SHINee’s Taemin Changed His Instagram Username — Here’s What It Means

He followed a popular trend.

SHINee‘s Taemin has been pretty quiet on social media ever since his enlistment in the military back in May 2021, but today he decided to give his fans something to talk about. The renowned soloist first started out as a member of the military band, which changed in January of last year when he was transferred to the public work sector.

SHINee’s Taemin in his military get-up.

Unfortunately, this change also caused his enlistment completion date to be pushed back. Taemin was supposed to come back last November, but a recent countdown posted by him on Instagram on Christmas Eve updated fans on the matter. The story had a “D-100” caption on it, letting fans know that he would come back on April 4, 2023.

Taemin’s post on Christmas Eve. | @xoalsox/Instagram

Instagram has been the main way for Shawols to get updates from Taemin during his enlistment, with the star choosing to post mostly on meaningful days for SHINee and Shawols.

Taemin’s post for SHINee’s anniversary. | @xoalsox/Instagram

The most recent update before today, was when Taemin changed his Instagram bio which now says “TAEMIN from SHINee” instead of just “TAEMIN.” The news delighted fans, as they always are fond of seeing the members’ love for their group.

Today he decided to surprise fans yet again by changing his username on the platform. His old username “@lm___ltm” has now turned to “@xoalsox.” The idol’s old username simply meant “I’m Lee Taemin.”

Taemin’s old username.

At first glance, his new handle might look a bit confusing and hard to understand, but ever the genius Taemin found a way to incorporate his name written in the Korean alphabet through the English one. Each of the English letters stands for a Korean one, making “@xoalsox” mean “TaeminTae” (the last Tae being backward).

By doing this, Taemin joins a list of fellow idols who have turned this username style into a trend — idols like IU, EXO‘s Kai, and his fellow member Onew have also followed a similar pattern.

IU’s Instagram account.

This new update leaves Shawols even more excited for Taemin’s comeback, especially after SM Entertainment announced the idol is set to have several activities this year as a soloist as well as a member of SHINee.

SHINee

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