'Did I pay 4,500KRW (3.50USD) just to get one selfie?'
There has been a small fuss among fans who subscribed to NCT's Jaehyun on a fan-platform Dear U Bubble on May 13th. Bubble is a platform where you can get a personal message from your favorite idol if you subscribe for 4,500KRW (3.50USD) per month. Today, Jaehyun posted a simple picture of him. It was the first picture he posted in 19 days, since the last time he posted a picture of him in front of a mirror in a hair salon back on March 26th. To this picture, fans reacted, "That's insincere", "Give us our money's worth". Back then, Red Velvet's Joy, also received the same complaints for not posting any messages for a month. The fans who subscribed to her reacted, "Does she really not have any time to post on Bubble?".
This mobile fan platform does not only have advantages but also causes some fuss. It's because fans get different amounts of messages and pictures according to the idols' circumstances and personalities. Some people think this platform is exploiting the idols emotionally and naming the platform as 'emotional labor', as they are forced to communicate with their fans. Some also think that the subscription fee is unreasonable, taking advantage of the fans' loyalty.
On the other hand, fans also complain about things that are not necessary. Some fans are measuring the idols' love towards their fans according to the number of messages they send every month. Of course, that number does not portray the affection the idols have towards their fans. Therefore that argument can be considered inconclusive.
To this time, 49% of Bubble's subscribers are NCT and Stray Kids' fans. Since the subscription fee for one member costs 4,500KRW and NCT has 23 members, you have to pay 88,500KRW (including the discount). It is quite a big amount of money.
A fan of NCT's member, A, says, "The most we get in a month is two to three messages. I am very sad, therefore I stopped subscribing to them. I paid for the subscription fee and yet I don't know when can I get any messages." B also says, "The artist I'm subscribed to often sends messages. But I just don't think it makes sense that they get paid the same money as the artists who rarely sends messages"
Despite these complaints, fans just can't withdraw themselves from using the platform. A researcher at Hanyang Securities, Park Minju, explains, "The subscription retention rate for the next month is still over 90%. It's because most of them subscribe to two or more artists, so when one artist rarely sends messages, it doesn't affect them that much"
