BT21 (left), Facebook (right)

The BT21 franchise, a collection of animated characters created by BTS, is expanding its reach to Facebook.

Facebook will launch a range of content featuring BT21 starting Thursday, according to US-based Billboard.

The new BT21 features are expected to boost users’ visual experience with the service, especially for those who are fans of the K-pop act, which will include stickers, emojis and filters among others.

This isn’t the first time BTS is teaming up with a social media platform. Line’s messenger app introduced BT21 as emojis and stickers almost simultaneously with the characters’ launch in October 2017.

BT21 marks the first collaborative project of Line, the Japanese subsidiary of South Korea’s biggest web portal Naver.

BT21

The collection consists of eight characters dubbed Mang, Tata, Chimmy, Cooky, Van, RJ, Shooky and Koya. Each character serves as avatars of the band and its seven members.

Line explains its decision to collaborate with BTS in three keywords: global, millennial-appealing, and trend-setting.

Facebook has yet to follow up on the collaborative launch.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)