Is Kpop nerd culture in Europe and America? Are you a nerd?

[YeoChin Fairies]

Just a few days ago I saw Knetz talking about how only nerds stan Kpop in Europe and America, and that's the reason some European gg was "ugly", because that's the case for most foreign Kpop stans.

Well I am actually more shocked with the fact that they always keep bringing their own market down, but aside from that, are they true about Kpop being nerd culture?

And personally, do you consider yourself a nerd?

[BlessMeAchoo]

Tbh it kinda is. In Britain (or at least where I live) Kpop isn't mainstream at all and it's still very niche. It's mainly teens and young adults who like it or even know what it is. Most people where I live still think that Kpop = Psy and if they know anything more they've probably only heard of BTS.

I've already finished uni now, but back when I was in school it was even less popular and I was seen as weird for listening to it. People would ask the typical 'why would you listen to music in a language you can't understand?'.  After Gangnam Style was released more people did start to listen to Kpop, but it was still seen as weird and the popular kids didn't listen to it. I was kinda nerdy in school tbh lol. I was the quiet kid who had small groups of friends and just kept to themself otherwise.

[YeoChin Fairies]

11 minutes ago, BlessMeAchoo said:

Tbh it kinda is. In Britain (or at least where I live) Kpop isn't mainstream at all and it's still very niche. It's mainly teens and young adults who like it or even know what it is. Most people where I live still think that Kpop = Psy and if they know anything more they've probably only heard of BTS.

I've already finished uni now, but back when I was in school it was even less popular and I was seen as weird for listening to it. People would ask the typical 'why would you listen to music in a language you can't understand?'.  After Gangnam Style was released more people did start to listen to Kpop, but it was still seen as weird and the popular kids didn't listen to it. I was kinda nerdy in school tbh lol. I was the quiet kid who had small groups of friends and just kept to themself otherwise.

Wow..... so what did the popular kids listen to? Cause they can't all have the same taste or... O.o

[Bluebells and Snowdrops]

I’m from Denmark. I’ve never met any Danish kpop fans outside of kpop situations (visiting kpop stores, concerts, etc). Very few people I’ve met even know WHAT kpop is, most don’t even know that Gangnam style was korean. A few people have heard of BTS, but kpop is not generally played on the radio or in public. So it is pretty niche here
 

It is kinda nerdy and not very cool to be a kpop fan here. 

[UMJI MOODS]

I'm an introvert and a nerd. I live in California. 

[StarShapedGummy]

i think most fans (or the most passionate fans) are introverts in general. since they dont go out much or hang out all the time with friends, they spend time watching and loving idols as though they were their friends in that time unused. 

of course through kpop, they become quasi-extroverts cuz they bond with other other people who share the same passion.

so since most fans mostly express their love for it at home, then it is kind of a nerdy culture...but i feel like this is the case in more parts of asia too. 

[echobunny]

no one cares about k-pop in germany. it was such culture shock when i visited the philippines and everyone knew kpop. momoland and twice were on the radio all the time. bp and bts are also really popular

[BlessMeAchoo]

1 hour ago, YeoChin Fairies said:

Wow..... so what did the popular kids listen to? Cause they can't all have the same taste or... O.o

They just mainly listen to American/British pop, whatever is in the charts or on the radios really. Of course not everyone does, but the majority of do.

[starsocks]

I miss the days when nobody knew what it was. That was when kpop was the most fun for me.

Now that it's in the mainstream in Australia, people listen to it as casually as any other genre but aren't really part of the stan culture if you know what I mean. So nobody knows I like kpop even if they wouldn't judge me for it. I like to keep it to myself, it's like my double life at home lol.

I think millennials tend to be more judgy than people born after like '97ish though. People my age are pretty mature about it, but there are also a lot of annoying tween fans which I guess is where the "nerd" image comes from.

[StarShapedGummy]

3 minutes ago, choiyujins said:

I miss the days when nobody knew what it was. That was when kpop was the most fun for me.

Now that it's in the mainstream in Australia, people listen to it as casually as any other genre but aren't really part of the stan culture if you know what I mean. So nobody knows I like kpop even if they wouldn't judge me for it. I like to keep it to myself, it's like my double life at home lol.

I think millennials tend to be more judgy than people born after like '97ish though. People my age are pretty mature about it, but there are also a lot of annoying tween fans which I guess is where the "nerd" image comes from.

yeah... before psy, then bts, then blackpink made kpop truly global, it was only really popular in asia.

it was those days when you dont speak too much of kpop outside of your circle of friends who might know of "kpop" but haven't listened to it.

nowadays, it has become too big and it trends every day on twitter...

[LUDUCE]

Kind of?

I can only talk for the period before 2014-15

I remember One Direction were huge when i was in high school but i never saw one fan in my school, maybe they listen to them secretly.

"Fangirling" culture is a middle school/late elementary school here

If you were a kpopfan you were seen as a weirdo as much as weeaboos

Am I a nerd? I guess so

[puellarum generatio]

I'm from Paris and I don't know anyone who listen to kpop

[YeoChin Fairies]

4 hours ago, choiyujins said:

I miss the days when nobody knew what it was. That was when kpop was the most fun for me.

Now that it's in the mainstream in Australia, people listen to it as casually as any other genre but aren't really part of the stan culture if you know what I mean. So nobody knows I like kpop even if they wouldn't judge me for it. I like to keep it to myself, it's like my double life at home lol.

I think millennials tend to be more judgy than people born after like '97ish though. People my age are pretty mature about it, but there are also a lot of annoying tween fans which I guess is where the "nerd" image comes from.

Why around 97 tho? So people from earlier 90s are different?

[rananicolee]

2 minutes ago, YeoChin Fairies said:

Why around 97 tho? So people from earlier 90s are different?

People in the early 90s are about to be 30 so yeah they're different. 

[Digiwon]

Here in Brazil kpop stans are considered cringey and annoying, not exactly nerds. The stereotype is 14 year old girls who scream a lot and dress in a colorful way. Not that off, but based on all the people I met that enjoy kpop here surely there's other kinds of people, including myself. But I'm lowkey a nerd lmao. Like other people said it's a niche here too, not many people know much about kpop and don't bother knowing more about it.

[hee_woo]

yeah, it's a nerd thing here in Mexico too, however, I feel like the term "nerd" doesn't have the same negative connotation that it used to have, most of my classmates from my uni knew what kpop was and it was kinda of a normalized thing among us, I feel like it's mostly edgy high school kids and boomers who like to make fun of it. I think it is slowly becoming a more acceptable thing nowadays.

Edited July 19, 2020 by _universo

[PastelPetals]

I live in the USA and it's not a huge thing here like people know BTS but they don't know much else so I guess it's niche. I kinda miss when nobody knew anything cus now if people find out I like kpop they make fun of me or tell me I am shallow and bad for liking kpop and how bad I am for feeding into the industry etc etc. But anything many younger girls like is made fun of (I remember all the anger at the idea girls would like one direction)...I guess kpop for now is just seen as cringy. That's not great but it's ok for me sorta as I am a super introvert and really only talk about kpop online (I only really talk to people online very often anyway) the only issue is I have a friend who talks about how bad I am for liking kpop he is super cool he just has ideas of how "real" and "not sellouts" music has to be (slightly pretentious at times lol) 

And then people in the USA who spend a lot of time online think kpop fans are annoying and loud and some will go out of their way to make fans upset. I saw this post about this woman posting a picture her son drew of momoland (his ult group) and there were comments comparing liking kpop to people who commit hate crimes??? idk  

[Drama Drama Drama]

I admit a lot of kpop fans are introverted with edgy alternative look but not all kids are nerd 

I have a similar opinion to @_universo

The kpop fandom is starting to be asimilated as another urban young gang in high school and university despite cool kids, otakus incels and boomers make fun of them. They are so stupid and cocky too.

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Drama Drama Drama

[OutroTear]

Idk if nerd is the right word but it’s like cringy? But, there are actually a decent amount of kpop fans in my area lol so it’s not as big of a deal here as maybe other parts of the country/world.

Edited July 19, 2020 by OutroTear
a letter

[YeoChin Fairies]

3 hours ago, rananicolee said:

People in the early 90s are about to be 30 so yeah they're different. 

Well, idk how it actually changed so much in the western world in such a short time I guess. 

[Solfa]

I live in Michigan, yes, it’s nerd culture here. But nerd is not necessarily a bad term, or at least not as bad as it used to be. Star Wars and Game of Thrones are also nerd culture, but they are/were also mainstream juggernauts. 

However, Kpop is not mainstream, it just doesn’t have mainstream appeal the way Anime doesn’t. Majority of American ignore a movie or a TV series because it’s animated regardless how good it can be simply because they don’t like animation, and that’s why Anime cannot become mainstream. Likewise, majority of Americans really dislike groups in music, remember how much One Direction was mocked for existing? Yeah, it happens every boy band cycle, no matter how popular, likable or successful they are, majority shuns them for being groups, especially boy groups. Now add that to the music being foreign, the members being Asian (ahem) and you have a perfect recipe to never find mainstream success. 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Solfa

[Oli London]

Yes? Kind of.

There are a lot of kpop stans in America tho.  How do you think kpop groups hold concerts here? America is a big country tho, so we're all spread out and I wouldn't know who is a kpop stan if I were to walk past them in public unless they wore merch or were struggling to keep their kboo inside because I happen to be the only asian person within a 5 mile radius of them.

And what is European gg? A lot of people are not conventionally attractive so it's not a surprise ugly people exist?

Have the camera pan over an audience at kpop concert in korea or watch a korean talk show like Hello Counselor and do you see any attractive people in the audience? Nope!

 

[yoodle]

4 hours ago, Solfa said:

I live in Michigan, yes, it’s nerd culture here. But nerd is not necessarily a bad term, or at least not as bad as it used to be. Star Wars and Game of Thrones are also nerd culture, but they are/were also mainstream juggernauts. 

However, Kpop is not mainstream, it just doesn’t have mainstream appeal the way Anime doesn’t. Majority of American ignore a movie or a TV series because it’s animated regardless how good it can be simply because they don’t like animation, and that’s why Anime cannot become mainstream. Likewise, majority of Americans really dislike groups in music, remember how much One Direction was mocked for existing? Yeah, it happens every boy band cycle, no matter how popular, likable or successful they are, majority shuns them for being groups, especially boy groups. Now add that to the music being foreign, the members being Asian (ahem) and you have a perfect recipe to never find mainstream success. 

I don’t think the group thing is a turn off for people— you have girl groups like little mix, fifth harmony, in the past destiny’s child, spice girls. Don’t know a whole lot of boy groups unfortunately. For 1D, people “hated” on them the same way they hate on any famous guys with a large female following (see Justin Bieber), it wasn’t because they were a group. 
 

I agree that the turn off has a lot to do with the culture shock of Korea— how blatantly engineered groups are to be not only talented but attractive, different concepts (e.g aegyo) that are foreign, and the language barrier (I have talked to SO many people who say they don’t like to listen to kpop because they can’t understand the lyrics). Americans don’t like when music is so clearly being sold to them as a commodity. Not to say the same thing isn’t done here, but it’s more “taboo” and kept on the down-low, and a lot of emphasis is placed on “homegrown” groups that formed themselves.

[Solfa]

16 minutes ago, yoodle said:

I don’t think the group thing is a turn off for people— you have girl groups like little mix, fifth harmony, in the past destiny’s child, spice girls. Don’t know a whole lot of boy groups unfortunately. For 1D, people “hated” on them the same way they hate on any famous guys with a large female following (see Justin Bieber), it wasn’t because they were a group. 
 

I agree that the turn off has a lot to do with the culture shock of Korea— how blatantly engineered groups are to be not only talented but attractive, different concepts (e.g aegyo) that are foreign, and the language barrier (I have talked to SO many people who say they don’t like to listen to kpop because they can’t understand the lyrics). Americans don’t like when music is so clearly being sold to them as a commodity. Not to say the same thing isn’t done here, but it’s more “taboo” and kept on the down-low, and a lot of emphasis is placed on “homegrown” groups that formed themselves.

From your examples, I’m gonna say Spice Girls was the last mainstream girl group, they were literally everywhere at their peak. Little Mix or Fifth Harmony were popular with pop fans, but the general public didn’t know them at all. It’s very difficult to become mainstream, it’s not simply being extraordinarily popular. 

Agree with the rest of what you said, but I’ll add something else because you reminded me something a video essay from Lindsay Ellis: the general populations hates what’s popular with teenage girls. Pick anything that teen girls like. It’s not about the quality of the work, it’s because teen girls like it.

Example: Ok, Twilight sucked. You know what else sucked equally as much but did not receive nearly as much condemnation, scathing blog posts, or mocking memes because it wasn’t for teenage girls? Ready, Player One. Instead, it was just forgotten, people read it, saw the movie, moved on. A normal reaction to something shitty. Incredible difference, isn’t it? 

[DiSsOrGaNiZeDsUsHi]

Has the meaning of "nerd" changed? My definition of "nerd" is people who are smart (e.g., academics, science, technology, gaming, etc.) and absorbed in their own world (ex. they're so hyped talking about their interests down to the micro-detail). I haven't heard K-Pop being "nerd" culture in America.

At best, I think K-Pop in the U.S. is perceived as young people culture but that is for another discussion.