Names: Susan Kang and Joyce Kim
Website: Soompi.com, an online community for anyone who loves Korean music and entertainment
Location: Irvine and San Francisco, Calif.
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Oftentimes, the most successful online communities stem not from strategic market research and dizzying analytical charts, but from a personal, unyielding passion.
For Susan Kang, that passion was for Korean pop stars like H.O.T., Shinhwa and 1TYM.
In 1998, the recent college grad created a website called Soompi Town, an unglamorous, yet heartfelt tribute to her beloved Korean crooners. She’d translate Korean magazine articles, scan photos from CD insets and upload the latest hits on RealAudio. Through the wonders of Photoshop, she even constructed “houses” for her favorite celebs and had them make just-for-fun shout-outs to her friends like “Eun Ji Won says ‘hi’ to his favorite noona, Jenny.”
“Man, I’m feeling really embarrassed now,” Kang says of her “super ghetto” K-pop shrine.
Of course, there’s really nothing to be embarrassed about. Ten years later, with a longtime tagline “K-pop for the masses,” Soompi.com is the largest Asian American online community in the world, serving more than 700,000 monthly visitors around the globe.
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Her passion has morphed into a movement.
To think, it all started with a simple need. “I just noticed there was nothing out there in English for people who liked Korean music,” says Kang, now a 33-year-old mom who lives in Irvine, Calif. Her youthful fanaticism for K-pop has fizzled, naturally, but as the president of this fast-growing internet community, she’s developed a new love for making sure the “kids,” all 300,000 registered members, have a fun, safe place to call their own.
Today’s K-pop fans can read about Chae Tae-Hyeon’s new movie Speedy Scandal, check out a review of the drama I Am Saem, or join the fan club for actress Han Ye Seul. They can upload photos and videos, show off their skills (Soompi has held contests for singing, dancing and graphic art), engulf themselves in Fanfics (member-written novels where K-pop stars are the main characters), play online games or simply connect with those who share the same interests. The site gets about 12,000 user-generated postings a day, which are moderated by a team of volunteers.
For Kang, it hasn’t been easy keeping up with Soompi’s rapid growth. Server costs were one thing. “What started as a free site moved up to a $10 a month site to a $30 a month site to a $100 a month site and just kept on building,” she recalls. “Everything always came out of my own pocket.”
Then came what Kang refers to as the “Great Crash of ‘05,” when Soompi suddenly lost all of its databases, member information and forum posts. It was a technical nightmare that put Kang at a crossroads: “I wondered, is it worth it [to keep it going]? I wasn’t even really into Korean pop anymore. I thought about giving it up. But then I would read all these posts on the site saying, ‘Oh my God, I can’t live without Soompi. I’ve met so many friends here. This is my community.’ When I read stuff like that, I’m like, oh man. I feel an obligation to keep providing.” Once the site was back up, 40,000 members signed up again within the first four days.
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In 2006, Kang connected with Joyce Kim, a Silicon Valley-based attorney for technology start-up companies and venture capital funds. (She is also the sister of Jared Kim, whose story is on page 58.) Kim signed on as the CEO of the company, helping monetize the site through advertising and sponsorships.
Kang, who works as a web developer by day, says her dream is to manage Soompi full-time. It’s become a thriving community for all. “You don’t have to be Korean. You don’t have to be Korean American. You just have to love Korean pop.”
