The problem with BTS guides is that they feel overwhelming to a new person who want to get to know about the group but these guides go too much in depth. Like if you are telling about member's personality like who want that in a guide like in my openion a guide should only include their journy and message and their relationship with the ARMY.
by niks_95
23 Comments
As a new army in 2017 i loved guides and watched a lot of them, and these 2 are great. I love it when they are around 20 minutes, but i think for new people, small tiktok/reel/shorts format onces in parts would be interesting to try as well as a fandom. Guides also help you find content that you could watch and give you an introduction.
Some people will find this helpful, some won’t. The good thing is they’ll eventually learn and there are other guides that are less overwhelming for new fans.
I think all types of guides have value as long as the info provided in them is correct 🤷🏽♀️ BTS has a 12 year long career (15 if we count pre-debut) at this point and to people who are basically completely new to them a crash course can be helpful with getting to know who they are and their music.
If doesn’t hurt. Some people will like it, some don’t. Some will watch, and some won’t
I watched the bangtan 7 when I became an army and it was great. I personally love an all inclusive run down on a group I’m interested in
hmm both agree and disagree with you
I know how popular Taylor Mari’s intro is and a lot of non-army reactors react to it but IMO i never watched it (at least the whole thing) considering how long it is. Personally, i don’t think its bad or useless but it might not be the best choice to get into bts given how lengthy and info-packed it is. I think this is for people who are already several feet into the rabbit hole.
boracity’s video is one i’ve actually watched and is made with the intent of the right audience: people who know/heard about bts as a passerby but don’t know the members, their positions, and the kind of music they make. its just under 15 mins and has the basic 101 on each guy and doesn’t have any extra info that detracts from the main point. these guides are essentially an elevator pitch like they call it in the business world and they have to walk a fine line between informative/detailed and word jumble that puts people to sleep.
the message and fans stuff is great imo but for a person on the outside you have to convince them to join and the fans aren’t gonna do that because at the end of the day this is a community built on the mutual love for an artist and their *music*. bts’ underdog journey is great and def is one that awe inspiring but I think music is first and foremost thing that can resonate with people so its best to layout the musical range of talents that bts has to offer which is what boracity does. once you convince them with that, then people will naturally follow.
this may be biased but I’ve always thought boracity mag was the best ytuber out there (along with sugaarmy but shes not an essayist so not really relevant to this discussion) because of how detailed and logic oriented her videos are. her videos are obviously biased towards bts cuz shes an army (duh) but she speaks from a very objective standpoint by analyzing trends and other evidence and uses larger issues with bts as an example (ex. radio payola, spotify playlisting, globalization of music, group oriented music in the west, xenophobia in the industry, fan culture).
when it comes to getting into a group, i think that’s on each person’s preferences. i watched a bunch of their performances, interviews, and run bts compilations and didn’t need any guides. i think as far as guides go, i do think boracity’s guide and a guide to their catalogue (heavy on this one) are the go to. one simply introduces the members and their skills/positions and th other actually puts you on their music.
I think getting into BTS is overwhelming no matter what, regardless of the existenceof these guides or not… between their gigantic and rich group and solo discography, Run BTS, BTS Universe, all of the memes and iconic quotes, etc.
People who want short, high-level guides can watch those, and people who want longer, more in-depth guides can watch these.
Besides, Boracity’s videos are excellent and worth watching, regardless of whether someone is baby ARMY or has been around for a while.
You should probably make a guide then😂
But seriously, the guides you’re pointing to have been out for a while. Personally, they were super helpful when I was getting into BTS back in 2018. I think they help a lot of people get a decent understanding of the group.
To your point about including their relationship with army…I disagree. They are real artists. ARMY might be their most staunch supporters, but they have an overwhelming outside appeal. Their relationship with fans is important to them, but it’s not the most important thing about them as artists. For any other musician, we focus on their music, personalities, philanthropy… That’s more than enough.
Personally, I don’t like that army gets almost as much attention as BTS because it makes us seem like a package deal. If you’re nice to BTS, you’ll get their fans, too. I hate that so much. It’s perfectly alright to let the guys shine on their own while we crush haters from the shadows. (Maybe I just like that imagery)
I love guides, even now. They’re fun 🥰
I think we do need guides. They do get views so somebody is watching them.
When I was home sick a few weeks ago and fell into one of those YT holes and I watched a bunch of guides. I even wrote a list of things to improve – lol.
1. Voice narrate as much as possible. People just are not reading a bunch of text no matter how long you leave it up. Keep in mind – there could be language barriers or even just a lack of reading skill.
2. Explain the Korean age vs International age – Jungkook was 13 in international age when he came to train. Because he is Korean – he will always say 15. But there is a big difference there. And the meaning/importance of age/hierarchy. Many will not know why so many members have the same name – “Hyung”.
3. Give equal time to every member. It should not be obvious who the guide maker’s bias is. If the Maknae line has 3 facts each then the Hyung line gets 3 too.
4. Stay away from inside jokes/situations. These are intros to potential ARMY so as funny as some of these old things are to us – they will fall flat to people who have no background/context.
5. Although tempting – go for short music/performance clips. Long clips can make the overall video length daunting to people that aren’t already ARMY. If there are songs you want to showcase – use them as background music. (it would be so awesome to have a timestamp guide with the titles of the songs used in the video description.)
6. Double check you are being factual. ARMY likes to clown and we are kinda good at it but be careful not to give an incorrect impression. Stay away from outdated tropes or at least highlight that they are old/no longer fit.
Yeah – I had way too much time on my hands!!
There are so many terrible guides now due to YT’s automation. People don’t care if the Ai sounds and looks like crap, they just need those hits.
What the- I did not know these exist! I’m gonna go check them out now lol
Wait are these a guide to like their personality and stuff or like BTS history? Bcs i know a good amount of BTS’s personality
I actually think the guide for “haters, skeptics, etc.” is really well done. It’s short and straight to the point, it clears up misconceptions, breaks the stereotypes, highlights the members and what makes the group stand out, and leaves people curious enough to check out their music.
I mean, when I was baby ARMY it was nice to find out a bit about the tannies’ different personalities and skills and how they each came to be part of the group. I don’t see why that kind of info shouldn’t be in a guide – especially one that’s titled “A Guide to BTS Members”, where it’s clear that the point of the guide is to introduce the individual members. Shorter guides that are more focused on the group as a whole and on ARMY can exist too, we can have both.
Guides are fun and not harmful as long as the info there aren’t false. If you’re not happy with quality of the guides out there, please make your own! More fan content indirectly supports the boys and feeds the fandom 💜
We need guide tbh with yt views circle and Spotify filtering circle it took me time to understand how to properly stream.
The boracity one is great tho
I don’t think it’s possible to make a guide that pleases everyone. In a *very* diverse fandom like ours, and with how many non-ARMYs are interested in BTS, variety is the best option, imo. I tend to like Boracity’s content in general, and love her short guide. I also loved Taylor Mari’s guide. I would love to see a Chapter 2 focused one, and though I lack the necessary technical skills/experience to create one myself, I would be happy to help put one together.
I am concerned about the sheer amount of AI generated content on YT, especially since the members’ military discharge, and am disappointed at how many views they’re getting.
Bora is a real one. I appreciate all the work she puts in to educate people who are just now joining the fandom.
When I was new to the fandom, guides helped a lot. I never found them overwhelming because I was willing to learn
I’m a big fan of Boracity and now Hybe Boy they’re very respectful and informative YTers to BTS.
XCeleste did ‘This is BTS’ and ‘This is BTS ARMY’ a while back. Feel free to make your own updated ones.