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The world and several followers inside the specific fanbase were confused when the BTS ARMY trended the hashtag "BTS CHANGE YOUR LAYOUT" on Twitter on December 15, 2023, now X.
The popular group known worldwide as BTS, Bangtan Sonyeondan, has enrolled in the South Korean military as of December 12. With their beloved members of the boy band out of the picture until 2025, fans have been through many emotional roller coasters.
As a result, the ARMY mass trended the particular hashtag on Twitter, which stemmed from an inside joke. Following the group's enrollment in the military, ARMYs are aware that they won't be able to see the band members until 2025. The Bangtan Sonyeondan fanbase made jokes about the group's 2025 debut as a rookie boy group.
The satire became so widespread that on December 15, 2023, X (previously Twitter) saw the birth of a new hashtag, "BTS CHANGE YOUR LAYOUT," which quickly became popular.
Several fans misunderstood the hashtag joke and assumed other ARMYs were attacking BTS Jungkook's solo career
It's common for rookie groups in the K-pop business to wait years before making their formal debut. For example, BTS members trained for two to three years before making their debut in 2013. Similarly, BABYMONSTER, YG Entertainment's rookie female group, debuted in November 2023, following almost three long years of anticipation.
Several other K-pop groups, such as &team, RIIZE, and Stray Kids, among others, have had similar pre-debut stories where several members of a single group or the entire band had to train and wait for years to formally debut.
An ARMY and an X user, @redcurllss, tweeted, stating that it is funny to see "solo" fans urging others to boycott the fandom since they have assumed that ARMYs hate BTS. The online user added that the hashtag is an "army joke."
"That is so funny bcs at this moment TREE MEMBERS SOLOS are in armys business saying we are boycotting them and that we hate them. "BTS CHANGE YOUR LAYOUT" its an army joke WE KNOW THAT THEY CANT CHANGE IT NOW. ARE YOU DUMB?"
ARMYs started encouraging HYBE (previously BigHit Music) to replace their X cover image with BTS' 2013 rookie group photo as the prank gained international traction. In addition, the fan base began to stream the band's older music. It is crucial to note that BigHit Music's official Twitter account currently has a cover image of Jungkook's solo album GOLDEN.
Hence, the misunderstanding stemmed from there, as several netizens assumed that the particular hashtag was allegedly trending against the artist and hindering his solo era. An X user, @Daily_JKUpdate, posted on Twitter calling out the fans for "stooping this low to sabotage" Jungkook's solo album's promotion.
"OH GOD! This is so unbelievable. BTS FANBASES MASS TRENDING TAGS TO CHANGED GOLDEN LAYOUT??? Are you not embarrass? You are stooping this low to sabotage JUNGKOOK ALBUM? And to think he will be releasing an official music performance today???"
As a response, several other hashtags, such as "ARMYS RESPECT JUNGKOOK" and "ARMYS STOP SABOTAGING JUNGKOOK," started trending on the same day.
However, many overlooked a few other hashtags, such as "BANGTAN DEBUT" and "WelcomeToBTS," which were extensions of the previously mentioned parody. As visible in the post of X user, @Daily_JKUpdate, the screenshots attached to the post display the hashtags "BANGTAN DEBUT" and "BTS IS COMING."
To add more perspective to the context, since December 12, 2023, the fandom of Bangtan has been streaming several of their old songs since all the members enlisted in the military. Consequently, songs such as Spring Day, which was released in 2017, topped the iTunes Chart in 50 countries on December 12.
Following this, the septet's song Outro: Tear from their 2018 album Love Yourself: Tear topped the US and Australia iTunes Chart on December 14.
Notably, both tracks achieved this for the first time since their release years ago. Bangtan fans have been tweeting massively on X and urging one another to stream the boy group's song No More Dream from their 2013 debut album 2 Cool 4 Skool. Due to this, as of December 15, the song entered the Top 10 in the US iTunes Chart for the first time in a decade since its release.
In addition, the official music video, No More Dream, garnered over 290 million views in 30 minutes on December 15, 2023. The inside joke, which was supposed to cheer the whole fandom, received backlash as several netizens were left confused due to it.
Furthermore, @bangtan_maniac_ on X posted two screenshots showing two photos for the profile cover. A group portrait of BTS during their 2013 debut period, when the group launched their first album, 2 Cool 4 Skool, was shown in one of the pictures.
The online user was encouraging HYBE to change its X cover image since the boy band will debut in 2025—as part of the joke. Considering that fans have to wait until June 2025 to reunite with their beloved seven members, Namjoon, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook, who are all actively serving in the military.
"I'm a Bell now": BTS ARMY have taken the satire to a whole new level by renaming themselves and bringing back the group's debut photos
In keeping with the earlier joke, which has now become a parody, ARMYs have taken to referring to themselves as "Bells" and sharing pictures of Bangtan Sonyeondan from their 2013 debut.
While some fans tweeted about Bangtan Sonyeondan member Jin's debut "Eat Jin" picture, others shared a similar collage of Min Yoongi's 2013 and 2023 photos and expressed their prediction that the rookie will resemble the latter in ten years.
An X user, @01Btsxarmy, keeping with the theme of the ongoing joke—that has confused several fans—wrote on Twitter that the ARMYs have been a solid fandom for years, and it is saddening to see how quickly they have switched to supporting a new group, "Bangtan."
"Since 2019, I've always been so proud of ARMY. A solid fandom who knows what they want & what they're fighting for. However, these past days, it's so saddening to see how quickly ARMYs have changed. You're now supporting Bangtan & calling yourself Bangwools? Keep going!!!!
Meanwhile, Bangtan Sonyeondan, who is popularly known by the name BTS, is reported to resume group activities in 2025 after the completion of each group member's military service.
