IT seems that Filipinos have been truly bitten by the K-drama and K-pop bug. The Philippines ranked fourth among countries tweeting most about K-content, according to a statement from Twitter.
The list was formed by analyzing tweets including keywords related to Korean dramas, movies, and actors. Other countries on the list include the top spot occupied by K-content’s home turf, South Korea, followed by Thailand and the United States in second and third place. Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, France, Vietnam, Spain, Singapore, Italy, Türkiye, Germany, and Peru fill in the rest of the spots for the top 20 countries tweeting about K-content.
The analysis took into consideration over 10 years’ worth of tweets, looking at tweets from July 2011 to 2022. From these, one sees a growth in the spread of the enthusiasm for South Korean culture.
This may be a direct result of the country’s aggressive promotion of its culture through pop songs, soap operas, and movies, a phenomenon called the Korean wave. For example, in the span from 2011 to 2022, the amount of tweets related to K-content has grown 546%. The Twitter statement notes that the appearance of K-pop stars such as Kim Sejeong in the webtoon A Business Proposal, Lee Junho in the TV show The Red Sleeve, Lee Jieun (IU) in the film Broker, and Ok Taecyeon in the film Hansan led the surge in related tweets among fans around the world.
In the Philippines, Snowdrop is the most tweeted-about K-drama so far this year, with Twenty Five Twenty One and All of Us Are Dead placing second and third respectively. The Philippines shares the world’s enthusiasm for Snowdrop and Twenty Five Twenty One, with both TV series taking the top two spots around the world as well.
The most Tweeted about K-Movie in the world so far this year is Broker. The movie drew attention when actor Song Kangho won the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. In case you’re curious, Snowdrop is a romance set during South Korea’s June 1987 Democracy Movement. Twenty Five Twenty One, follows the love life of five characters from the years of 1998 to 2021. In turn, Broker is about the black market for babies in South Korea.
YeonJeong Kim, Head of Global K-Pop & K-Content Partnerships at Twitter, said in a statement, “K-Pop communities on Twitter are passionate and we’re now seeing that strong culture of fandom growing and including a wide variety of K-content. Fans from around the world are leading the globalization of K-content by joining in related conversations on Twitter in real time. Wherever you are, whatever you’re watching, people are able to talk about it on Twitter.” — JL Garcia
