For the second year in a row, BTS has made it on TIME Magazine’s annual list of the “25 Most Influential People On The Internet,” which according to the publication, is created by looking at the contenders’ “global impact on social media and their overall ability to drive news.”
To many people online, BTS’s appearance on the list isn’t surprising, as the boy band is widely recognized for its global “ARMY” fanbase, which has helped the group remain on top of Billboard’s Social 50 charts for almost 90 weeks. In addition, BTS has won Top Social Artist at the Billboard Music Awards for the past two years, ending Justin Bieber’s six-year-long reign that lasted from 2011-2016.
In more recent news, BTS made an impact on social media when they released the video for “Fake Love.” The video surpassed 35 million views in just one day, making it the biggest 24-hour YouTube debut of 2018 and the third biggest 24-hour debut of all-time, behind Taylor Swift and Psy.
While the group made TIME Magazine’s list of the “25 Most Influential People On The Internet,” they did not make the publication’s “100 Most Influential People of 2018” list, despite being nominated. The group’s absence from the latter led to backlash from fans online since the group won TIME’s reader poll for the list.