Digital Communication, the K-pop Army, and the Filipino Collective Psyche

Abstract

The arrival of the Hallyu Wave made a big impression globally and was warmly received by Filipinos. South Korean pop culture introduced K-pop, a music genre famously known for its impressive lyricism and deliberate production, which captured the interest of listeners. As literature suggests, music is a powerful driving force that has the ability to enable a group or community to move or think as one unit, such as how jazz musicians harnessed the power of music to communicate their social struggles. Deriving from this premise, the question this study aimed to answer was “How does digital communication shape the K-Pop Army that translates to the Filipino Collective Psyche?”

I explored my lived experience as a member of the K-pop army by employing an autoethnographic study. I used vignettes to synthesize what it meant to be a member of the K-pop army, acclimatized its culture, and made sense of my K-pop journey. Each experience discussed in vignettes showed a clear picture of the journey that thickened the discussion throughout the research. The vignettes served as an example of how the Filipino Collective Psyche was shaped. More than the provision of world-class entertainment and global popularity, the K-pop Army follows their K-pop idols because of their altruism and actions to address social issues which have always been evident in digital communication platforms. With the proliferation of social media and the K-pop Army’s exposure to these communication platforms especially during the time where being “connected online” was the norm, it was evident that the fandom moved as if with one mind, reflecting the very essence of the Filipino Collective Psyche.