“Proof” Of HYBE Paying To Fake A Group’s Popularity Gains Attention
In the new age of smartphones, social media is now one of the ways groups can promote and spread their music. It can also serve as a measure of popularity, showing the engagement idols get, which in turn can result in opportunities for them.
For example, fans are encouraged to interact with posts featuring brands to increase engagement.
Sana IG Update for Milan Fashion Week – ENGAGE WITH THE POST ON IG
Like, comment, share: https://t.co/Jtw9e3NSpa
SANA SHINES IN PRADA#PradaSS26 #PradaxSANA #Prada #SANA pic.twitter.com/8N3t2WFtlH
— Sana Global Union (@sanaglobalunion) June 23, 2025
Recently, HYBE has been accused of paying for engagement to give a group the appearance of more popularity.
For those unaware, it is possible to purchase engagement on social media in various ways. It is possible to buy actual followers, reposts, and likes, with the latter being purchasable for less than a penny in some cases.
On X, some netizens have pointed the number of likes and reposts that posts about KATSEYE have received, expressing skepticism over the amounts. One account went further, “exposing” accounts that had liked posts for seemingly being unused.
these cant be real likes😭😭 pic.twitter.com/GNMfErixr8
— roxi (@roxicon) July 1, 2025
Katseye😭 it aint even funny how obvious it is. They fans be like "omg megan" then tweet be having 200K likes with 10 comments and 5 reposts
Atleast Fill the comments with bots too like damn https://t.co/ul8GpD686O pic.twitter.com/U9VsidjGWf
— L E W I N SK Y (@Princelewinsky) July 1, 2025
HYBE and Tag PR should stop botting likes for that group.
Lots of account with zero followers leaving likes, this is why I never take their "hit tweets" seriously. pic.twitter.com/EZRXsuSoTU
— Donda 😼 (@notdonda) June 29, 2025
On the other hand, many fans defended the group, pointing out that the amount of interactions posts received matched the amount of interesting being shown in the group, including streaming.
katseye getting botted twt like allegations (from the same two fandoms we all r thinking of btw) like they arent being talked abt EVERYWHERE, charting multiple songs on billboard and having the streams to back it up 😭 yall r scrambling real bad and its pathetic to watch
— ★ (@hanbinero) June 30, 2025
katseye going viral from their music to their dancing to their facecards getting 100k+ likes daily and people are accusing it of being paid? 💀 they’re beautiful funny talented women obviously their engagement is high on every platform 😭 pic.twitter.com/JaAzUwpepa
— serena (@heartsmanon) July 1, 2025
Keep in mind this is katseye original post and this a retweet from a fan… in what world would hybe want a fan account to have more likes then their main 😭😭 people seriously need to use common sense pls https://t.co/ei5XtQYlfK pic.twitter.com/cSPKSskxzY
— Sarasays is gnarly˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ (@SaraSay444) July 1, 2025
While buying likes is obviously a thing that exists, high engagement, especially on content that includes funny moments is not always unnatural.
