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TIME's Person of the Year is "selected annually for having the greatest influence on the events of the past 12 months." One might imagine that person to be a politician, or an influential businessperson. Perhaps a philanthropist or author. Who almost nobody would expect: a Korean, K-Pop boy band.
The official winner of TIME's online poll to determine readers' choice of Person of the Year was Korean boy band BTS. The band is well known for its songs "No More Dream" and "Fake Love," as well as for their incredibly ravenous fan base on social media, which likely played a hand in propelling them to victory.
BTS (방탄소년단) 'No More Dream' Official MV youtu.be
BTS (방탄소년단) 'FAKE LOVE' Official MV youtu.be
Steve Aoki - Waste It On Me feat. BTS (Official Video) [Ultra Music] youtu.be
The band is made up of seven members: RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook. They held first place for a long period of time, before eventually maintaining their position by edging out second place (Planet Earth) by 0.12%. Fans were, obviously, overjoyed by the announcement:
@TIME @BTS_Billboard And they deserve to be TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR @BTS_twt https://t.co/B2iNqzdKt7— Crystal Snow (@Crystal Snow)1544160637.0
@TIME Who’s BTS? They have campaign to “Love Yourself” in their album, and give an amazing speech in UN for young g… https://t.co/I16wYH7mCw— 나디야 🌻 (@나디야 🌻)1544160312.0
@TIME Please give them a fair chance before judging.— alex (@alex)1544162305.0
@TIME Yasss @BTS_twt https://t.co/0Jfqe18yMD— Bts is bae😔🤙 (@Bts is bae😔🤙)1544159265.0
@TIME If anyone is unsatisfied, then perhaps you should reflect upon yourself and not blame us, who took the time t… https://t.co/ve7LKLhX9k— ♚ krystelle (@♚ krystelle)1544160396.0
When BTS is your own person of the year every year 💜 https://t.co/BF6kRoKBg9— Yogi McCereal (@Yogi McCereal)1544273199.0
BTS-band's fans have upvoted it win https://t.co/XVd9subzWw's "person-of-the-year-2018-readers-poll" ahead of "plan… https://t.co/pAKpAz9XeJ— Manoj Than - #GGUC Greater-Good Universal-Care (@Manoj Than - #GGUC Greater-Good Universal-Care)1544210904.0
According to TIME, the notable mentions who came close to winning the poll included many notable figures:
"The Thai cave divers finished third. Other top finishers: South Korean president Moon Jae-in; undocumented children; former First Lady Michelle Obama; Mohammed Bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia embroiled in controversy over past few months for his alleged involvement in the brutal murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi; Brazil's new president Jair Bolsonaro; Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller."
@TIME I vote for the person who pranked Giuliani— Pussona Pelona (@Pussona Pelona)1544024022.0
@TIME Professor Christine Blasey Ford— Mimi Izzo (@Mimi Izzo)1543711818.0
@TIME Parkland students— melissa williams (@melissa williams)1543541548.0
@TIME @btsdiary I am not surprised @TIME are you? https://t.co/Ntp3auBlsw— c_cherry (@c_cherry)1543566232.0
It's worth noting that the official TIME Person of the Year will be decided on by the magazine's team of editors and released on December 11, though the results of the public online poll may influence their decision. TIME's Person of the Year is whoever, in their opinion, has had the most influence on the world, be it positive or negative.
@TIME @DdaengLife Can people calm down? It's just a poll. The final decision is done by TIME editors anyway so I do… https://t.co/WRVJgmtOtH— BTS's Sonal (@BTS's Sonal)1543598447.0
@TIME Everyone please just remember that the poll is not a shoe-in for the actual person of the year but just somet… https://t.co/BNZDMj1hj7— Jin is ❤ Joon is ❤ (@Jin is ❤ Joon is ❤)1544160966.0
We can all find out who the real TIME person of the year is on December 11. Many suspect BTS fans will be disappointed by the results.
@etnow @BTS_twt @GettyImages Yes 💜💜 We achieved ARMY 😍 https://t.co/sFsIzm1Jsn— 브리사💕 (@브리사💕)1544240702.0
@etnow @sharahlady @BTS_twt @GettyImages #ARMY we love you all 💜💜💜🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳@BTS_twt https://t.co/WtpjDVmoaB— jenny- 🍃🍃🍂🍂🍁🍁❣️ (@jenny- 🍃🍃🍂🍂🍁🍁❣️)1544246262.0
@etnow @BTS_twt @GettyImages Yes! Casted my vote and happy it was counted! Congratulations @BTS_twt— 💜 V_bts 💜 (@💜 V_bts 💜)1544245447.0
H/T - TIME, Inside Edition