K-Pop Fans Are Making ‘White Lives Matter’ Trend, But It’s Not What You Think
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If you saw “White Lives Matter” trending on Wednesday and expected the hashtag to be full of racist posts, think again. K-pop fans have been tweeting with the hashtag, but their posts aren’t what you might think.
According to Variety, the trend started early Wednesday morning, as K-pop fans posted irrelevant or anti-racist tweets to drown out white supremacist messages on the social media platform.
K-Pop Fans Make ‘White Lives Matter’ Trend
Many people tweeted about their initial expectations of the trending hashtag, compared to their relief when they realized what the actual posts were. Many of the tweets in the hashtag feature famcams, which are short fan-made videos of K-pop stars.
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yall racists just dont know how to shut the fuck up huh? #WhiteLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/f7aKc7ccoO
— ⁷ (@ahatete) June 3, 2020
According to Variety, the fans also took over related hashtags such as #MAGA and #BlueLivesMatter. Another hashtag, #WhiteOutWednesday, has also been tweeting with similar content. It’s a play on Blackout Tuesday, when many people showed their support for Black Lives Matter by posting black squares on social media.
Variety suggests that the #WhiteLivesMatter posts from K-pop fans might have been inspired by Blackout Tuesday, which was criticized for burying useful information about the movement by using the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag.
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K-pop fans have been known to take over trending hashtags, often with content unrelated to the topic. One example is the #isoverparty trend, in which Twitter celebrates the cancellation of a celebrity.
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As Insider points out, this hashtag format has become associated with K-pop Twitter, whose users frequently spam trending topics with fancams. This time, the move seems to be appreciated by many people who approve of drowning out racist posts.
According to Forbes, K-pop fans are “data savvy” and know how to use social media to promote their favorite artists. This time, they’re using those skills to take a stand on current issues.
