How SB19 transforms social media engagement: London-based Filipino scholar shares findings

LONDON — SB19, the phenomenal Filipino boy group composed of Josh, Sejun, Stell, Ken and Justin, recently peaked at No. 3 in US Billboard Social 50 (BB Social 50), after BTS and EXO. This chart tracks the amount of social media engagement of artists around the world, with BTS dominating it at No. 1 for an unprecedented 188-week run. 

SB19 has not only become the first Filipino act to enter the chart, but it has also been on the chart for at least 31 weeks now, an achievement so far unmatched by any Filipino artist.

Related: 'Dream come true': SB19 on topping Billboard charts to EDSA billboard

But this is what is curiously interesting about this feat: among the global artists consistently in the Top 10, SB19 has the smallest number of followers on Twitter. As of this writing, it has 242K followers. By comparison, BTS has 25.9M; EXO, 7.9M; NCT 127, 3.1M; and Ariana Grande, 73.9M. How has SB19 kept up with global superstars in social media presence and engagement?  

Mention Party or ‘Menpa’

Jeff Benjamin, a Billboard writer who recently wrote about SB19’s strong presence in BB Social 50, tweeted on April 18: “Who can tell me what menpa means?” 

“Menpa” is short for Mention Party. For someone who has written extensively about American and Korean artists, Benjamin’s tweet shows how Menpa captures an evolving social media engagement practice never seen before. It is a party where Josh, Sejun, Stell, Ken and Justin interact with their fans – called A’Tin – on designated social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

While this may sound like a pretty conventional approach to artist engagement with fans in social media, Menpa (although not an SB19 original concept) in fact alters the way we view artist engagement online. 

The idea is for A’Tin to leave comments or ask questions and hope that SB19 will respond to them. In most of these comments or questions, the official SB19 accounts or tags are used, thus contributing to the number of mentions of the group in social media. 

But here’s the trick: in the first 10 minutes of the party (usually with just one of the five members present), there are already around 20K comments. In one hour, at least 100K comments have been put forward, but the number could go much higher depending on the timing of the party. In the end, only around 30 to 50 comments have been replied to by one of the boys.

Therefore, Menpa has gradually evolved into an organic way to consolidate fan support. It has become one of the fandom’s most anticipated events in social media, with A’Tin, emotions high hours or days prior to the party, sharing mock strategies on how to successfully attract their idols’ attention. 

Because of the extremely low possibility of one’s comments to be replied to, those who have been fortunate to experience this receive instant gratification in the fandom. 

“I am shaking,” one of them wrote, “I didn’t expect this. After 7 months.” 

They join a small elite group of fans who have received a reply from SB19, while those who have not are invited to join groups such as “Samahan ng Mga Hindi Nareplayan sa Menpa.”

Increasingly, however, the boys have also been more strategic in their choice of comments to respond to. While they continue to exchange banter with their fans, Menpa has become more substantive lately. 

The leader of the group, Sejun, in particular, seems to subtly communicate the message that their social engagement with A’Tin cannot simply be left to nonsensical matters. He responds to questions about music, education and politics. 

When asked to name the top three problems of the country, he asked back why he needed to identify only three. He was asked about his past life as a “corporate slave,” to which he said: “I wouldn’t call it corporate slave. I chose it. I learned from it.” 

How does one judge a person, an A’Tin asked, and the answer was, “You shouldn’t.”  

Josh, whose life story is perhaps the most open, revealed in a Menpa that he did not really enjoy his childhood and, in fact, he is just enjoying it now. 

On many occasions, he encourages A’Tin who lose confidence in themselves to “Fake it until you make it;” that is, let oneself believe that he or she is strong, confident and happy and you will soon realize that you are no longer faking it. 

Justin, Ken and Stell respond with different shades of character: Stell is “pa-fall,” with his affectionate and teasing words; Justin, the “bunso,” is light-hearted and “corny”; Ken, the “buang,” could be frank and terse. 

But they, too, get serious when asked about life, music and career. The boys have pleaded to A’Tin not to take depression too lightly, to keep fighting for one’s dreams; they were asked about their views on the extension of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), as well as on P-Pop (Pilipino Pop) as OPM (Original Pilipino Music). 

Imagine then how substantive, fun and incisive statements circulate in different social media platforms. Imagine too how Menpa could be harnessed into a strategy for increasing SB19’s metrics for social media engagement. Menpa is becoming to be a powerful and innovative platform for artists’ articulation of their position on issues and life matters today, on top of engaging more closely with their fans. 

Nevertheless, Menpa cannot be easily replicated elsewhere. For it to succeed, it requires the avid participation of fans who also are central to how Menpa has transformed into what it is now. It also cannot simply be a lifeless corporatized approach to generating more support for artists in social media. 

The great anticipation that fans feel before a Menpa, the collective celebration – or frustration – of having received a reply or not, and the satisfaction of having engaged closely with their favorite artists, show how psychic, emotional and intellectual connections between fans and artists are fundamental requirements for Menpa to succeed. 

Related: WATCH: SB19, a tribute

About the writer

Ruanni Tupas lives with his wife and three kids in London. He is a leading Filipino scholar of English language and multilingualism who lectures at the Department of Communication, Culture and Media, Institute of Education, University College London. He also taught at the University of the Philippines, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, the National Institute of Education in Singapore, and the National University of Singapore where he completed his doctorate. 

He is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language and sole editor of Unequal Englishes: The Politics of Englishes Today (Palgrave MacMillan, 2015). 

When it comes to SB19, he is proudly OT5, but there are times when he gets frozen, joins the craziness in the poultry, cracks jokes in the cornfield, eats strawberries and passes time at the barbecue stand.