Post for ranting:

I guess I am not feeling surprised due to the sensational revelation about bullying in Kpop groups. Still, the exposition has left me with many questions:

A. how does the group dynamic contributes to the act of bullies ?

B. what could be some reasons for other members in a group to become bystanders ? Is there a continuum regarding the extent to which they choose to not get involved in the situation ?

C. could there be motives for bullying (e.g., ostracizing or exert physical aggression/micro-agressive acts etc.,) a memeber ? And could there be a correlation between such motives and group dynamics ?

I think applied research might also shed light on how to minimize or prevent bullying. However, without being able to conduct experiements or gather data from an appropriate sample the solution will remain a question. Will researchers or labs be able to conduct a study, in which kpop memebers are participants ? For now I will say that an unfeasible plan.

My hope is that researchers around the world will take a look at such cases and feel interested in probing into multiple perspectives of Kpop/the idol world. Another feasible approach might concern with conducting studies based on fans' perceptions. Generally, such studies may not reflect accurately an idol's or perhaps a group's view of bullying. Still, it helps give a preliminary overview of how fans perceive bullying acts in the context of Kpop. Again, I would be more than happy to conduct experiments or gather and analyze data IF artists were allowed to participate in my study. For me, I always feel intrigued by the group dynamics and how fans perception may yield different outcomes. Such outcomes could be resolve around a group's future plans, its self-image, or even interactions between memebers in the group. Soon-to-be a Doctoral candidate in Educational Psychology, I could not help thinking of interventions or ways that support fans in improving their well-being. Another parts of me also feel interested in exploring factos that contribute to romantic shipping, stalking, akgae etc.

I also wish to study factors that help promote social learning in a virtual world. How do we know if something posed on the Internet is accurate ? What are our criteria ? How do we know what we search for and what information we obtain are credible and trustworthy. Do we, as Kpop-fans or supporters, disregard information that are inconsistent with out preconceived beliefs of specific groups/idol ?

However, all these thoughts are parts of a quixotic plan for now haha.