How BTS Fans Utilized Social Media to Help Others
On Jan. 28, 2020, BTS tied Justin Bieber’s record on Billboard’s Social Top 50 chart after spending 163 weeks at No. 1 on the chart. While BTS fans are well known for their social media presence, fans’ reach extends far beyond breaking social media records. Over the past two months, BTS fans have raised money for Australian wildfire relief, donated to multiple charities, and helped find a comic book writer’s family teddy bear by using social media.
BTS fans raised money to help those affected by the Australian wildfires
Fire season began in Australia in July 2019. Over the past several months, destructive fires have destroyed homes and wildlife, particularly in New South Wales. In early January 2020, a BTS fanbase in Australia started a fundraiser for the Australian wildfires. The fanbase posted the fundraiser link on Twitter and encouraged BTS fans around the world to donate.
Within two days, the fanbase raised over $10,000. Over the course of 30 days, the campaign raised over $20,000. So far, the money raised has been distributed to the Australian Red Cross and the NSW Rural Fire Service.
ARMY helped ‘Kingsman’ writer Mark Millar
On Dec. 27, 2019, BTS performed at the 2019 KBS Song Festival. Their performance of “Dionysus” was based off of the Kingsman film franchise. The films are based on a comic book series created by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons.
After learning about BTS’s appreciation of the Kingsman franchise, Millar tweeted about the performance. ARMY then discovered a tweet of Millar’s from a few weeks prior explaining that his family’s teddy bear was lost on vacation.
The tweet read, “Dear @SantasLapland, one of my daughters left this 37- year old family bear behind at the ski-suit shop 2 days ago. Our holiday was AWESOME, but any chance you could complete this Christmas miracle and find him for us? Many thanks, The Millar Family!!”
BTS fans shared the post on Twitter, urging each other to try and help find the family’s bear. After fans started spreading the word, Millar heard from Santa’s Lapland that the bear was found in Finland.
Millar thanked ARMY on Twitter, writing, “AMAZING NEWS! We just had word from @SantasLapland that our missing bear was found in Finland this morning! Huge thanks to them and the thousands of @BTS_twt fans who posted tweets like the one below over the past 24 hrs. My kids are SO DELIGHTED!!!”
BTS fans donated to charities for James Corden and Ashton Kutcher
BTS appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden on Jan. 28. At the end of the show, the group played hide-and-seek with Corden and Kutcher. As a way to honor Corden and Kutcher, BTS fans donated to two different charities.
Magic Breakfast is a charity based in London that provides nutritious breakfasts to disadvantaged children in the U.K. Corden previously donated to the charity, so BTS fans encouraged each other on social media to donate as well.
Buzzfeed News confirmed that BTS fans donated £7,500 in 17 hours. The 585 donations came from 54 different countries and provided 25,419 breakfasts. Magic Breakfast later confirmed on Twitter that the donations ended up totaling 36,271 breakfasts.
Kutcher co-founded Thorn, an anti-human trafficking organization that focuses on preventing the sexual exploitation of children internationally. As a way of thanking Kutcher for his respect and having fun with BTS, fans donated to Thorn as well. Both Corden and Kutcher thanked BTS fans for their donations and support.
“Thank you @BTS_twt and the army for the love for @thorn,” Kutcher tweeted.
“Oh man. This BTS army is real and full of love and it’s great! You have no idea how many children you have helped. Thank you thank you thank you x,” Corden tweeted.
