Mobile Media and Chinese K-Pop Fandom

Contemporary mobile media provides young fans with the opportunities for various transnational fandom practices. Drawing on Appadurai’s (Theory, Culture & Society 7(2–3):295–310, 1990) ideas, this chapter explores Chinese K-pop fans’ use of various mobile media applications as they practice their fandom through their translation and transliteracy skills. Use of mobile media and the fans’ skills allow them to cross geographical, linguistic, and cultural boundaries to be competent transnational K-pop fans. Mobile media applications are also used to override China’s semi-official discouragement of K-pop. K-pop male idol group GOT7’s Chinese fandom is employed as the case study for this chapter.