Last year saw BTS dominate multiple social media platforms and take home the Top Social Artist award at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, and now the group is kicking off the new year with another milestone: the boy band hit 12 million Twitter followers on Wednesday (Jan. 17).
The achievement came just two months after the Korean group hit 10 million followers on Twitter, and just over two weeks since they appeared on the nationwide broadcast of Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Years Eve with Ryan Seacrest to ring in 2018.
Fans celebrated the achievement by trending the hashtag #BTS12M.
BTS opened their Twitter account in July 2011 and saw steady growth until 2016, when the group gained major traction and began their ascent.
In 2017, the group become the most tweeted-about artist, beating out both K-pop and western artists for the top spot. They also were recognized as the owners of the first Korean Twitter account to reach 10 million followers in November.
Along with the account that the seven members use, BTS’ official account has an additional 8.49 followers, for a combined following of over 20 million.
BTS’ social media prowess is undeniable, and has spurred much of the group’s success as fans flock to their Twitter account to get updates directly from the band members. The group’s strong fandom, known as ARMY, frequently trend hashtags related to the account and the band’s career globally. Even fan activities go viral, with a recent story by one follower trending worldwide for several days as others rallied around a serialized fanfiction story.
The most recent tweet on BTS’ Twitter account features a cover of Lee Hi’s “Breathe” by Jungkook. The song has been turned into an homage to SHINee’s Jonghyun, who wrote the song for Lee.
— ????? (@BTS_twt) January 16, 2018