K-pop group Blackpink (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

As if we needed further proof that there’s nothing more powerful on the internet than the humble stan.

For those who aren’t as tuned into internet culture as I am — or didn’t have their own embarrassing stan phase — the term “stan” originates from Eminem’s song of the same name, which depicted an obsessed fan with hero-worship tendencies. Which seems a fitting descriptor.

Zealous fans of South Korean girl group Blackpink, who collectively refer to themselves as Blinks — a portmanteau of black and pink — have found out a way to reverse-engineer the algorithm of streaming platforms to ensure the success of the K-pop group’s long-awaited second album. And honestly, colour me impressed.

Graphics circulated by fan account Black Pink Union set out a comprehensive list of “streaming rules” for Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music. Among these instructions were “listen to BLACKPINK music 24/7”, “set volume to at least 1% or use earphones” and “we ban use of any other artist songs that is not (Blackpink or its soloist) Music in focussed playlists”. 

And it seems to have worked. Blackpink sits comfortably as the top artist in Australia on YouTube’s music charts. Similarly, on Spotify the album is among the top 10 most played tracks.

This isn’t the first time that K-pop stans have collectively organised to reverse-engineer an algorithm. Back in 2020 at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, the Dallas Police Department tweeted a callout for users to submit photographs and videos of illegal protest activity via their iWatch app. Instead, they received a flood of K-pop fancam videos — montages of celebrities dancing that are notorious on Twitter — and within a day, the app was out of commission. 

But it didn’t end there. Stans mobilised to take over other police departments who had published similar requests — Kirkland, Washington, Michigan were all victims of the hive-mind’s social media takeover. Hashtags that emerged in opposition to #BlackLivesMatter such as #BlueLivesMatter and #WhiteLivesMatter started trending for all the right — or wrong, depending on who you ask — reasons, with racist and pro-cop tweets drowned out by an overwhelming number of Jungkook and Jimin videos.

While it’s easy to dismiss these events simply as obsessive fan behaviour, they also show the ease with which digital algorithms can be manipulated. With misinformation on the rise, perhaps what we need is a stan’s preternatural understanding of how the internet works. After all, the devil works hard… but Blinks work even harder.