[itsumo]

In light of the whole issue of Jay having to leave Korea and 2pm, and everyone freaking out about it, I've been thinking of past happenings where netizens get involved and rumors or criticisms arise - Daesung and him getting surgery to supposedly fix his nose, gd and plagiarism, taeyon not being able to sing, jung hoon and mnet scandal just to name a few. I don't understand why they have to pick on every little thing - do they gain satisfaction from doing so?

Everyone likes to criticize things here and there, but to blow things to such a great proportion, or to create rumors and spread false assumptions is another matter. Whenever I'm on soompi, I always see 'netizens this.. netizens that' It just seems like it's not gonna end.

Were netizens always this crazy?

[Miss Vivienne]

Unfortunately, it's the same in every place... even in America. Heck, we're netizens. We hate Miley Cyrus the same way. I know people will say things like "BUT LYK WE HAVE A REASON TO HATE HER!" and actually so do the people in Korea to hate Jaebum.

We justify it because Jaebum didn't mean it. It was 4 years ago. He was bragging to his friend and his friend only. It was for no one else.

But it's the same way with Miley... she took some slutty photos- but it was only for her bf and not anyone else. All in all, she's loud and obnoxious but nearly not a reason for any hate that almost all of Soompi has.

Netizens are pretty much truly vicious. Humans in nature are pretty much vicious. If we were in a world where you could always kill someone without being caught or have any consequence... I suspect no matter how horrible nearly 3 quarters of us would do it. We are pretty much ladder climbers... it's in the universe code to keep up alive. Viruses kill humans so they can thrive. We kill each other emotionally (sometimes physically) so we can thrive. We keep our negative thoughts to ourselves because it keeps humanity together... but on the internet- it's not the same. Anonymity = chaos.

We also have love so we can thrive... but that's a different story, lol. Just saying... for people who want to disagree with me.

[ma99ie]

I guess you could relate the same thing to gossip magazines and gossip blogs like Perez and how they pick at every little thing that a celebrity does, eats, dates, breathes etc. The internet just makes it a hell of a lot easier to express an outrageous opinion and not have to take responsibility for it.

Plus if you're a celebrity, it's common sense that you'd have to take the grunt of half the things that are said about you. You're a public figure and the more people who know about you, the more people there are who not only love you, but also hate you and pick at all the little things you do.

It's different in Korea though because the inherent culture is quite traditional and obsessed with things that are 'right' and 'good'. Mistakes in the celebrity world aren't tolerated as it well as it would be in Western societies - why else do you think the suicide rates in Korea are so high in comparison to the rest of the world?

Not only that, I'd go so far as to say most 'netizens' are kids in schools who aren't well taught (purely going by what I've heard, the Korean education system isn't ideal for a growing kid), so they'll vent their frustrations on the internet and attack people who in their minds are more well off than them, ie. celebrities, to make themselves feel better.

[chipmunkey]

and you wonder why korea has such a high suicide rate .

i just CANNOT understand the extend these netizens can go to protect their precious 'oppas' or something . the make a big fuss out of nothingness, step on the heads of whoever and whichever celebrity they like . the criticize without mercy behind their computer screen which explains alot about them, dont you think? in modern day terminology, i would call them cowards . they are in no place to harass people like that because celebs ARE human afterall . i really dont agree with people who argues that this is the 'price' they pay for fame . nobody should harm anybody like that, be in mentally or physically . they really need to chill and wake up from their fan girl/guyism childishness . i tell you, these comments WILL come back to haunt them one day, the way jay's did . and then it'll be good payback time .

btw, is cyber law dead in korea?!

[wtfitzbrian]

netizens were always crazy and out of their minds. Korea or america it doesn't matter, netizens everywhere were always crazy. but the difference is that it doesnt really matter wat netizens in america think, while here in korea netizens control everything lol.

[Mannosuke]

Just go to 4chan for a couple months and you'll start to see things from a netizen's perspective.

[kimigasuki]

That's the entertainment industry for you

It's inevitable - those artists - they all know about netizens and they all said "okay."

So to speak Jaebeom's situation - he's human, he makes mistakes. Netizens are also humans and it's apart of being human to judge and to judge the wrong way.

It's harsh but welcome to reality.

[maharu.]

It's not just the entertainment business.
It's the culture itself as well.

S.Korea is crazy when it comes to education and working so I bet these adults/kids have no where else to vent so
they chose the easiest target, celebrities. Just writing down their frustration probably allows them to 'feel better'
from the stress they get from their environment.
That's why there's a lot of horrible bullying and online boards like 2chan (In Japan) that's filled with immature people who
want to recklessly vent their frustration on the internet.

It happens everywhere but E. Asia is much scarier in terms of netizen power.

[*/TogetheR_ForeveR/*]

I honestly am not sure since I'm still a bit new to everything in the k-pop world, but from what I've seen, they've started out this way. I agree with the first two comments COMPLETELY.

Ya know, we are human, we have our problems here and there, and we vent. I guess they vent by taking out all their frustrations on celebrities.

Well, I don't know, maybe I'm just repeating what other people are saying...
but yeah. Such viciousness runs in our blood. Its just natural for us, we can't help it. And maybe some people are able to stand it better than others. :\

[oohdi]

lol it's not just korea..even america is. some people just dont see it that way
4chan? they pretty much start everything that becomes a meme...well i guess

people on the internet thinks they can just do anything ahahahah

in laos they had to remove a thai actor from a lao movie because he upset a lot of people by saying lao women arent as pretty as thai women. they went crazy and threatened to kill him in all kinds of ways so they had to find a new actor.

[Regina Rae]

4chan? Lmfao. Riiiiiight. *shivers*

[itsumo]

Maybe it's because I live in Australia (although I don't really know what difference that makes - it just doesn't seem as crazy as Korea or America?), or maybe I just live a sheltered cyber-life, lol. Yeah when I first started getting into kpop, I never really understood netizens and what they're about, and obviously, I still don't fully understand, but I'm getting there.. sorta... haha.. Just one point that I despise about using the internet as a medium to criticize or or post stuff, is the anonymity. It's just my opinion, but I think alot of the people who are reallyyy cruel via internet wouldn't have the guts to say those things to people face to face, and that's not just with kpop or netizens, but just about everyone who uses the internet.

Btw, What's 4chan? Anyone care to enlighten me before I bother to google it? haha

[eloquence]

Guess what.
We're netizens too.


Let's just face the facts.
The RUDE Netizens are the ones who have nothing interesting going in their life so they feel like venting out hatred on the net. Simple.


And that it's impossible to stop those rude netizens.

[XlYesterdaYlX]

Hiding behind a monitor allows anyone to say anything. Honestly i'd love to see a 4chan VS asian netizens grudge match.

[EHNerJI]

^ yep. people feel like they can say whatever they want because they are hiding behind usernames.
and sometimes, not even that.

[Mannosuke]

Hiding behind a monitor allows anyone to say anything. Honestly i'd love to see a 4chan VS asian netizens grudge match.

Awesome, pictures vs words. Not even a challenge.

[bonjour tristesse.]

Well that's their jobs, to either compliment or criticize a k-star. Everyone's a netizen .. I'm sure that even though you're not an anti of someone or something, you still have something to say. Don't deny because that would be a lie ; everyone has something to say.

[hiswendy]

what i don't get is why and how they're given so much power and influence.

[xspringrollsx]

I think I may be a bit slow here but I've been seeing alot of "I support Jay park" in everyone's signatures lately.
I tried googling it. Something about myspace comments? Could anyone fill me in.

[IwishIwasKOREAN]

I think Netizens are no different from people who regularly gossip and start drama. The internet just makes things communicate much faster. There are tons of teeny boppers everywhere.

Netizens are quite nice compared to the people who comment on Youtube.

what i don't get is why and how they're given so much power and influence.

The same reason why the media is powerful. Strength in numbers.

Maybe it's because I live in Australia (although I don't really know what difference that makes - it just doesn't seem as crazy as Korea or America?), or maybe I just live a sheltered cyber-life, lol. Yeah when I first started getting into kpop, I never really understood netizens and what they're about, and obviously, I still don't fully understand, but I'm getting there.. sorta... haha.. Just one point that I despise about using the internet as a medium to criticize or or post stuff, is the anonymity. It's just my opinion, but I think alot of the people who are reallyyy cruel via internet wouldn't have the guts to say those things to people face to face, and that's not just with kpop or netizens, but just about everyone who uses the internet.

Btw, What's 4chan? Anyone care to enlighten me before I bother to google it? haha

Isn't the bandwidth in Australia much limited as compared to country's like the USA and Korea? But I don't think it's much different in the fact that if a person wants to gossip and start drama, they are just doing the same thing but doing this by a faster means. It's probably true a lot of people probably wouldn't say those things to someone's face, but people who gossip and spread rumors probably wouldn't do that to a person's face either.

Some people get satisfaction by seeing other people suffer, especially if they're an anti-fan. It's no different than any other fan with sports teams or celebrities.