A Study on the Effects of Digital Media’s Network Attributes on Participatory Behavior: Focused on the Openness and Bonding of the A.R.M.Y Network

• Published in: Journal of Digital Contents Society Vol. 22; no. 4; pp. 619 - 627
• Main Author: Jang, Hyunsuk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 한국디지털콘텐츠학회 30.04.2021
• Subjects: 컴퓨터학; 디지털 공동체; 디지털 미디어; digital media; ARMY; 네트워크 속성; digital community; 아미; network attribute; participatory behavior; 참여적 사회 행동
• ISSN: 1598-2009; 2287-738X
• DOI: 10.9728/dcs.2021.22.4.619

In this study, we aim to identify relationships between characteristics of digital media-using communities and pro-social collective behavior, paying particular attention to the openness and bonding, the network attributes of the digital media used. We focus on ARMY, the official fandom of K-pop supergroup BTS, as a research target. We integrate qualitative and quantitative methods including in-depth interviews and surveys to confirm that the ARMY community mainly uses Twitter (the most popular social media network), YouTube (a repository of content), V-Live (to virtually meet with BTS members in real time) and Weverse (an official fan platform). The bridging properties of external openness of networks had a greater impact on ARMY's participation in society than did the bonding properties of members. These findings indicate that the openness of a social media network is an important clue to explaining its possibility as the public. KCI Citation Count: 2