BTS Recently Broke A Major YouTube Record—Here’s What That Success Says About The Group’s Fans

Just over a week ago, BTS made history on YouTube (something the group has become accustomed to doing with increasing frequency) when the video for their hit single “DNA” grabbed the title of the upload with the most comments. With over 5.07 million individual comments below the popular clip, the visual passed another Korean favorite, Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” for the specific honor.

The fact that more people have left comments on BTS’s “DNA” video than any other treatment on the platform is huge, and that statistic says a lot about those who follow the band when considering how well the clip has performed in other ways.

At present, “DNA” has yet to accrue one billion views on YouTube, though it is quickly approaching that milestone. When it does eventually pass that special mark, it will be one of a very small number of Korean-language tunes to do so, but the same can’t be said when looking at all styles and tongues.

“DNA” may be the video with the most comments, but it is far from the most popular option on YouTube. One might expected that the visual that has racked up the most opinions from viewers might also rank among the most-watched posts, but that is not the case. In fact, there are almost 200 videos that have now been watched at least one billion times, and there are at least 10 uploads with three times as many clicks.

The fact that BTS’s “DNA” stands as the most commented-on video of all time but doesn’t rank among the 200 most-viewed clips shows that fans of the Korean septet are not just passively listening to the song via YouTube instead of another site (such as Spotify or Apple Music), but that they are much more active in their viewing.

BTS fans are participating in a discussion about that one song at a much higher rate than, say, those tuning in to hear Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” which currently ranks in a distant first place on the list of the most-watched visuals on the platform. That post has been seen over six and a half billion times, but it comes in behind “DNA” when looking at comments by over one and a half million.

BTS fans (and their detractors) have shown that they are constantly interested in speaking with one another about the seven-member vocal outfit, and clearly they don’t mind what platform they do so on, whether it be Twitter, Instagram or even in the comments section of a YouTube video.