Do you think kpop relies too heavily on the parasocial relationship aspect?

Sometimes I feel that some fans are too heavily invested in their faves emotionally. They end up not handling criticism well and it impacts their mental health. And then if a scandal breaks out or the group disbands, it's crushing. I feel like this is more common in kpop than in other parts of the music world. I also have noticed that kpop seems to attract many fans who have difficulty in other parts of their life and may see kpop as a way to fill other voids or as an escape.

I think companies actually target this and market to increase this kind of emotional attachment (dependency). Sometimes it's less about the music and more about how appealing the idol is as a person and the group as an idealized pseudo family unit. They also play into a person wanting to feel like they were able to overcome adversity or achieve a win by tying fan behavior with a group's accomplishments.

Quote from lampyume

yes. literally every time an idol ends up showing their real personality outside of their perfectly molded kpop personality, fans throw a fit.

just off the top of my mind, all the kpop girls who get shit on by knetz bc they read/wore something feminists. ppl hating on shuhua bc she sets high heart counts or is "savage." how ppl reacted to jae's joke on jamie(i think the joke was lame but he thought it was funny and kpop fans couldnt fathom the idea of a kpop idol saying that). all the n-word scandals (kpop idols know that its wrong, they just don't care but fans would rather make excuses than admit that their idols arent the perfect ppl they think they are). sunmi's nft promotion and her telling fans to "leave if they don't like it" (the backlash was so bad not even for nfts but just how she talked to her fans. its like fans genuinely thought all idols genuinely love them and aren't in the business for money and profits). somi leaving jyp (fans were so pissed and harassed her for such a long time just bc she decided to move companies, its like they dont realize that there's no loyalty when it comes to comapnies. idols are just products and companies will use and trash them as they wish but an idol leaving a company, thats just plain wrong).

And those fans that put their idols on these pedestals are generally the first ones to tear them down once they do something that displeases them personally.

I do think that a lot of fans lose sight of the fact that kpop is as business and that we, as fans, are consumers. There are idols that do appreciate their fans and feel a connection to them, but there are plenty of others that will simply see fans as a customer base. And that's fine. They are delivering a product after all. Fans need to stop expecting that every idol is going to love their fans and allow their fans to dictate their life choices. That is so toxic. And no matter how well you think you know your idol, remember that their music, their image, and even their interactions with fans are products. Some may be completely sincere. A lot of it is not though.

Quote from alexS

It's built upon it.

yep, and it's marketing genius tbh

Quote from penepol

It certainly makes me feel a tad uncomfortable that these people feel like they are held back from being honest about normal human interactions and relationships for fear of backlash for themselves, their friends or their loved ones.

it's so limiting and sad. I wish fandoms would be more accepting of idols as normal human beings.

Quote from selfmate

no I don't think it relies too heavily on that since there are probably just as many people who consume kpop "normally" and don't vie into the parasocial aspect

I remember mentioning a long time ago during similar discussions that the parasocial relationship may be see akin to a drug that certain people are dependent upon

That's true. The fans that don't rely on that are probably less likely to be online talking about it so I pbly have a bit of a skewed perception.

And yeah, I have seen people that seemed to have almost an addiction to their idols. Their idols are what made them happy and something bad happening in the kpop world could affect them negatively in a huge outsized way.

Quote from byakuyav

I just leave this here

forum.allkpop.com/thread/18387/

Oh, interesting, I'll check it ou :)

Quote from selfmate

I've always said that the vocal majority is often drowned out by the silent majority

there are plenty and I'm sure the majority of people behave respectfully and properly and consume the content without that PS relationship (eg you and I) but it's always the crazies one hears about because it's what makes news and what is first and foremost on people's minds...

one might say they Misbehave

lol, I did actually find it amusing :)

And whaddya mean? I'm definitely delulu lol. Okay, honestly, I'm not delulu, but I do find myself slowly getting drawn into more stan fandom behavior than I used to.

Quote from daniel-cruz

Yes and it makes me very angry tbh.

Hypothetical Question

I would very much like to see the current KPOP groups ranking if the parasocial aspect is completely removed and purely music is PUSHED as the number 1 priority.

I would be curious about that myself, take away the parasocial stuff, the visuals, and the choreo. What would the landscape look like if it was all just audio?

Quote from unbannBLACPINK

well problem is, fans WANT it

look at the replies to this post itself

they're all talking about idols not being able to show their "REAL PERSONALITY"

bitch

they DONT and SHOULDNT have to show any personality at all

they dont owe any "realness" to fans

your real personality is for people you trust and are comfortable around

kpop fans WANT to see the "real" personalities of idols so idols put on the most perfect manufactured personality they can that "looks" very authentic and imperfect so fans can be like "HELL YEAH THEY ARE SO REFREsHING AND HONEST AND REAL"

i mean, if I KNEW people were gonna consume my "personality" related content like brainless morons, I'd put on a nice shiny fake personality too

why would I show my "real" self to random horny teenagers on the internet

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I don't think people (in this thread at least) are demanding that idols show their true personality. Rather, I think that people think it's sad that idols are afraid of showing their personality or of living a normal life. Kpop, unfortunately, has a built in reality tv type aspect. That's what I"m wondering about. Does kpop emphasize that too much? Does it capitalize the ability to have that insight into the idol's world too heavily?