KELCEY LORENZO WRITES – In the past year, livestreaming has become a hot trend in pop culture. The ability for fans to watch their favorite singers and bands talk and answer questions in realtime is obviously appealing. But while it can create positive interactions between artists and fans, it can also easily be abused.
In late July, Korean Internet-service giant Naver released the “V” app, a livestreaming app that allows fans to watch their favorite Korean idols live. Featuring 23 different artists, the app also includes live-commenting and heart-giving features that both artists and other fans can view instantly.
After only a few months of the app becoming available, there have already been multiple instances of fans and critics using the live comment feature in negative and inappropriate ways. Fans witnessed Red Velvet’s youngest member, Yeri, read malicious comments during one of their livestreams. A sexual comment was also directed at Infinite’s Woohyun’s during his broadcast as well. Many other artists have had similar experiences.
Some fans have suggested that Naver add a filtering system or moderators to the comment feature during broadcasts. One fan commented on the situation saying, “I really wish V app would do something about this…. Just because they act like they’re okay after reading this stuff doesn’t mean they’re really okay.”
Naver has yet to comment on the situation, but hopefully they will address it and make changes soon.