University Festival Season: Campus on Alert Due to Unauthorized Invasion by 'Home Mas'
As the spring festival season at universities gets into full swing, the indiscriminate invasion of campuses by so-called 'Home Mas'—individuals armed with large cameras photographing celebrities—has triggered emergencies in the university community.
Home Ma is short for 'Homepage Master,' referring to people who take photos of idols and post them on websites or social media (SNS). Some of these individuals generate income by selling the photos they take or by creating and selling related merchandise.
According to a report by Yonhap News on the 13th, a significant number of students have expressed their dissatisfaction with external individuals, including Home Mas, attending the festivals, prompting many universities to implement countermeasures.
Major universities such as Korea University, Kyung Hee University, and Sejong University are enacting measures such as completely banning external individuals from the viewing area or creating separate zones for outsiders.
The humanities and social sciences campus of Sungkyunkwan University limited the number of external guests at its festival on the 9th to 2,000 people. Most of these universities also prohibited the entry of large cameras and tripods into the viewing area.
Korea National Sport University, which is set to hold its festival starting on the 15th, has gone further by introducing a proactive measure that sets up a 'Home Ma Zone.' They have placed student seating directly in front of the stage, behind which are zones for eating and Home Mas.
Repeated Controversies Over Home Mas' Disturbances
The controversy over Home Mas hindering the festival experience has been a recurring issue during university festival seasons.
In May of last year, during a university festival in Incheon, Home Mas caused a stir by posting a student's photo on social media without consent after being stopped from taking pictures.
Experts argue that the university festival culture, centered around performances by popular singers, fundamentally needs to change. There are limits to requesting that fervent fans like Home Mas restrain themselves from taking pictures.
Professor Lee Dong-yeon from the Department of Korean Traditional Arts at Sungkyunkwan University stated to Yonhap News, "Above all, the culture that equates the ability to recruit idols with the capabilities of the student council must improve. While recruiting idols may be what some students want, the student council needs to promote a university culture that is different from current commercial pop culture."
Image Source: AI image for understanding the article / Bing Image Creator, screenshot from Korea National Sport University Student Council Instagram.
