Long-time Bulletin readers, and likely anyone who has worked with social media data, will be unsurprised to see BTS with a very comfortable lead. The K-pop band have a mass of enthusiastic fans online who constantly post about them and boost anything related to them.

Even Beyoncé can’t hold a torch to them despite being one of the most popular and well-known singers on the planet. The likes of Harry Styles, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar fare far worse, while the Red Hot Chili Peppers might as well be an unknown, small town band in comparison.

Of course all of these artists have seen significant commercial success, so social media fame is clearly not the be all and end all. But it’s hard to deny it hasn’t had something to do with BTS’s rise to global success over the years.

Who reigns by platform?

Let’s switch to breaking down our data by Twitter, Reddit, and Tumblr, where we’ll see things are very different depending on where you look.

Now BTS are only kings of Twitter, falling into second place on Tumblr and Reddit. Instead Kendrick Lamar rules Reddit, and Beyoncé bosses Tumblr. Harry Styles also grabs 3rd place on Twitter and Tumblr.

This gives us some indication of the tastes of the platforms, but it also tells us how eclectic their users’ tastes are. Tumblr, with the top three making up 62% of mentions, is not far off a triopoly, showing the strength and enthusiasm of big fandoms there. Twitter is a little more varied at 51%, although BTS’s 29% is the biggest chunk any artist gets across the three platforms.

Reddit stands out. The top three’s stake totals just 38%, with a close look showing a much more equal spread between artists. This makes sense due to Reddit’s segmented subreddit structure, encouraging the creation of specific places for fans to gather.

Generational digression

Next let’s break it down by generation.

While they may not want to admit it, on this subject, Gen Z aren’t too different from Millennials. The major difference is the former’s preference for Harry Styles over Lizzo.

Meanwhile Gen X stands out a lot more. Here BTS don’t even make the top three, while Adele also makes her first appearance on the podium. Gen X are also the most eclectic, with 59% for the Others segment, and a more equal spread amongst the top three.

Fanatic frenzy

To finish we’re moving away from demographics and instead towards the fan bases themselves, with the aim to see who has the most intense set of fans.

BTS’s lead here is, again, staggering – even considering their massive fan base. As a brand who has had a BTS tweet go viral, we’re not shocked. Their online fandom don’t just consistently post about the band, but are always retweeting and sharing other fans’ content, causing each other’s reach and influence to grow.

This seems to be a characteristic of K-pop fans. Stray Kids, a K-pop band, might not have the numbers of BTS, but they’re significantly ahead of Harry Styles and the rest of the pack.

Whether we’ll see this tactic spread to non-South Korean acts, we’ll have to wait and see. But if there are any record execs who are obsessed with share of voice reading this, it’s a model you should be paying attention to.

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