Most fansites are happy to simply share their photos on Twitter or in other social media channels with watermarks of their own logos, but others may sell their own photos through merchandise such as photobooks or photocards.

In many cases, idols appreciate fansites for the free promotion they get. Often the number of fansites is an indication of the popularity of an idol.

Recently though, some fansites have been exhibiting sasaeng, or obsessive behaviour – for instance when a site dedicated to Iz*One’s Jang Won-young’s, Stay Delight (@staydelight0831), posted close-up photos of the idol in New York on Twitter. It sparked a heated debate as to the photographer’s intentions, mainly because of the close proximity at which the photos were taken. Were they from innocent interest, or did they stray into stalking?

It is often unclear whether such fansites typically start out with good intentions then transition into sasaeng behaviour, or if sasaeng fans pose as fansites to get close to their idols. Either way, with fansites having such huge power, the publicity they bring can destroy reputations just as much as building them up, not to mention the emotional toll that an invasion of privacy can bring. Here are some past incidents when fansites became sasaengs.

BTS fansite blacklist

In early 2019, Big Hit Entertainment released a list of sasaeng fansites blacklisted from all events and places where BTS would be. Their violations included illegal ticket sales, illegal photography and invasion of privacy. The fansites mentioned in the list had their fan club membership cancelled. One of the fansites mentioned was a Jungkook fansite named CarrotNuna, who was apparently a sasaeng fan who followed the group, even on flights. A video of the Jungkook looking terrified when he spotted this fansite at an event circulated online when the list was released.

Leaked tweets from Woozi’s fansite

Last May, leaked tweets surfaced from a sasaeng’s protected Twitter account. The fan was operating a fansite for Seventeen’s Woozi that held disturbing information on how the fan stalked the idol on flights to Japan from South Korea, describing in detail how close she was to Woozi on the aeroplane and what he was doing.

NCT fansites and mobbing

NCT has been dealing with sasaengs and fansites since before they debuted, with the group followed everywhere – including during their free time. In 2018, NCT fansites mobbed the group during a scheduled performance on Music Bank, a Korean TV show shown around the world, trampling over other K-pop idols, including The Boyz and Jeon Somi, to get a good photo of their heroes.

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