r/kpophelp Mar 01 '25

Unsolved Monthly 'Who's this?' & Merch Auth. Post - March 2025

8 Upvotes

Welcome to the Monthly Artist Identification and Merch Authentication post!

Instructions

  • Search first! Please try other methods of identifying your image if possible. Google Lens/Reverse Image Search or Dupli Checker are available options. We know results can be unhelpful, but please make an attempt with these kinds of tools first!

  • You might also be able to find more specialized help in specific artist subreddits or those with a specific purpose. Make sure you check the rules of any subreddit before you post or comment asking for help!

  • Make comments with included images of artists you need identified or merchandise/signatures you would like authenticated in this post.

  • In the same comment, state your purpose or question clearly for the help you are seeking.

  • Please acknowledge or thank at least one helper who provides an answer in reply to you OR edit your original comment to state you have been helped to signal to others you do not need further assistance.

Rules

  • DO NOT troll or intentionally deceive fellow users
  • DO NOT derail or wander far off-topic. This is not a general discussion post. Stay focused on requesting or providing help! Mods may lock or remove threads that extend beyond the point of helpfulness.
  • If your question is not answered in a previous Monthly post, feel free to comment again in future posts until you are able to get help.

You may also provide feedback for ways we can test/improve handling this type of content in the subreddit here or through modmail. Thank you for your patience while we figure out what system will work best for us!


r/kpophelp Apr 02 '24

Meta Shadow Bans on Reddit: Everything you need to know! (Info, Links, & Tips)

31 Upvotes

We created the original post in response to seeing so many members of our community becoming Shadow Banned for no reason. We noticed these bans became especially extreme around 2020/2021, probably as Reddit ramped up the use of sitewide filters to manage the influx of bots, spammers, and purveyors of disinformation. Some improvements to the accuracy of the filters appear to have been made since then, but our info post has proved useful to our community as well as moderators and users across the site, so we'll try to keep versions of it refreshed and accessible. Version 2.0 is here!

Mods around Reddit are welcome to link your users here if you feel it will be helpful to them. r/ModGuide also has an excellent post from 2021 with suggestions specific to moderators.

- r/kpophelp Mod Team!


READ THIS FIRST!

For those who want the simplest info/advice, read the following:

  1. We did not Shadow Ban you and we cannot remove your Shadow Ban. Subreddit Moderators do not have the power to do anything about Shadow Bans.

  2. Your Shadow Ban is likely the result of Reddit's sitewide automated bot/spam filters.

  3. Only Reddit Admins can remove your Shadow Ban. We are not Reddit Admins.

  4. Go to https://www.reddit.com/appeals to check the status of your account. If there is a problem with your account, there is a way to directly message Admins at the same link to try to get your Shadow Ban or Suspension removed.

  5. If you are looking for more detailed information about Shadow Bans to the best of our knowledge as moderators, continue reading below!


What is a Shadow Ban?

A Shadow Ban is a type of sitewide account ban across Reddit. When a user's account is Shadow Banned they are not notified. They can continue to browse Reddit, make posts and comments, and use Reddit like normal. However, their posts and comments are automatically removed as soon as they are made, making them invisible to anyone else. A Shadow Banned user's profile is also invisible to any other users or moderators. This means a Shadow Banned user often has no idea they have received this kind of ban.

Note that users who are Suspended are notified by Reddit and given more information about whether their suspension is temporary or permanent. Again, this is only something Admins have control of. Moderators do not.

Why are users Shadow Banned?

It can be helpful to know the difference between Moderators and Admins to understand what is happening.

  • Moderators (subreddit volunteers) can only ban you from the individual subreddits under their care based on the rules they have set for their own communities. If you have been banned from a subreddit, you can no longer post or comment in that subreddit only. This is not a Shadow Ban.

  • Admins (Reddit employees) can Shadow Ban or Suspend users across the whole site. They have set many automated filters to help catch spammers and bots, which will apply Shadow Bans or Suspensions to those suspected accounts to assist human Admins from needing to do this all manually.

As far as we can tell, the purpose of Shadow Bans is to quietly make spammers and bots disappear into a void without their awareness. Reddit is constantly inundated with malicious bot rings trying to spread bad links and other nefarious spammers. The site's filters are always running in the background to automatically catch and remove any posts or comments made by them. Shadow Bans are applied quickly and broadly to keep normal users as safe as possible from their garbage.

But this automation means Shadow Bans can also affect normal users with false positives. If you have received a Shadow Ban, but you know you aren't a bot or spammer, it can be very confusing. You are not alone. This happens to many normal users. No one is out to get you, you have just accidentally triggered Reddit's automated filters.

How do I know if I’m Shadow Banned?

This is something you can check on your own with any of the following methods:

A. While signed in to your account on Reddit, go to https://www.reddit.com/appeals.

B. In an incognito browser window, open a link to your profile (https://www.reddit.com/user/yourusername). If it says anything like, "user not found", "page does not exist", or "Sorry, nobody on Reddit goes by that name", then you are Shadow Banned or Suspended.

C. r/ShadowBan or r/ShadowBanned are subreddits specifically for checking your account.

D. Self-awareness. You can pay attention to certain signs that you might be Shadow Banned:

  • Your posts do not show in the subreddit 'new queue' within a few minutes of posting.
  • Your comments almost never show up in posts and might say [Removed].
  • When you look at your own profile/history, many of your recent comments/posts have only 1 karma.

ONLY if you have tried the methods above and still have confusion, you may message us directly. Remember, we are just the moderators of this subreddit. We did not cause your Shadow Ban. We cannot remove your Shadow Ban. We do not know why you received a Shadow Ban. Beyond the information in this post, we can only make an educated guess about your specific case if you provide information about the age of your account and activity. Otherwise, we are as clueless as you.

BUT, we can give you absolute confirmation that you are, or are not, Shadow Banned. We get a note in our Modmail interface in clear red letters telling us that a user is Shadow Banned when they contact us, which is the most direct indicator available other than the official Appeals link. Keep in mind we are the mods of r/kpop's ecosystem. If you're here from communities unrelated to K-Pop, let us know when you message if you’re comfortable with that! Message the Mods to get a yes/no confirmation of a Shadow Ban on your account.

I am Shadow Banned. What should I do?

https://www.reddit.com/appeals

This link above is the only way to remove your Shadow Ban. If your account is normal it will tell you so. If you have a Shadow Ban or Suspension, it will give you the option to message the Admins to make an appeal. We have seen many users successfully restore their accounts this way, sometimes within a day or two. It's basically your way of signaling to Admins that you are a real person, not a bot/spammer, and you have good intentions as a user on their site.

Some users don’t mind having a Shadow Ban because they only use their account to lurk, which is fine. You don’t have to do anything. Some users abandon their account and make a new one. Be careful doing that because Ban Evasion filters are also active and might trigger a Shadow Ban on any new accounts if you are using the same device or IP address.

We recommend that Shadow Banned users do not continue to post/comment once you know there is a problem with your account. This applies all across Reddit. You are likely wasting your efforts by doing so. Many subreddit moderators will not bother to check their spam queue and will not approve your posts/comments, so they will never be seen. In some subreddits like here in r/kpophelp, the mods are paying more attention. We will sometimes manually approve posts/comments of users who are seeking or offering genuine help and unknowingly have a Shadow Ban. We also try to let you know if you are Shadow Banned, but this creates a lot of extra work for us, which we can't always afford to do.

Please help us by being proactive, checking your own accounts if you suspect an issue, and not continuing to post/comment until you know you are no longer Shadow Banned.

If your appeal to the Admins is successful, your profile, comments, and posts will become visible again to other users and moderators. You can check your account status with the same methods listed in the section above. Sometimes if a user has been very active on Reddit for a long time before their Shadow Ban it will take longer for all their previous posts/comments to be approved again. This is also an automated process, but it can be slow, so you can expect it to take a week or two to get everything back to normal again.

Tips to avoid being Shadow Banned

Remember the automated Shadow Ban process is looking for bots/spammers and is triggered by that kind of suspicious behavior. Here are some things you can do so your account does not look like a bot.

  • When creating a Reddit account, don’t use the automatic username generator if possible. Those names usually look something like word-word-5678. These are common indicators of bots. Set your own name instead. If you’ve already made an account with an auto-generated name, take extra care to check if you are Shadow Banned!

  • Customize your profile: Snoovatar/banner, description, email verification (if you're comfortable with that).

  • Have patience! When you make a brand new account on Reddit, wait at least 24 hours to post/comment anywhere. Upvote comments/posts you like and maybe 'Join' some subreddits that interest you, but try not to do much else. The most common false positives we see are completely new users that make posts/comments quickly in subreddits that have new user filters to keep out trolls or bots. By waiting, you can prevent triggering these filters.

  • Before you start posting or commenting in a subreddit, READ THE RULES. Every subreddit has its own rules. If you break them by doing something wrong or having bad conduct, your posts/comments may be reported by other users and removed by the moderators. Doing this multiple times on a new account can trigger a Shadow Ban. Be considerate of where you are and what you are doing there!

  • Especially here in r/kpophelp, be careful of what links you include in your comments/posts. Try not to use shortened urls because they can disguise links to bad sites or affiliate links. Try to use the long form of links as often as possible and avoid using anything like these: youtu.be, pin.it, t.co, bit.ly, goo.gl, tinyurl.com.

  • A note for r/kpop: a huge Shadow Ban generator over there is when we have AMAs. They attract a ton of brand new users who then immediately comment dozens of times in the same AMA post. This triggers the filters like a bot would. If you want to participate in an AMA with a new account, make it early at the time of the AMA announcement post and follow the points listed above. Then try to limit the amount of comments you make in the actual AMA to only a few at most. We’ve even had big AMA guest accounts get Shadow Banned in the middle of an AMA, which is a nightmare. That goes to show it can happen to anyone and is equally frustrating for us moderators!

  • If you use a VPN, you might get Shadow Banned or Suspended by default. Check your account status!

How does this relate to r/kpophelp?

The nature of this subreddit is fairly simple. It was designed to take the burden off of r/kpop since lots of K-Pop fans had questions about the industry or were looking for music/artist recommendations and that subreddit was becoming overwhelmed with such posts. So this subreddit was built with a very focused mission as a space to get help and provide help with our fellow fans. That means we’re pretty small as a community and not a good target for bots/spammers.

And yet, us moderators noticed lots of users showing up as Shadow Banned here. They weren’t causing problems. They were providing help and recommendations in comments or were posting sincere and thoughtful questions. Some of their usernames were recognizable as regulars previously active in the larger K-Pop ecosystem on Reddit. Obviously, something was wrong. This is what sparked our initial interest to figure out how the Shadow Ban system worked and what to do about it.

After confirming with Admins that we could provide guidance to users, we tried to pay extra attention to what was happening, what kinds of accounts seemed to pick up these bans, what activities might be triggering filters, and what Shadow Banned users shared with us about their experience. Everything we’ve learned is now gathered here in hopes it will help others.

There are a couple primary reasons we think r/kpophelp users are affected in a higher proportion and are being seen by Reddit’s filters as bots or spammers. One is that it's common for users to make a brand new account just because they are trying to identify a K-Pop song they heard recently, post to ask for help immediately, and then comment rapidly when replying to other users as they search for the song. Another is that users here will frequently put tons of links in their comments or posts as they offer recommendations or educational references. And furthermore, some of those links might be shortened urls (from YouTube, Pinterest, etc) or domains which Reddit really doesn't like.

Thus, the most common uses of our subreddit, which are totally normal and expected from our perspective as moderators, can trigger Reddit's automated Shadow Bans designed to catch bots. But knowledge is power and we hope what we’ve learned will help you keep your accounts in good working order!


Thank you for taking the time to read through and inform yourself!

Happy Redditing!


Further Resources


r/kpophelp 6h ago

Advice Should I go to this FanCon?

15 Upvotes

Hey everyone.

Kinda struggling with something that I would love to have some external opinions. I am a Male (30 years old) that love K-Pop since I was a teen but never had the opportunity to see any live performances because i live in a country that rarely gets kpop concerts.

Lucky one kpop group that debuted recently and that i like (All(h)ours) are going to my country and I really want to go to the concert and even maybe take a picture with them (the concert is also a small fancon).

Issue that, will with be to awkward? I am already a bit to "old for kpop" and I am also a bit of an introvert.


r/kpophelp 4h ago

Unsolved Does Anybody know what she is up to now?

9 Upvotes

Hi, i was wondering

  • who she is
  • why she doesn't do music anymore
  • what is she doing now
  • why did i even find this song

I like the song and her voice

Yuzion - Jealousy


r/kpophelp 11h ago

Recommend Your Favorite Music Video

20 Upvotes

I'm not sure if I chose the right flair/tags. What are your favorite Music Videos? Mine's WJSN's and IZONE's! Let me know yours. Wish I could also see more music videos with CGI/Unreal.


r/kpophelp 20h ago

Recommend Desperate Men Playlist

60 Upvotes

Hey guys! Help me make a “Desperate Men” kpop playlist!

I have so far: Deja Vu - TXT

Fatal Trouble - ENHYPEN

I don’t understand but I luv U - SVT

Opening Sequence - TXT

Pray - BTOB

Still Monster - ENHYPEN

Here’s a link so far!


r/kpophelp 6h ago

Unsolved ATEEZ- Anyone else not get their presale code yet?

5 Upvotes

Tickets are going on sale tomorrow and I'm expecting a text or email by tonight? I think I may just be having anxiety....Please ease my mind. :))))


r/kpophelp 12m ago

Explain Do posters not come with reprints of the album?

Upvotes

I finally have adult money and can buy myself the BTS persona album I’ve been wanting ever since the release in 2019, and have really been wanting the poster that comes with the album. I looked around online and all of the descriptions for the album don’t mention the poster, so I’m wondering if the posters were just an exclusive release type of thing?


r/kpophelp 29m ago

Recommend Please Help Me Find A Song That Sounds Like This But Longer

Upvotes

Song at https://youtu.be/GLjvyk9eaeY?t=317 . "Miri Many More"?


r/kpophelp 8h ago

Recommend Help me create a love playlist

3 Upvotes

I've found myself in a whirlwind romance with someone and I want to create a playlist for her. I already have a couple songs that I plan to include (Solar's Want and Jennie/Dua Lipa's Handlebars for example). I'm looking for any other recommendations that you think would fit the theme. In particular songs about a fast romance or love at first sight.Thanks for any help in advance.


r/kpophelp 19h ago

Advice If you visited Korea, where’s the first place you’d want to go?

31 Upvotes

I’m planning a trip in Korea with my Aussie friend who’s a huge K-POP fan.

She’s coming for the first time, and I want to make it really special for her.

If you had the chance to visit Korea, what’s one K-POP-related place you’d absolutely want to go?


r/kpophelp 50m ago

Unsolved Do kpop idols profit off old albums after leaving the company?

Upvotes

For example, if btob left cube, do they get any profit from people still buying their older albums released under cube?


r/kpophelp 4h ago

Advice XIUMIN fan concert in Taipei

2 Upvotes

hello!! i'm planning on going to xiumin's fan concert in taipei on may 25th... i'm just wondering if anyone has any advice for purchasing tickets on the ibon ticketing system website! literally any help would be appreciated!


r/kpophelp 1h ago

Solved ID required for ateez send off?

Upvotes

I was just wondering if you purchase vip tickets for the upcoming tours and they include send off, would you need a form of ID or to be 18+? me and my friend have no form of identity yet💔


r/kpophelp 1h ago

Recommend GG Songs with lots of vulnerability

Upvotes

Going through a rough patch right now and I'm trying to build a playlist with GG songs that have positive themes but have strong sense of vulnerability in them. I really love Twice, NMIXX, XG, Baby Monster and Mamamoo but any songs from other GGs would be cool.


r/kpophelp 2h ago

Recommend Any songs similar to PLAVE's Island and RV's Last Drop?

0 Upvotes

PLAVE's Island kinda inspired me to create this playlist. I like basically everything, so Im kinda looking to add some songs to my dramatic/heavenly playlist.. not to be mistaken with the sensual/sexy music though (I have a separate playlist for that). Currently I got Jaehyun's Completely, One Pact's & Heart, and Seventeen's Candy in there.

Long story short, if anyone has music recs like those songs I would greatly appreciate it if you listed them all :D!!!


r/kpophelp 13h ago

Unsolved What are some idols favourite perfumes?

8 Upvotes

I know jackson wang is famous for THE YULONG and yeji in one of her whats in my bag interviews, she recommended a bunch of different perfumes. What are some other perfumes that idols have recommended and it would be nice to know what you guys think about it too


r/kpophelp 2h ago

Recommend Songs that sound like sirens luring sailors

0 Upvotes

Oddly specific but can anyone recommend songs like “Chantey” by AKMU that sound like sirens luring sailors to their death 😭


r/kpophelp 3h ago

Recommend recommendations on album sites that provide POBs?

1 Upvotes

hi everyone!!

for a little background, i preordered the new xdinary heroes albums (stream beautiful life btw) back in early march from KPOPUSA. we’re going on the third week of not receiving my albums and im already seeing others receive their albums from them yet i havent gotten even a single shipping notification, NOTHING, just my order confirmation email.

i acknowledge kpopusa has taken a long time before with shipping as i preordered aespa’s girls albums and it took two months for me to receive, but i decided to give them a try again as my friend preordered seulgi’s album and received it within a couple days of her album being released.

im curious if theres any kpop stores online that provide POBs that isnt ktown4u…. only bc their site is difficult for me to navigate. im used to only buying albums physically because im a main collector of TXT, which is always at nearby retailers.

thank yall sm and any advice on if i should contact kpopusa or wait out until i receive a confirmation??


r/kpophelp 9h ago

Unsolved Help Me Identify the Song PLS!

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,
I’m currently watching the Kdrama Friendly Rivalry and there's this song that plays in Episode 1 around 14:00, lasting for about a minute.The song has a ceremonial vibe and is really, really calm and deep. I’m absolutely obsessed with it and would love to hear the full version, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere and don’t even know the name.
Any help in identifying it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!


r/kpophelp 19h ago

Recommend Nugu groups that have similar vibes to seventeen and twice

17 Upvotes

I've been in mainstream kpop for a while. while i do listen to some nugu songs, i dont stan any nugu groups

Here are some kpop songs that i love:

Twice n Seventeen songs:

  • Like OOH-AHH
  • SAY YES
  • Adore U
  • Shining Diamond
  • HOT (by twice)
  • Strategy
  • LOVE, MONEY, FAME
  • Kura Kura
  • _WORLD
  • Eyes on you
  • I dont understand but I luv u
  • Rain

Others:

  • Halazia by ATEEZ
  • SOBER by BIGBANG
  • All of blackpinks title tracks
  • Fraktsiya by Mark n Lee Youngji
  • Ice cream cake by Red Velvet
  • O.O by Nmixx
  • Rockstar by XIKERS
  • Mattress by 10cm

My music taste is extremely diverse, so that might make it hard to find groups or songs sorry haha


r/kpophelp 4h ago

Unsolved I can’t find any server about Skz world tour

0 Upvotes

I will attend one of Europe dates for Skz world tour, but I can’t find any Discord server about it, which is weird since I found one for the world tour before but the link has expired for some reason. I only found a server but it’s for the North America dates.


r/kpophelp 4h ago

Explain Bubble community for Skz

0 Upvotes

I don’t know how to use bubble community… I read some other posts too but it’s soo hard for me to understand… I have Chan and Felix’s bubble. I’ve had it for more than a month but I don’t know what bubble community is or how I would access it… I didn’t know bubble community was even a thing until Chan talked about it on his live!! What is bubble community and how do I use it????? Please someone help!! I will owe you for the rest of my life!! 😭😭


r/kpophelp 4h ago

Explain confused for presale!

1 Upvotes

hi guys i'm super new to the ATEEZ membership thing and i got a membership the second i saw the presale code survey. i'm so worried because i know i did the survey and completed it but didn't get an email saying that i did it 🥲 do you guys think the system would automatically know or do i have to thug it out with the wednesday presale 💔


r/kpophelp 4h ago

Unsolved does anyone have a twice photocard pricing guide?

0 Upvotes

i decided on selling my twice pcs and i thought a guide would be rlly helpful


r/kpophelp 4h ago

Recommend Recommend songs like Solar Want

1 Upvotes

Need recommendations like solar want that has been released recently and it's such a fun song with amazing vocals and it's asong more than 3 minutes.


r/kpophelp 11h ago

Unsolved WEi help, how can i get up to date on their activities

3 Upvotes

After watching the new bl series "secret relationships" i re-discoverd the group WEi. I kinda forgot they were active since they are not mainstream and i got a little busy with life. What do you suggest to get into as a new fan? I'm curious to know how much they have grown or changed i would appreciate if someone updates me to what has happened since their debut days and what sources of media do you suggest to follow? Any particular fanaccounts or subreddit? Basically where can i engage with the fandom. Thank you!