tripleS' LOVElution like to watch TikTok challenges, ASMR, and videos about optimistic nihilism

Of all the memories the eight members of LOVElution made together during their first U.S. tour, Nien's favorite was a gooey cheese pull on a slice of Chicago deep-dish pizza. "We actually filmed ourselves doing the cheese pull," she tells Mashable. Her eyes light up as she talks about the delicious dish. "Every time I feel hungry at night, I watch it, and it brings me instantly back to Chicago again."

It's one of the many moments Xinyu, Sohyun, Dahyun, Nien, Seoyeon, Yubin, Kaede, and Hyerin captured on their phones during their Authentic U.S. tour, which brought them from coast to coast — and to vocalist Dahyun's favorite place: the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

"We were constantly taking pictures around the States because it was our first time being in this country, and we just wanted to capture every moment," Kaede says. Nien even took photos of her bandmates while they were sleeping "because they're so cute."

But even now that the girls are back in Seoul — where they join Mashable for an interview over Zoom — they can't put down their phones. As members of tripleS, K-pop's first decentralized girl group in which its 24 members rotate among units and projects as determined by fan voting, they know just how much power and influence a device holds.

For instance, Seoyeon's average screen time is 6 hours. "Just six hours?" Xinyu asks, turning toward her. "Oh my god." That's because Xinyu spends about "10 hours" on her phone per day. "When I have free time, I'm just..." she puts her hands in front of her face to mimic a phone screen, "looking at my phone."

Who spends the least amount of time on their phone? "Maybe me," Sohyun says as she raises her hand. She estimates her average screen time to be four hours. "Most of the time, I'm listening to music. I don't like holding my phone in front of my eyes!" She does, however, like to watch videos about philosophy and human science on YouTube.

Sohyun isn't the only LOVElution member with particular viewing habits. We asked them what they’ve been watching on the internet, and their tastes in content are as unique as the members themselves. From TikTok challenges to cat vlogs to MTV Unplugged, here's what you'll find in LOVElution's watch histories.

Seoyeon

Mashable: I love watching Lee Young-ji's YouTube series "차린건 쥐뿔도 없지만" as well! What do you like about it?

Seoyeon: It's very Gen Z in that the atmosphere is relaxed — you're just grabbing a drink and eating and talking about life. She's a great interview host in my opinion, and she is very, very funny. She's interviewed many idols and actors whom I admire, and I always watch closely when they're on the show because they're sharing their lives and having a genuinely good time. Seeing that makes me happy, and it's very entertaining to watch.

Is being on the show one of your dreams?

Seoyeon: If we ever have the opportunity, I would be honored.

I feel like there's a lot you can learn from watching interviews with other idols who have more experience.

Seoyeon: It's very relaxing and comforting to hear their interviews and what they have to share because I love listening to their own experiences and their personal stories. Sometimes, I can relate to them as well. I love to get some more insights into their tips and experiences in the industry as well. So, yes, it is very relaxing to hear those interviews, but at the same time, there is a lot to learn from that as well.

You also really like the cooking channel "hongsi." Why is that one of your favorite channels? Are you a foodie?

Seoyeon: So this YouTuber is cooking for herself, and then she eats her meal. She's enjoying her meal and the process of making it, and she's entertaining as well. It's more than just a mukbang channel to me. All the members are foodies. We all love food, so whenever we get together the main conversation topic is about food.

Who's the best cook in the group?

Hyerin: It's me!

Sohyun: Hyerin would be the best cook because even though she's young she's very knowledgeable about food, and she's very interested in cooking and healthy trends. She'll make us delicious meals and healthy smoothies, and she'll recommend essential vitamins and supplements depending on our conditions. She shares a lot of her health knowledge, and we are always impressed by that.

Hyerin

Hyerin, you sent me several dance challenges, including Doja Cat's "Paint the Town Red" and Le Sserafim's "Unforgiven."

Hyerin: I'm genuinely interested in dancing all the time. And because we are involved in more challenges ourselves, it naturally draws me to watch more and more dance videos on TikTok. And these are some of my favorite dance videos at the moment, so that's why I shared them with you.

Are there any dance challenges that you want to try next?

Hyerin: The "Slick Back" challenge! I would love to try that.

I adore this cat video you sent. It may be the cutest cat I've ever seen. Are you a cat person?

Hyerin: I do love cats. I'm definitely a cat person! One of my nicknames is Baby Kitty, so that's why I ended up watching more cat videos recently.

Yubin

Yubin: I love watching skits, and some of them involve the Chinese language as well. And we have a Chinese member on the team, so that inspired me to learn more about the language and that drew my interest [to those videos].

Do you often watch videos in other languages to help you learn?

Yubin: Yes, I tend to try my best to watch videos in other languages just to pick it up.

I love watching vlogs. I feel like I learn a lot from watching other people live their lives and go about their daily routines. What do you like about it?

Yubin: Regarding the channel I sent you, not only is she documenting her daily life but she's also recommending workouts and meal plans and ways to live a healthier lifestyle. Because we are idols, which is a job that requires you to take care of yourself, and diet is quite essential to taking care of our bodies and doing our job. So I learned a lot about how to take better care of myself through her videos. It's all about self-care.

Kaede

Kaede, you must be really proud of your "Smoke" challenge!

Kaede: It was really fun!

You filmed this ASMR video with Dahyun. Do you often watch ASMR videos?

Kaede: I've been a fan of ASMR content ever since I was in elementary school. I would usually play that when I'm sleeping, and it helps me fall asleep a little better. So it was really fun when I got to film the ASMR content with a lovely Dahyun here. [Kaede grabs Dahyun's hand.] And it ended up becoming a legendary video!

It's funny because ASMR is supposed to be soothing and very quiet and have a very relaxing vibe. But it ended up being very funny. So I think it was a great experience, and we were able to show more of our natural side of the members and our chemistry a little bit better.

Does anyone else like to listen to ASMR to fall asleep?

Sohyun: I don't know if I can label it as ASMR, but there are channels where a person is reading a book for you, those types of reading channels. I love listening to those when I'm going to sleep.

Dahyun

Dahyun, you said you've been watching this channel since you were a student. How did you discover it?

Dahyun: In 2017, that's when I was in second grade in middle school, I ended up finding this channel called "haha ha," which films stray cats on the streets and documents their growth over time. So it was very cute to watch. Around that time, I watched it because I thought the cats were so cute, and I didn't think too much about it. Then one day I ended up finding this like cute thumbnail on YouTube that was this cat just looking up with bright eyes, and it was a cat with like three or four different colors in its fur. It was so cute. I just couldn't resist clicking on that thumbnail, and I immediately subscribed to it. So now I'm a subscriber to those cat video channels. I think I grew more love for cats. They're so precious.

Do you follow any other internet-famous cats?

Kaede: I really like a cat named Creamy Rose! It's so, so cute!

Sohyun: There's another cat named 먼지, which means "Dust" in Korean. It's a black cat.

Nien

Filming this music video reaction must have been a lot of fun. What was it like watching the music video together for the first time?

Nien: This was my first music video, and my reaction in that music video reaction video was so raw. It was my instant reaction. I feel a lot more emotional and overwhelmed every time I go back to watch that music video again because it just reminds me that I finally debuted and this is my and our music video. It just makes me happy, but at the same time, it's very emotional.

Do you often watch your content after you film something, like an interview or a music video reaction? Do you go back and watch it?

Nien: I watch all the contents from tripleS and LOVElution pretty much every day.

Sohyun: I think we all have different personalities, so it depends.

Nien: I watch all the lives when the other members are livestreaming, and I will go and leave comments.

Seoyeon: Some members don't go back and watch it every day for entertainment purposes, but we watch it to monitor our performance, like "What did I say, how did I look in this video, what was the reaction on it, and what are some of the comments?"

Sohyun

Sohyun, you sent a variety of videos, but I want to start with this Kristen Stewart video. As a Twilight fan, I was thrilled.

Sohyun: I'm a fan of Kristen Stewart. I love watching her movies, and I like her interviews as well. Most importantly, I specifically enjoyed this interview because it carries what LOVElution is trying to convey in our music and our concept. In this interview, she says something like, "There was a shoe that didn't fit — it was smaller than my actual size, but it was so pretty, I had to fit my feet into those small shoes. But I ended up feeling so much pain because I only cared about the looks, so I ended up throwing all those shoes away."

Sometimes we are kind of obliged to fit in other people's standards and to doubt ourselves and question our own beauty because it might be different from those standards. But the key to self-confidence and self-love is to accept who you are, accept your flaws, and love yourself anyway.

This is one of your favorite channels. What do you like about it? Is philosophy something that interests you?

Sohyun: I've loved these kinds of philosophy videos for years. If you look at my subscription list on YouTube, most of them are about human science, literature, and philosophy. That was a phase in my life when I got into a lot of different philosophies, including nihilism, and I was recommended by a friend who said, "If you're into that kind of topic, maybe you should check this out." So I started watching the videos on that channel, and I fell in love with it. Ever since then, I've been a subscriber.

Is there a perfect time of day to watch a video about optimistic nihilism?

Sohyun: It depends on the channels I subscribe to, but for that specific philosophy channel the videos are longer and it gives you a lot of questions to think about. So for this specific channel, I like to watch it at night when I'm alone and when I have a lot of free time to watch.

I didn't know you were an Alice in Chains fan! I love the MTV Unplugged series. It's a classic.

Sohyun: I'm a huge fan of rock music. I like Alice in Chains and Nirvana. I'm a big fan of those bands. I love watching their live performances as well.

Xinyu

Xinyu, you sent a supercut of the movie Cruella. Are you a huge fan of its fashion?

Xinyu: I'm very passionate about fashion. I love studying all the fashion brands and collecting really cute accessories. I always keep a close eye on the fashion trends that are changing. The video I sent you is a sped-up summary of the movie. I like things to go a little faster. I like to get all the highlights in summary, so I prefer to see those review channels that go a little bit faster, picking out all the highlights and summarizing the plot points.

Do you watch things at double speed then?

Xinyu: Yeah, I do. Sometimes we don't have time to watch a whole movie! So I like it when things go faster.

You also added an acoustic video. Is that the kind of music you like?

Xinyu: My favorite musical genre would be R&B — and that specific channel I sent you, they do a lot of R&B covers. I want to practice more in that genre, and I hope to become a better R&B singer in the future.

Who are your favorite R&B singers?

Xinyu: I love NIKI.

Are there any internet habits anyone would like to confess to before we wrap up?

Hyerin: I love watching programs that are related to food. I have a preference for mukbangs and cooking videos, which have become my latest internet obsession these days.