Here’s Why K-pop Fans Are Making Up Totally Fake Facts About Their Faves

Jungkook isn’t afraid of washing his hands. Olivia Hye isn't offended by people with peanut allergies. And BTS certainly won't be performing “Telephone” by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé anytime soon.


Nevertheless if you’re a unassuming K-pop fan who stumbled upon one of the several fully fake "fact" accounts on social media, you may wind up believing those lies are true. Within the past few months, accounts that produce hilariously absurd — and very untrue — graphics on Twitter and Instagram have gained popularity among K-pop fandoms. Nevertheless why?


The similarities are pretty rigid between the most well known fact accounts, all of which thrive on the low-quality nature of their images. Most accounts source their facts from their followers, who submit them through the direct messages or CuriousCat, a website that permits users to anonymously send comments and questions. With mismatched fonts, blurry photographs, and misspelled words, there's a regular protocol in the fake-fact business.


More than anything else, it's the out-there ideas for the facts themselves that are the key to a successful post, according to interviews with the creators beyond these popular accounts.


"It feels like we know the females and their personalities," Jac from Canada told MTV News about her account, @loonafacts12, which creates fake facts for the members of rookie K-pop girl sort Loona. "So If I write a fact that’s very blatantly untrue, I think that people find it funny because they know the women would never do that, yet it’s still funny to imagine."


It's all about being in on the joke for die-hard fans who would never fall for the made-up facts that a less-connected fan might believe. These facts are finely tuned to be funny in relation to the pop star they're parodying.


"I just think they find the full concept funny," said @legitbtsfacts owner Sofia from the U.S., "Because the things I mention would certainly correlate with the member I chose for that 'fact' based on their personality."


According to @SuperJuniorFact owner Erin from France, who runs the Super Junior account with her friend Karla from the U.S., This sort of weird, taboo humor can be thought "cursed content."


"It’s content that makes you cringe the longer you visualize it and makes you just desire to put your phone down for a second to reevaluate your life choices and why they led you there," Erin told MTV News. "It’s not a set aesthetic or set in stone, it’s more of a feeling that we want the public to feel."


Yet not all fans are in on the joke, which can make things awkward for these content creators. Some accept the graphics as fact or fully misunderstand that they're only intended as jokes in the initial place.


"It’s very rare," Jac mentioned, although occasionally people will tweet or comment on Instagram accusing us of posting these facts maliciously or saying they thought one of the facts up until they read other ones."


It's that backlash that can also help fake fact accounts grow, as is the case with @jungkookfacts97 — an account serious about BTS' youngest member and main vocalist, Jungkook.


"The account blew up late August," the owner mentioned, right after an account with 50,000 followers told each person to report my facts, and that's As soon as I got the most hate. I got around 900 comments over a couple of days and the majority were people getting very upset with me due to the facts."


Despite the criticism, the owner admitted that she's not doing much to curb the drama on her account, alternatively presenting her facts as legitimate. "We routinely state that the facts are 100% real and that we'd never post a fake fact."


Beyond just misinformation, fake fact accounts also push the limitations with posts about politics, violence, and NSFW topics not often broached in the world of K-pop. Some account owners, yet, are ready to take things further than others.


"I like sort of pushing the restrictions of what's 'OK' to post," the @jungkookfacts97 owner mentioned. Yet if something is a little bit more controversial I might send it to my companions who help me [run] the account to be able to see if they think it's also much."


Sofia adopts a similar plan of action with her companions as soon as it comes to posting controversial content. Meanwhile, Erin and Karla prioritize Super Junior's own reputation as soon as making sure not to publish jokes that could resemble poorly on the group and its fandom.


For the most part, the riskiest fake facts skew progressive and liberal, which Sofia attributed to the diverse makeup of the fanbase.


"Since majority of the fandom is a segment of the LGBT community," she explained, "I think they find the facts funny and relatable to their own personalized circumstances since it deals with their faves."


Jac agreed, saying, "Facts that express political or social ideas that are mainly liberal receive a lot of attention ... This may be because they take stances that majority of the fandom, including me, has as well."


As fans of K-pop idols that aren't usually allowed to speak out about politics and controversial subjects like LGBTQ issues and mental health in Korea, fake fan accounts give voice to the fanbases' progressive dreams. And by putting those views into the voice of their faves, fans create their own ideal reality, one where the groups that they stan can voice their suggestions freely.


Ultimately, that's why these fake fact accounts keep sprouting up across K-pop fandoms — and are starting to spread to others.


So while fake fact accounts push boundaries and potentially spread misinformation, they're really just serving because the world wide web voice of K-pop's creative, diverse fandom.