Imagine it. You’re a Kpop idol. You’ve trained more or less than five years, enduring countless hardships to get where you are. You’re debuting. It’s exciting. For years, you’ve spent every free moment practicing your singing/rapping/dancing, and now your fate depends on how the public views you. So you click on the comment section. There, you’re pleased to see many people who are supporting you, uplifting you, and… Oh. 50% of the comments are about your looks. Not about how good your dancing is, or about how talented and hard-working you are, but about how cute your smile and laugh is, how good you look in that outfit that you didn’t even pick out yourself, or about your hairstyle that was colored according to your concept. It’s rewarding to see so many people supporting you and your ambitions, but you were hoping to see more praise for something within your control. Something that you worked hard for. Something that you’ve devoted your life to perfecting. You’re grateful to your stylist, your choreographer, and the people who selected your music video concept. You couldn’t have done any of this without them. But… You couldn’t have made it this far without the long nights you spent rehearsing, worrying about what people would think about you, telling yourself ‘just one more time before I go to sleep. Just a little extra practice.’
The truth is, idols find all positive comments to be rewarding. They enjoy seeing us compliment them on their hair/figure/smile. Those are things that they’ve managed too. They have to undergo a difficult diet to look the way they do. And in a way, that is something within their control. But as idols who are passionate about what they do, they want to be unique. They want to stand out. And how they appear isn’t always 100% within their control. And as an idol, their fans are their motivation. We’re the reason they can feel like all of their hard work was worth it. (That, of course, and their paychecks.) But think about your favorite Kpop idols. What draws you to them? Of course, you stayed for the members, but what about them first caught your attention? Their sound? Their aesthetic? Regardless of the reason, here’s the thing. Idols are humans too. And human beings need feedback. It’s what keeps people going. Of course idols want to hear how beautiful they are. But they always want to hear about what kind of person they are. Tell idols they are interesting. Tell idols they have a good sense of humor. Tell idols that they are talented. Tell idols that they have worked hard. Tell idols you love their voices. Tell idols what they mean to you as a person. Tell idols why you believe they are a good person.
