#nxde

I'm born nude

with their song nxde (originally named nude until the company argued with her to change it and they settled on a compromise), soyeon had wanted to name it nxde not only because of society's hyper-sexualization of women but also because how that would change search results when anybody tries to search results for "gidle nude" or similar queries. whereas previously it would likely generate much more explicit content, it now primarily shows the group's music video and promotional contents. this intentional naming not only impacts the present search algorithm, but will last into the future as well (think exo's song baby, where even now when you search "exo baby" their songs comes up rather than articles about the married member's wife and child).

in a society where there is a rise in perverse searches and images being ai generated non-consensually, soyeon's choice to name the song nxde not only criticizes society's view of women but also helps make it more difficult for explicit images of the group to be spread online. in addition to the prevention of the group's explicit content, the title also hinders netizens from finding "idol nudes" in general and the south korean public from being access child pornography as well. while pornographic material of any sort is heavily banned in korea, there can still be ways for the content to be spread online. however, k-netz have come out to say that since (g)i-dle's name in korean 아이들 (aideul) is synonymous with the world for child, searches for illicit content is now even more difficult to access as the group's music has replaced the top searches.

soyeon and (g)i-dle are using their song to change not just the search algorithm but using the search algorithm to spread their definition of the word "nude", one that means one's bare self rather than the tainted definition that promoted the sexualization of one's body. this idea has transcended comebacks and fans often reply to criticism regarding their outfits with the song nxde, bringing its message back into conversations; and by trending nxde on different platforms, once again the algorithm can push its message to the masses.

soyeon's impact did not end with her own work, the use of the song nxde was also used by kpop fans on tiktok as the background music for their edits highlighting incidents and female idols who were criticized by netizens and the industry. kpop fans are also finding that they can post about their own experiences with non-consensual sexualization of their bodies through posting and venting through the use of this audio. since its release it's opened new conversations regarding the sexualization of idol bodies as well as the exploitation of women's bodies and allowed for these videos to trend more easily through the use of the song's audio which has been promoted by tiktok's algorithm.

while some might say that soyeon might not have anticipated these growing conversations, i'd argue otherwise, it's obvious that she wanted to start conversations and change society's perception of what is "nude" through the use of her music. with such intentional lyricism and the way she develops songs as responses to criticism faced by the group and women in general it's very unlikely that these conversations were not anticipated by soyeon, rather, it's likely one of the goals she had for the creation of this song.