The most important factor of Korean idol culture is the online fourth spaces that the fans can interact with the idols, the companies, and above all, with each other. Although idols are categorized as singers, their standard of popularity is different from other types of singers. Indeed for idol groups to be very successful, the public has to know them and their songs, but in terms of popularity, what really matters is the fandom. In the idol business, the money does not come from the majority population who listens to music. The general public may not know a group well, or they may know the group name but not the members of the group, but that group may have a solid, strong fanbase that buys CDs, vote on awards and polls, stream music online, and spend a lot of time and money on them. The source of this fandom power is mainly online spaces, especially social media. 

Many experts and researchers see social media as one of the most critical factors that led to the global popularity of Korean idols. Indeed, it is a trend for idol groups and their entertainment agencies to create accounts on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram even before formal debut. Free multimedia sources such as YouTube are also actively used by the agencies as those platforms allow consumers to listen to music and watch music videos and other contents for free and get revenue through licensing, royalty, and advertisement. This way, the agencies get to raise brand awareness and profit at the same time. Idols directly and indirectly communicate with their fans and get instant feedback and trending through the usage of social media. Social media is also a space for fans to communicate with each other. Online relationships are created through finding fellow fans of the idol groups and sometimes more specifically a certain member of a group. By using hashtags like ‘#(group name)’ and ‘#(member name),’ fans all around the world can communicate with ease.