K-pop has become more global than ever in 2022, and with the many debuts of groups this past year, it's time to step back and take a look to examine the popularity of some of these groups! K-pop has become a music genre beyond the borders of its home country, where the genre is now receiving all sorts of global love from fans all across the world.

With that being said -- there are many ways to measure a group's popularity. It can be album sales, streaming records, concert sell-outs, and more! Today, we'll be examining the global popularity of these groups through a different measure -- through the amounts of followers they have gained on various social media platforms.

This not only examines popularity within the country, but it also examines popularity globally as anyone has access to YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok & Spotify (vs. Melon only being available domestically). So let's see how many more followers these girl groups have and examine their popularity this way (Updated numbers as of September 2022)!

Kep1er 

- YouTube: 2.2 Million Subscribers (Increase of 1.3 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Instagram: 3.31 Million Followers (Increase of 1.92 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Twitter: 1.08 Million Followers (Increase of 450,000 Followers since January 2022)

- TikTok: 4.7 Million Followers (Increase of 2.3 Million Followers since January 2022)
- Spotify: 740,000 Followers

NMIXX

- YouTube: 1.3 Million Subscribers

- Instagram: 2.78 Million Followers

- Twitter: 580,000 Followers

- TikTok: 2.3 Million Followers

- Spotify: 590,000 Followers 

**NMIXX debuted in 2022, so no increase stats are shown

ITZY

- YouTube: 7.7 Million Subscribers (Increase of 1.2 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Instagram: 17.85 Million Followers (Increase of 3.9 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Twitter: 5.3 Million Followers (Increase of 1.02 Million Followers since January 2022)

- TikTok: 9.6 Million Followers (Increase of 3.8 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Spotify: 4.64 Million Followers (Increase of 1.36 Million Followers since January 2022)

IVE

- YouTube: 1.9 Million Subscribers (Increase of 1.1 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Instagram: 2.62 Million Followers (Increase of 1.31 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Twitter: 970,000 Followers (Increase of 500,000 Followers since January 2022)

- TikTok: 3 Million Followers (Increase of 2.1 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Spotify: 1.03 Million Followers (Increase of 830,000 Followers since January 2022)

LE SSERAFIM

- YouTube: 1.1 Million Subscribers

- Instagram: 1.69 Million Followers

- Twitter: 610,000 Followers

- TikTok: 2.3 Million Followers

- Spotify: 530,000 Followers

**LE SSERAFIM debuted in 2022, so no increase in stats are shown.

aespa

- YouTube: 4 Million Subscribers (Increase of 900,000 Followers since January 2022)

- Instagram: 9.49 Million Followers (Increase of 2.52 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Twitter: 3.12 Million Followers (Increase of 1.17 Million Followers since January 2022)

- TikTok: 5.6 Million Followers (Increase of 1.5 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Spotify: 2.38 Million Followers (Increase of 1.07 Million Followers since January 2022)

(G)I-dle

- YouTube: 4.1 Million Subscribers (Increase of 800,000 Followers since January 2022)

- Instagram: 8.21 Million Followers (Increase of 1.52 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Twitter: 1.64 Million Followers (Increase of 290,000 Followers since January 2022)

- TikTok: 2.9 Million Followers (Increase of 1.4 Million Followers since January 2022)

- Spotify: 3.92 Million Followers (Increase of 840,000 Followers since January 2022)

NewJeans

- YouTube: 600,000 Subscribers

- Instagram: 1.43 Million Followers

- Twitter: 430,000 Followers

- TikTok: 1.8 Million Followers

- Spotify: 410,000 Followers

**NewJeans debuted in 2022, so no increase in stats are shown.

 STAYC

- YouTube: 1.4 Million Subscribers (Increase of 500,000 Followers since January 2022)

- Instagram: 1.57 Million Followers (Increase of 630.000 Followers since January 2022)

- Twitter: 660,000 Followers (Increase of 280,000 Followers since January 2022)

- TikTok: 1.6 Million Followers (Increase of 500,000 Followers since January 2022)

- Spotify: 950,000 Million Followers (Increase of 480,000 Followers since January 2022)

Wow - what do you think of these stats? There is obviously no sole way to measure a group's popularity, and while the chart market has been a great way to measure an artist's popularity, k-pop has become more and more versatile, where chart performance is not the only thing that matters anymore. What we can say for sure, however, is that these groups cease to display extreme potential and that the fourth-generation line-up will bring forward many, many more great tracks and albums!

What are your thoughts on this list? Do you think there's a group that's lacking some love? Let us know in the comments below!