December 6 was panning out to be a completely ordinary day, when the Bangtan Boys came calling on Instagram, chased away those Monday blues and sent ARMYs into a flurry of activity (read: spamming, following, stalking, gushing, etc.)
The K-pop band recently completed their four-day ‘Permission to Dance On Stage’ concert at California’s SoFi Stadium, which sold a staggering 214,000 tickets and according to Billboard, boasted one of the highest engagement rates for single-venue concerts in almost a decade.
Their Insta debut also closely follows Big Hit’s announcement of the band going on a hiatus to “get re-inspired and recharge with creative energy.”
And, of course, when legends land on Instagram, it makes complete sense that they land with already verified profiles and hit a million followers in a matter of minutes!
Here’s a quick look at what the boys have posted on Instagram so far:
Kim Seokjin (Stage name: Jin)
The oldest member of BTS, who recently celebrated his 29th birthday, made his first post on Instagram with a picture of himself, cosplaying as the doll from popular South Korean Netflix series, Squid Game.
Unlike the doll however, Jin in his two tiny, oh-so-adorable pigtails, looked more squishy than scary.
Kim Namjoon (Stage name: RM)
The leader of the band, RM currently has the maximum number of pictures on his profile, which perhaps justifies his bio, where he calls his Instagram account “just an archive”.
Suffice it to say, if it’s Kim Namjoon’s archive, we are definitely not complaining!
ARMYs loved this particular post by RM, which shows him clicking a picture of a cat. Captioned “finding yoongi”, in the picture RM aptly tagged fellow band member Min Yoongi, who has often been called a cat by ARMYs.
Min Yoongi (Stage name: Suga)
The ‘cat’ from RM’s post debuted on Instagram with the picture of a tree. Unlike the other members however, Suga did not limit comments on his post, so you can imagine what happened next – thousands of comments started flooding in, as delighted ARMYs thronged his profile.
Soon after, he deleted the picture (highly suspicious, we know), but posted a selfie later on where unfortunately, he did limit the comments. But even though commenting is no longer possible, fans showed their love by hitting the like button – incessantly we might add, because that picture currently boasts more than 8 million likes!
Jung Hoseok (Stage name: J-Hope)
It might be J-Hope’s first time on Instagram, but he has absolutely nailed the polaroid Insta aesthetic. ARMYs love his third post, which shares a series of behind-the-scenes moments from the boys’ California concert.
And while you may expect his Insta profile to be all sunshine and colours (much like J-Hope himself), it looks as if he is sticking to his blues for now.
Park Jimin (Stage name: Jimin)
Bangtan’s mochi debuted on Instagram with a black-and-white photo of himself looking dapper in a suit and tie. Paired with square-framed glasses, Jimin looked as chic and stylish as ever.
His second post was more mochi-like, with a snapshot of him sending flying kisses and captioned, “luv u all”.
Right back at ya, Jimin!
Kim Taehyung (Stage name: V)
In what was a classic pet parent move, V’s latest Instagram post was a photodump of his equally popular pomeranian, Yeontan. This tiny, adorable fluff ball was introduced to ARMYs in December 2017, and since then has become loved and adored by fans all over the world.
V’s most liked photo on Instagram is his second post. While it may look like an entirely innocent (not to mention, beautiful) picture of him holding a bunch of flowers, fans simply cannot get enough of the second snap in the series, which features a selfie of him, mid-shave.
And while not many people can pull off a shaving cream-lathered close-up of their faces, it goes without saying that V certainly can!
Jeon Jungkook (Stage name: Jungkook)
By far, the youngest member of BTS seems to be having the most fun with Instagram.
Fans love Jungkook’s cheeky username, which features all the letters of the English alphabet, except j and k – which are his initials. And within the short span of time he has spent on Insta, ‘Kookie’ as ARMYs affectionately call him, has already explored Insta posts, stories and story highlights!
His debut post was a picture of the Santa Monica beach in California. With the blue sky turning golden where it meets the sea, the picture left us longing for a seaside vacay. He also posted a picture of himself at the SoFi stadium, clicked during the band’s recent concert there.
Fan Speak
My Kolkata caught up with some ARMYs in the city, who told us all about why the Bangtan Boys’ debut on Instagram is such a special affair. Be it teens or adults, the excitement and enthusiasm is off the charts!
Itʼs safe to say that I almost choked on my food when I saw people on Twitter going crazy about BTSʼ personal Instagram accounts...Letʼs just say it wasn’t a pleasant experience for my neighbors to hear a girl screaming out of excitement in broad daylight.
Srishti D’Rozario, 15
I am very excited about getting their life updates… Since I don’t have Twitter, I missed out on those updates. The most exciting part is that they can now come live here!
Tamashi Das, 14
I was scrolling through Twitter when I saw a few hashtags trending #btsareoninstagram. I thought that those hashtags were fake and didn’t pay much attention to it till I opened Instagram. I literally screamed with joy and disbelief when I saw their accounts. It felt so surreal, I had always wished they had individual Instagram accounts and I felt like my wish had now come true.
Daniella D'Abreo, 15
BTS joining Insta felt like this feat was straight out of a fanfiction. This is a dream from which I don’t want to wake up!
Pratyashaa Paul, 22
I'm really happy they're on Instagram, but we're in for a ride. They're absolutely adorable in trying to figure out how the app (Instagram) works. It's chaotic. but it's so much fun. ARMYs are worried that if they figure out the LIVE feature and go live together, then we might not be able to view it later unless they remember to save it. So, it's been fun so far seeing them confused, but the tables might turn soon!
Crystal Valencia Sayter, 22
I feel ecstatic! ARMYs are super-excited to see more glimpses of their lives. Also, it is refreshing to see them being themselves on a social media platform. I hope they enjoy a lot.
Sohini Dasgupta, 23
[Additional inputs by Lyegia Gomes.]