are other spaces in the internet where you can enjoy kpop without all these obsession. I can't tell here or i would be banned

I know people will disagree so I'm just stating as my opinion.

Thinking about this topic some more, I think the issue is kpop became too popular. Kpop catering to the west is what ruined kpop for me.

the end of 3rd gen era is when seventeen gone mia bcs all the top 3rd gen group alrdy mia,

im still waiting top influential boy group like what i felt back in 2013,

For now im just watching aespa and newjeans stage perf catching up from fans playlists on youtube 2020-2024 😪😴🥱

Been mia from kpop in 2021-2023 enjoying the chìna gamè franchise industry × japan anime / music industry 🤣😂

The last good Kpop music year for me was 2020, 2019 even if I am harsh. 4th generation groups music don't interest me as much as 3rd generation's. It's like everyone is releasing the watered down version of their original sound these days.

I am a woman in my 20s and I am just not that interested in these new idols either. i can't really relate to them. For me, second and third generation idols are just way more compelling than 4th and 5th generation idols anyways.

Kpop fandoms have alway been really competitive but yeah a part of them are just obsessed with numbers now.

Quote from catzi

This is not supposed to be a "kpop used to be so much better before etc" because I know that's annoying and we will never go back to how it used to be, for better or worse. I still enjoy what we have now but idk I think all this obsession with success kind of made kpop less fun and too serious. Even the fights before were more fun with all the memes. Kpop groups can release so many fun songs and concepts but if it's not successful, stans now just dismiss it. I miss the time when I was a newbie into kpop and used to see popular groups and nugus exactly the same way, only judging their music, mv and choreos. But now everything seem so polished so it's not cringy or whatever, but haters would hate kpop anyway with or without the camp, and polishing it to the point any western artist could've released the same stuff kind of kills what used to make kpop fun and full of life. It's not like kpop artists stopped releasing fun stuff, it's more like the reception to anything released became colder, idk. I like a lot of kpop content, but I see kpop stans talking shit about kpop all the time and it's so weird to see fans talking shit about something they should enjoy. It's almost like they're embarrassed to like what they like and kind of kills the morale of kpop stans overall.

I may not be making sense I'm just saying whatever cross my mind rn. Feel free to rant about what u think here release what's on your mind

I'm a bit confused. It seems like you're discussing two different topics.

Unpopular opinion, but I think fans do care about their favorite artists' lesser-known tracks. They just don't discuss them as much because, during fan wars, they have to highlight the highest-performing songs. This might create the impression that “stans are dismissing” those tracks, but that's not really the case. Even casual listeners tend to focus on popular tracks since they don't have the time to explore deeper.

Secondly, I personally still find K-pop's music themes too superficial. It's very visually focused, which isn't necessarily bad, but I prefer artists with meaningful outputs. While there are a few K-pop acts that do this, it's still not enough for me to fully embrace the K-pop industry. Also this doesn’t mean I dislike songs with meaningless lyrics and references. I may add it to a playlist if the production is really good. But it won’t be enough for me to explore their discography.