A Beginner’s Guide to Being an ARMY

You can’t stop singing 'FAKE LOVE' or 'Spring Day' in your head. You can’t help but dance along to the moves of 'Mic Drop' and 'Boy With Luv', and can’t help but be mesmerized by their handsome visuals. Now, you’ve just gotten more curious of RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, and you think, you just think, you’re ready for the next step: to be an ARMY!

Are you ready to be a part of the ARMY fandom? Then, here are some of the basic things you need to know once you decide to enlist yourself!

1. One of the things that BTS is known for is their very close and genuine interaction with their fans.

Get in touch and be updated with the latest BTS happenings by following them on their official social media accounts, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Aside from these, Big Hit Entertainment, the company who manages BTS, has created an app that’s exclusive for their artists and their respective fans. This serves as the official fan community, where, aside from interacting with fellow fans (and the artists themselves!), you can also enjoy various exclusive content. Check out the BTS Weverse here.

2. Can’t get enough of their music? Be sure to save these links on your Spotify accounts to enjoy the complete BTS discography to its full glory:

Official Spotify playlists:

BTS Artist page 

This is BTS 

Aside from the usual official albums they release, BTS loves creating even more special songs as gifts to their fans, that’s why it’s important to also check them out on SoundCloud. Some of the member’s earlier mixtapes, as well as their song covers and solo works which are not part of their official albums can also be heard exclusively here.

Official SoundCloud page

One can say that ARMYs are the luckiest fans in the world, as BTS loves to spoil their fans with various content--from random vlogs (which they call the BANGTAN BOMBs), to special behind-the-scenes clips of their shoots, special music videos, choreography videos, live broadcasts, reality shows, even Korean language tutorials! You name it, they have it. They even maintain a blog page, which they update once in a while.

Official blog page: https://btsblog.ibighit.com/

Official YouTube and video streaming pages:

Big Hit labels: https://www.youtube.com/user/ibighit

BANGTANTV: https://www.youtube.com/user/BANGTANTV

Official Vlive Channel: https://channels.vlive.tv/fe619/home

BTS Weverse here: https://weverse.io/bts/feed

3. Merch!

Yup, it feels different when you get your hands on the official BTS merchandise. And there’s only one official go-to hub for all your merch cravings: the Weverse Shop.

Download the app or visit the site https://www.weverseshop.io/, and check out all the official merchandise you’ll never think you’ll need. You can purchase everything BTS-related there, from the official albums, shirts, concert tickets, or even the official ARMY membership!

Even products of the brands that they endorse (Samsung, FILA, VT Cosmetics, Lemona, to name a few) can also be bought via Weverse. One of the merch that each and every ARMY must have is the BTS official light stick, or more popularly known within the fandom as the ARMY Bomb. A concert experience will never be complete without ARMYs waving their ARMY Bombs while singing and dancing along with BTS. You’ll even be amazed with how the colors change and syncs with the whole crowd during special performances of the concert.

5. BT21!

If you know BTS, then you should definitely know BT21. LINE Friends collaborated with BTS to create special characters inspired by BTS themselves. Thus, Koya, RJ, Shooky, Mang, Chimmy, Tata, Cooky and Van were born. And they’re a whole new experience altogether! Check out the BT21 official YouTube page to see how BTS has created their beloved counterparts, and get to enjoy various BT21 content, as well. For official BT21 merchandise, just drop by the PLAY LINE Friends store in Robinsons Manila, or you can check out the Weverse shop, as they’re also all available there. 

The list goes “ON”, and there are even a lot more things you should know and discover about BTS as you go along. But no worries, it’s a very “Dope” journey, and you’re going to surely enjoy it, especially when you get to be friends with your fellow ARMYs.  It’s just a matter of time for you to know in yourself that being an ARMY is a part of your “DNA”.

Photos from @bts.bighitofficial and @bt21_official