BTS hit another milestone on Monday (Nov. 13) when their @bts_twt account reached 10 million followers on Twitter — a first for any Korean artist. The accomplishment earned them a hashtag, #LoveBTS10M, which was paired with the group’s third Twitter emoji.
The news reinforces their domination as our Top Social Artist, the distinction they won at the Billboard Music Awards in May.
Stan Twitter is a subculture all its own, especially when it comes to BTS’s passionate fan base, ARMY. Their mobilization sent #LoveBTS10M trending worldwide shortly after the achievement was announced.
So, it makes sense that the group’s third emoji was inspired by the official logo that represents ARMY. The symbol is an inversion of the door-shaped logo used for the #BTSxAMAS and #ARMYxAMAs hashtag, which was unveiled on July 5 as part of the group’s newly extended brand identity.
.@BTS_twt is still ????? & BTS, but it’s English name is now Beyond The Scene, for the youth who grew up, ARMY is reflecting BTS’ youth pic.twitter.com/EJvxco8za3
— ????? ?? (@BTS_ARMY_I) July 5, 2017
Symbolically, the twin logos mean that BTS and ARMY are facing each other from opposite vantage points — and it’s meaningful that both Twitter emojis were revealed within 10 days of each other.
The accomplishment took the group 1,793 days to pull off after they posted their first tweet on Dec. 17, 2012 — written in Korean, the text announced the group’s official Twitter launch several months before their official debut on June 12, 2013.
??! ????????.??? ????? ???? ?? ?????~???!?? ??? ?? ? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??????.
— ????? (@BTS_twt) December 17, 2012
But the account has been gaining momentum in the past few months as it recently hit 9 million followers on Oct. 12, according to Soompi — meaning the boys earned 1 million followers within the span of a month. Twitter Korea put together a visualization of the account’s growth over time.
— ?????! ????? @BTS_twt ? ?? ?? ??? 1?? ???? ??????. ? ??? ?? ????? ?? ???? #LoveBTS10M ????? BTS? ??????! Congrats to BTS on reaching 10M followers for the first time in Korea! Tweet with #LoveBTS10M pic.twitter.com/vDYZVjEUDZ
— ??? ???? (@TwitterKorea) November 13, 2017
The social media team at Twitter presented BTS with a trophy celebrating their 10 million followers. The plaque reads, “Congratulations to @BTS_twt on reaching 10,000,000 followers on Twitter.”
?? ?? ??? 1?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ????? @BTS_twt ?? ??????. Twitter prepare a small plaque to thank BTS for the passion and interest they showed to directly connect with their fans on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/RfGj7pcFQw
— ??? ???? (@TwitterKorea) November 13, 2017
Each of the seven members sent out individual thank-you messages through a medium any ARMY would appreciate: selfies.
J-Hope cheesed it up in his photo with a hand heart.
?????– #LoveBTS10M #?? pic.twitter.com/n1r1KJmxmi
— ????? (@BTS_twt) November 13, 2017
Jimin threw out a peace sign.
#LoveBTS10M#JIMIN pic.twitter.com/hamjJr9Njr
— ????? (@BTS_twt) November 13, 2017
Important note: Jungkook’s signature is definitely a reflection of his advanced drawing ability.
#LoveBTS10M pic.twitter.com/uGPYAzn1Xo
— ????? (@BTS_twt) November 13, 2017
RM got the winky face going.
—- #RM #LoveBTS10M pic.twitter.com/oU3amQoW3n
— ????? (@BTS_twt) November 13, 2017
Suga is all about that finger heart.
#LoveBTS10M#?? #?????? #???? pic.twitter.com/YvGehbusX0
— ????? (@BTS_twt) November 13, 2017
V brings the aegyo with his signature pose.
— #LoveBTS10M pic.twitter.com/lsLEXVCEkU
— ????? (@BTS_twt) November 13, 2017
Where would ARMYs be without Jin’s kissy face?
#LoveBTS10M pic.twitter.com/0cMnDGkcWB
— ????? (@BTS_twt) November 13, 2017
Then all seven members threw a dance party in this gif. The caption is accented with an animal emoji representing each member.
——————? #?????? #?????? #LoveBTS10M pic.twitter.com/Q2iqg8CwMD
— ????? (@BTS_twt) November 13, 2017
Here are some other noteworthy facts about BTS’s Twitter presence, courtesy of Twitter.
The group has received 1 billion mentions on the social media platform since they opened their account.
The five most tweeted about BTS songs of all time are:
1. “DNA”
2. “Spring Day”
3. “Not Today”
4. “I Need U”
5. “Fire”
The group’s second Twitter account for official updates, @BTS_bighit, amassed an impressive 6.9 million followers too.
Update: The #LoveBTS10M emoji was tweeted an impressive 3.5 million times in the first 24 hours.
It’s not the first time BTS has accomplished a lot within a short time frame. In September, the boy band became the K-pop group with the most music video views in a 24-hour period with “DNA,” knocking Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” out of the 6th spot for most-viewed music videos in a single day.
The members’ thank-you tweets also got a lot of traction with 9 million total engagements, including likes, retweets and replies.
The online celebrations for the international phenoms attracted a global turnout. Twitter Korea put together a heat map to track the activity surrounding the #LoveBTS10M hashtag around the globe.
BTS ?? ???? ???? #LoveBTS10M ? 24?? ?? 350? ? ??????. @BTS_twt ???? ?? ?? ??? 900? ? ??? ?? ??? ??????. 3.5M Tweets for the #LoveBTS10M hashtag in the past 24 hours. Over 9M total engagement for the BTS thank-you Tweets yesterday. pic.twitter.com/ZpWmy9vHNn
— ??? ???? (@TwitterKorea) November 14, 2017
East Asia and Europe were abuzz on the social media platform, while certain areas of the U.S. and South America were bathed in the map’s red glow.