Regarding Impostor Profiles

Every so often I get inquiries from readers about whether various social media accounts purporting to belong to the Buck-Tick members are legitimate or not. In fact, this question has already been addressed in the Fish Tank newsletter, albeit in a teeny-tiny article tucked into the back pages of the magazine that no one actually reads. So don't take it from me, take it from Fish Tank:

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Regarding "Posing" Social Media Accounts

It has come to out attention that there are accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking services registered under the same names as the Buck-Tick members, however, none of the Buck-Tick members are registered on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social networking service. In addition, the only blogs written by the band members are Imai's blog "Hisashi's Diary" and Higuchi's blog "Yuuta's Yuu-Yuu Lifestyle," both of which are linked from Buck-Tick's official web sites. Sakurai, Hoshino, and Yagami are not blogging at this time. Please take great care in checking the veracity of statements or information regarding Buck-Tick posted by anyone outside Buck-Tick's official management team.

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So there you have it. That fake Sakurai Twitter account is fake, people. So are all the fake Facebook profiles registered in South America. None of the Buck-Tick members can speak Portuguese! If you see a Buck-Tick member posting in Portuguese, that's not a Buck-Tick member! (Sorry, Brazilian fans. Sorry to crush your fantasies.)

Of course, Fish Tank may very well not be telling the whole truth about this. Japanese people of Buck-Tick's generation are often quite indifferent to technology, and many don't even own computers, so I do find it perfectly plausible that none of the Buck-Tick members maintain any internet presence to speak of...but then again, Twitter is hugely popular in Japan, so I also wouldn't be surprised if some of the band members were tweeting a bit on the down-low. You never know. But if they are, you can bet that they're not advertising who they really are in any way, shape or form. If they wanted fan attention on social media, they could get it - plenty of Japanese musicians use Twitter, Facebook and other platforms publicly, all the time - Sugizo, Kiyoharu, Tsuchiya Masami, Kiyoshi, Ryuutaro, Ken Morioka, the list goes on and on. The fact that the Buck-Tick members don't means that they don't want to.

As for trusting in the veracity of the information regarding Buck-Tick posted by anyone outside Buck-Tick's official management team, I've said it before and I'll say it again: everything you read on the internet is true. Fish Tank is wrong.

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In the same announcement about social media profiles, Fish Tank also goes on to remind people that copying or uploading the articles, info and photos contained in the Fish Tank newsletter is strictly forbidden. I've gotten questions about this one from readers, too, but in this case, I wouldn't take Fish Tank words terribly seriously.

Think about it...if they really didn't want people disseminating the information in the newsletter, they'd post the announcement in a more readily visible location than tiny print at the back of the magazine. I'm aware that certain holier-than-thou alpha fangirls out there get their kicks from trying to police the rest of the fanbase for unauthorized distribution of fanclub-only materials, but the fact is, a little bit of piracy of the Fish Tank newsletter is good for Fish Tank - once people see all the cool perks afforded by Fish Tank membership, they're more likely to want to join, and Fish Tank is almost certainly aware of this.

So next time you're on tumblr and some killjoy comes along and starts whining at you to take down those super-duper restricted fanclub-only photos of Acchan-chan cuddling his kitteh, you have my blessing to kindly direct her to a YouTube video of "Nakayubi," and continue on your merry way.

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If any of you readers have any other questions you want answering, just drop me a line, and I'll write another article.