Before breaking down what this might mean, it’s important to note that the seven members of BTS have always had their own, individual outlets for communicating with ARMY (most notably in their VLive vlogs) and expressing themselves artistically (most notably in their respective contributions to the writing and production of group songs, and in the release of solo music and performances). The mainstream American perspective of K-pop is usually framed within a stereotype of corporate-controlled, “cookie-cutter” idols—this includes a band like BTS, which is an outlier within the K-pop industry in many ways. While there is very real industry infrastructure that informs this stereotype, this kind of exploitation under capitalism is not unique to Korea or to K-pop, and the American media’s over-emphasis of this aspect of K-pop is driven by racist, Orientalist narratives that have historically depicted Asian cultures as robotic and mechanized. That being said, BTS is 7; ARMY knows this, but BTS would also never let us forget. When Yoongi had to go on break in 2020 in order to receive and recover from shoulder surgery, the other six members of the group literally carried a photo of their absent member to all of their media engagements; when they performed without him, they left space in their choreography to highlight his absence. During the group’s sold-out mini-residency at LA’s SoFi Stadium last week, the members decided to only perform songs that featured all seven of its members, even though this means a much more physically taxing show with less opportunity for rest. So the fact that the seven members have decided to launch their own, individual Instagram accounts is kind of a big deal: “We believe they opened these Instagram accounts to express their individuality as artists and to communicate in different ways,” BigHit told Newsen, as translated by @ryuminating. In other words: BTS’ next chapter will include more opportunity for individual expression as artists than ever before in the group’s eight-year history. Whether this philosophy will be a feature of the group’s new album, and what that manifestation might look like, remains to be seen, but the band has continually evolved in terms of musical style and interests, and not always in the same directions. I’m excited to see how the members’ respective artistic identities will continue to inform their music in the new album—or, perhaps, in a year of unprecedented solo mixtape releases? As with most moves made by BTS, the timing of the Instagram accounts is incredibly clever. While BTS should not feel beholden to keeping their Instagram accounts updated during their vacation (“rest well” trended on Twitter following the group’s break announcement, encouraging fans to leave the members alone during their time off), they are Millennials/Gen Z-ers and many of them seem to really enjoy posting on social media. At the time of this writing, all of the accounts have accumulated over 10 million followers each. While BigHit surely has pre-recorded content to release during the members’ break, Instagram represents a real-time potential connection between BTS and ARMY, should members choose to post during their break. The accounts are also all limiting comment-posting access to only the other members, which means that, even while these accounts offer the opportunity for individual expression, they are also places to highlight the relationships between the respective members. It’s unclear what this new chapter in BTS history will bring, but one thing is certain: it’s a great time to be a fan of the world’s biggest music group.
