Voluntary fan engagement and information management on social media platforms: a Korean Pop (K-pop) qualitative case study

This study examines how voluntary engagement influences K-pop fans’ behavioral intention to use social media platforms. As K-pop fandoms continue to grow in global digital spaces, social media has become an important environment for fans to interact, share information, and manage knowledge about their favorite artists. Understanding why fans choose to engage voluntarily helps explain how online fan communities remain active and organized. A qualitative approach was used through passive observation of ten public social media accounts of active K-pop fans weekly, over a three-month period, without interacting with participants, to capture natural and authentic behaviors. The study focused on fan-driven activities such as content creation, participation in voting and streaming campaigns, and interactions within fan communities. Qualitative content analysis was applied to examine posts, comments, shared media, and patterns of engagement. The data were thematically coded to identify intrinsic motivations and recurring forms of information behavior. The findings show that voluntary engagement is mainly driven by emotional connection, creativity, and a sense of community. From an information behavior perspective, fans actively seek, organize, and share fandom-related information through social media. These platforms function as digital knowledge systems where fans collectively create and exchange knowledge. Fans who regularly contributed information and collaborated with others showed stronger intentions to continue using social media for fan activities. This study contributes to research on digital fandom by highlighting voluntary engagement as a key factor in online knowledge sharing and community-based information management within K-pop fandoms. Future research should use mixed methods, examine private fan spaces, consider demographic differences, and explore long-term effects of voluntary engagement.