#KPopTwitter continues to make Hallyu Waves with record 5.3 billion Tweets globally in 2018

Written by Twitter, Inc.

SEOUL, KOREA - Media OutReach ^[1] - 21 February 2019 - 2018 was a big year for KPop, and with a new global record of 5.3 billion Tweets last year, Twitter continues to show that it's the best place to find out what's happening with KPop and to talk about it with KPop fans around the world!

Here are the top 20 countries (listed by region and in alphabetical order) that Tweeted the most about KPop in 2018:

North America: US, Canada
Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru
Europe: France, Turkey, UK
Asia Pacific: India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam

Twitter also collaborated with 34 KPop bands and over 200 artistes to create KPop content available exclusively on the platform, such as with BTS (@BTS_twt ^[2]), EXO (@weareoneEXO ^[3]) and GOT7 (@GOT7Official ^[4]). Through a variety of engagements such as live Q&A sessions via the #TwitterBlueroom ^[5], fun emojis created for album comebacks, and even special voting on the platform, Twitter has strengthened its position as the top conversation platform for the global KPop community. In particular, #TwitterBlueroom ^[6] broadcasts have been viewed over 10 million times in 2018.

These pieces of content also provided advertisers with an opportunity to reach out to the young and highly engaged KPop fans on a global scale. As such, Twitter extended its In-Stream Video Ads (IVA) capabilities to KPop content. In-Stream Videos Sponsorships (IVS) was also introduced, allowing brands to insert pre-roll ads into video highlights of KPop #TwitterBlueroom ^[7].

#2018MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards) - 56 million Tweets in just three days!

Over the course of three days leading up the #2018MAMA ^[8] Awards from 12 to 15 December last year, KPop fans interacted with each other on Twitter and set a new record of 56 million award-related Tweets, surpassing the 42 million award-related Tweets in 2017!

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/MnetMAMA/status/1072896310318063616 ^[9]

The Twitter's exclusive 'Worldwide Icon of the Year' award got fans voting for their favourite bands and artists on the platform, accumulating up to 13.3 million Tweets in just three hours! Fans used the hashtag #MAMAVOTE ^[10], which trended worldwide, ranking #1 in 44 countries.

BTS (@BTS_twt ^[11]) is the Most Tweeted account in the world

2018 was BTS' year, and it showed on Twitter. BTS was ranked as the #1 most Tweeted about account for 2018 worldwide. A Tweet featuring BTS member J-Hope participating in the #InMyFeelingsChallenge ^[12] was the Most Liked Tweet worldwide last year with 1.8 million Likes.

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/TwitterData/status/1070272742849687553 ^[13]

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/BTS_twt/status/1021325648659296256 ^[14]

The impact of BTS has also been recognised in corporate advertising. In order to promote their new smartphone, LG Electronics (@LGElectronics ^[15]) launched an official Twitter channel called LGxBTS (@LGMobileGlobal ^[16]), sharing video clips of BTS at award ceremonies such as the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, paired with In-Stream Video Ads. The pre-roll ads featured in the clips garnered 20 million views and 8.7 million engagements, making headlines on Twitter.

Breaking Records - EXO (@weareoneEXO ^[17])'s #TwitterBlueroom ^[18] watched by 1.6 million people live!

In November, KPop boy group EXO (@weareoneEXO ^[19]) garnered huge attention by generating more than 24 million Tweets through the hashtag #EXO_Tempo ^[20], in anticipation for their comeback album, "Don't Mess Up My Tempo".

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/weareoneEXO/status/1057905997350547463 ^[21]

Twitter and EXO also collaborated for a surprise #TwitterBlueroom ^[22] Live Q&A prior to their comeback. As many as 1.6 million EXO-L tuned in, making it the highest number of real-time views ever for a live KPop #TwitterBlueroom ^[23].

Twitter's 'Instant Unlock' for exclusive GOT7 (@GOT7Official ^[24]) video content

Fans of KPop boy band GOT7 (@GOT7Official ^[25]) were in for a treat when they announced that their fans were able to view a series of behind-the-scenes production videos on Twitter related to their third studio album, Present: YOU, exclusively available through an instant unlock feature when they Tweeted with the #Lullaby ^[26] hashtag. There were 2.4 million related Tweets over the 10 day campaign in October 2018.

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/GOT7Official/status/1056054067963645952 ^[27]

2019 will be another great year for #KpopTwitter ^[28]!

We are already excited with the amazing global events lined up for #KpopTwitter ^[29] in 2019, such as the annual #SoompiAwards ^[30], #KCON ^[31], #2019MAMA ^[32] and even more KPop artists in the #TwitterBlueroom ^[33]! Conversations about KPop will continue to grow on Twitter.

Aside from album comebacks, there will be discussion around concerts, world tours and fan meetings. Fans will also take to the platform to congratulate their favourite idols directly on special occasions such as debut anniversaries, birthday celebrations and more.

Which KPop artist do you want to see for #TwitterBlueroom ^[34] in 2019? Tweet with #WhosNext4TwitterBlueroom ^[35] with @ArtistID! (for example, @OfficialMonstaX ^[36]) to decide!

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/TwitterKorea/status/1097887242423390210 ^[37]

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/TwitterKorea/status/1085780702962962432 ^[38]

Join the #KpopTwitter ^[39] conversation today and every day to see and talk about your favourite artists with other KPop fans around the world!

About Twitter

Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is what's happening in the world and what people are talking about right now. On Twitter, live comes to life as conversations unfold, showing you all sides of the story. From breaking news and entertainment to sports, politics and everyday interests, when things happen in the world, they happen first on Twitter. Twitter is available in more than 40 languages around the world. The service can be accessed at twitter.com ^[40], on a variety of mobile devices and via SMS. For more information, visit about.twitter.com ^[41] or follow @TwitterKorea ^[42]. For information on how to download the Twitter and Periscope apps, visit twitter.com/download ^[43] and periscope.tv ^[44].