K-pop activists, and the future of search

How K-pop fans are shaping elections around the globe

Back in the early ‘90s, Korean pop music, known as K-pop, was largely conserved to its native South Korea. It’s since exploded around the globe into an international phenomenon, emphasizing choreography and elaborate performance. 

It’s made bands like Girls Generation, EXO, BTS, and Blackpink into household names, and inspired a special brand of particularly fierce devotion in their fans.

Now, those same fandoms have learned how to use their digital skills to advocate for social change and pursue political goals—organizing acts of civil resistance, donating generously to charity, and even foiling white supremacist attempts to spread hate speech. Read the full story.

—Soo Youn

The ChatGPT-fueled battle for search is bigger than Microsoft or Google

Search is suddenly cool again. Last week, Microsoft and Google staked out their respective claims to the future of search, showing off chatbots that can respond to queries with sentences rather than lists of links.