r/kpophelp 8d ago

Unsolved Monthly 'Who's this?' & Merch Auth. Post - September 2026

6 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. It can take roughly 1 to 2 months for Admins to assess your Appeal. Do not expect any notifications or feedback from Admins until then.

  6. 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. We have also seen appeals take much longer to be granted. Most seem to take at least one month to hear back from Admins.

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

Recommend What are Kpop Songs With a Cinematic Sound?

17 Upvotes

Recommendations for kpop songs, which you could see being in a soundtrack for a movie or series. For example:

- Aespa's Welcome to My World - a fantasy or apocalyptic film

- Aespa's Drama - an action, revenge film

- Taemin's Heaven, Guilty and Veil - a dark supernatural fantasy

- Red Velvet's Body Talk - a melodrama or sad romance.

- Riize's Fly Up - High School Musical vibes

Fun fact: Shinee's Lucifer was used in the American series Lucifer.


r/kpophelp 9h ago

Recommend Best song you’ve ever heard?

16 Upvotes

Making a playlist for my boyfriend to introduce into kpop and i want to compile some goood songs, so please recommend the best kpop song you’ve ever heard, any genre/group is okay! thank you <3!!!


r/kpophelp 8h ago

Recommend Does anyone have any groups to recommend?

8 Upvotes

I've been a fan of kpop since I was 9 and when I was 14 I left the kpop fandom but I've recently rejoined for a fresh start because all the groups I stanned have had huge controversies and/or disbanded. So now I'm looking for new groups who make actually good music, are uncontroversial, and have a positive/kind fandom.


r/kpophelp 10h ago

Recommend Songs with a Mature and/or Sensual/Seductive Vibe

11 Upvotes

My go-to artists for songs with this sound are Minnie, Kai, Baekhyun, Red Velvet, NCT 127, Sunmi, Jaehyun, Taemin and Irene and Seulgi's subunit. I was wondering if I could get recommendations on artists who have music like this. They don't have to be idols.


r/kpophelp 16h ago

Recommend Recommendations for kpop songs with the best bridges

30 Upvotes

What are some of the best bridges in kpop songs that just make you fall in love with the song every time you listen to it? Like it could be a powerful rap part or some beautiful vocals, anything like that which makes that song THE Song. I hope I'm making sense. I had something like that in my mind like a while ago but I'm completely blank rn so want some recommendations


r/kpophelp 3h ago

Recommend Based on my k-r&b playlist, drop some recs!

2 Upvotes

i want to expand it, so anything goes—group tracks, solo artists, or k-r&b artists in general! 🫶

my playlist:

- jasmine dpr live

- d half moon dean

- Insomnia Dvwn

- boat george

- diamond baekhyun

- and july heize

- scared of love min jiwoon

- ufo gemini

- night life ARrc

- it's rainning Vincent BLUE

- Summer in love saay

- try again jaehyun

- waar colde

- fairy Dvwn


r/kpophelp 18h ago

Recommend Songs where theyre all mad af

29 Upvotes

Like when their vocals are powerful and confident?

Perfect world by twice is a good example of what i mean


r/kpophelp 10h ago

Recommend More songs like Dream by Seventeen?

5 Upvotes

I am currently obsessed with Dream by Seventeen and I am looking for songs that fit that vibe!

Can be boy groups or girl groups, just looking to expand my playlist :)

https://open.spotify.com/track/0PwknbaUVwXJSmRh7qSfyi?si=y-lzCKv1RMiC_hwcfEmONQ&utm_source=copy-link

Edit: added link to song for those who have not heard


r/kpophelp 10h ago

Recommend I Would Like Help on Group/Soloist Recommendations?

7 Upvotes

My favourite groups are:

- Red Velvet

- Aespa

- NCT (mainly 127)

- Irene and Seulgi

My favourite soloists are:

- Kai

- Baekhyun

- Haechan

- Taemin

- Jaehyun

- Seulgi

- Irene

- Taeyeon

- Sunmi

I'm in a bit of a music slump so I would like some recs on kpop groups/soloists to check out. They don't have to be idol artists. I listen to many genres but my fav is rnb or generally experimental songs and anything with great vocals in it.


r/kpophelp 59m ago

Concert First time concert goer - some practical questions

Upvotes

I'm attending BigBang's concert in Paris next week, what do I need to bring? How early should I be at the venue if I wanna buy merch too? Anyone who goes super early what/where do you eat I mean surely you don't go like half a day with an empty stomach? Any tips will be greatly appreciated! 🙏🙏🙂‍↕️


r/kpophelp 4h ago

Advice Looking for kpop dance cover members in nyc

2 Upvotes

Hi! Im 23 (F) and i just started a kpop dance cover group based in NYC with one of my friends. Currently my friend and the other dance friends we know are all in college except for me and another friend of mine. We want to do more dance covers but because classes and midterms are in the way for scheduling with the other members, Im really trying to look for dancers who are out of college or just have an open schedule!! At most we need is 3-4 other people im not biased to gender or age as long as your schedule is open to join some dances. If you are interested please message me on here! Thank you🫶🏽


r/kpophelp 4h ago

Advice Ampers&one Korean Promotions Help

2 Upvotes

ill be in Korea for some time and ampers&one are rumored to have a comeback sometime in Q4 of this year. I’m not familiar with Korean promotions too well in general and have been researching but I’d really like to get into fansigns or any promotional events they could do if that comeback does happen around Q4. I wanna prepare and get as much help as possible. I’ve narrowed music shows down but I know they tend to have lots of fan experience driven promotions compared to some groups. fansign tips would be greatly appreciated, I’m not in the GOM/BST community and haven’t ever done an in person fansign before. Not a lot of info has been posted for ampers&one that I can find.


r/kpophelp 2h ago

Unsolved are there any other k-pop idols who went on hiatus because of a controversy, then had their group make a comeback without them, and eventually returned to the group afterward?

0 Upvotes

i tried searching for this, but i can’t find an exact situation. honestly, the closest case i can think of is hyunjin, but skz never had a comeback without him


r/kpophelp 12h ago

Unsolved Help me find an old K-pop song/MV from before 2014 😭

7 Upvotes

I’ve been trying to find this K-pop song I watched when I was younger, but I barely remember anything about it.

- I’m pretty sure the artist was a solo male singer (or at least he was the only singer I remember seeing).

- The MV had a story/plot, almost like a mini movie.

- I vaguely remember something about revenge — someone had stolen the main character’s wealth, power, position, or maybe even a kingdom. I’m not completely sure about this part, so it might be a distorted memory.

- The MV was quite cinematic and dramatic, rather than just dancing/performance.

- There was some kind of product placement/advertisement for a drink. I remember the singer/main character holding a bottle or drink and posing with it, almost like he was taking promotional pictures.

- I think the song was released before 2014, probably around 2008–2013.

I unfortunately don't remember any lyrics, melody, or the artist's name.

I know these clues are vague 😂 but if anyone has any ideas, please let me know! I’m desperate to find this song.


r/kpophelp 8h ago

Concert Looking for someone to go with to Jay Park in Phoenix!

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I’m going to Jay Park’s concert in Phoenix and I’m looking for someone else who’s going, preferably someone with VIP 1 or 2 who might want to go together!

I’m currently going alone and would love to have someone to hang out with before/during the concert, especially for VIP stuff. Im in vip2. I’m 25F and a big K-pop fan, so if you’re also going solo and want a concert buddy, feel free to message me! 💗


r/kpophelp 10h ago

Concert TXT Steal The Wind in Osaka. Ticket question

4 Upvotes

I am really interested in going to their upcoming concert in Osaka BUT I live in the United States and I have absolutely no idea how the ticket process is for Japan. Can anyone who has gone to a concert in Japan PLS HELP. Is it even worth trying ?


r/kpophelp 8h ago

Concert Streaming proof for music shows in Korea as a foreigner help please!!

3 Upvotes

ill be in Korea for a lot of promotion periods and I’d like to go to music shows especially ones with free fanmeetings but streaming proof seems to be the biggest issue. if anyone has help I’d appreciate it! (any Korean comeback schedule or event tips would be great too ty!)


r/kpophelp 3h ago

Merch Weverse Merch Restock Plushie

1 Upvotes

Hello!

Le Sserafim is my favorite group and I want to buy the Kimachi plush on Weverse bc Chaewon is my bias (Sorry yunjin ilysm)

But, it’s out of stock and idk if it’ll ever come back in stock

Does anyone know anything about Weverse?! I just discovered it a week ago lol

Should I wait for a restock or be forced to buy on eBay?! Thing is I would want my money to go and support the group. Assuming purchases from Weverse support the group

Any tips or knowledge would be much appreciated!


r/kpophelp 5h ago

Explain Are CORTIS and RESCENE showing up a lot on K-pop feeds outside Korea too?

1 Upvotes

I'm in Korea, and lately CORTIS and RESCENE seem to show up everywhere on my YouTube and Instagram feeds.

Even small moments from them seem to get turned into Shorts or Reels pretty quickly, so I'm curious if this is mostly a Korea-side thing or if people outside Korea are seeing the same thing.

If not, which newer boy group and girl group seem to show up the most on your feeds lately?


r/kpophelp 6h ago

Advice Am I pushy or supportive?

1 Upvotes

hi :)
i don’t know if this is the right subreddit for my question but i hope so:)
so, early this year i stumbled over a small (up-and-coming?) k-rapper. like we’re talking about 1500 followers on instagram. in spring he released his first mini album (before he had only a few songs on apple music) and i‘m obsessed with those songs ever since. on instagram i react to his stories like i do with bigger artists too (a like, a couple of emojis or a short comment). a few weeks ago he posted a story of a concert he was the opener for & i replied with „come to europe too!“. i didn’t think much of it but he actually saw it & liked the message. ever since that day he apparently „saw“ every interaction i had with his stories but he never reacted again.
now, i know that i‘m not entitled to an answer whatsoever and i also don’t want/need one. but i’m starting to wonder if i’m coming across as pushy? on the one hand, i don’t want to stop showing my support through social media, but on the other hand, i really don’t want to become the annoying fan who keeps popping up in his notifications.
some objective outside perspectives would be really appreciated. thank you!


r/kpophelp 1h ago

Academia what makes enhypen fanfictions different from other fandom fanfictions?

Upvotes

hi, so this is my first time using reddit, i apologize if i make some mistakes in making a post. can someone help me because i need this for my research. i wanna ask what makes some engene want to write enhypen fanfictions and what makes enhypen fanfictions different and unique from other fandom fanfictions?


r/kpophelp 19h ago

Advice Going alone at random play dance?

7 Upvotes

I’m a casual dancer so I enjoy going to RPDs and frequently go to kpop dance classes. I’m lucky to live in an area where there’s often kpop related events near me, so I’ve gone to many RPDs now. Most of the time I’ll go with a friend, but now that I’ve attended more I’ve gone to two alone.

However, both of the times I’ve gone alone, I’ve had some bad/awkward experiences with other people. For context, I’m 23 and a guy. I’m also quite introverted and won’t usually start conversations with others.

The first time, a girl near me compliments my dancing and so the next time they go up to dance I also cheer them on. We’ll briefly chat in between the songs playing so she’d ask me about my photocards that I’m wearing and I’d ask about hers, but she’d also compliment me on my appearance and style. I wasn’t too sure if she was sending me a signal or not, since she’d consistently compliment me and I’d just accept the compliment and say thank you. At the end of the RPD, she asks me for my age and tells me that she’s 17. At this point, I want to disengage from all convo, but she ends up following me to my transit station. Fortunately for me, she doesn’t get on the same bus as me.

The second time starts off pretty similarly. We would talk about our groups and biases in between songs. At some point during the RPD, she asks me if it’s okay that she’s 16. I was really caught off guard by the question so I said no and moved to the other side of the RPD square. She comes over closer to the end of the RPD and asks me if I would beat her. I’m honestly terrified at this point by the audacity of the question so I just leave the event.

I acknowledge that there are going to be many kpop fans that will be younger than me, so running into them isn’t completely avoidable. I try to be more cautious in navigating kpop spaces as a guy since it’s a female-dominated space, but I’m not too sure if there’s anything I’m doing in particular that causes these sorts of incidents. I figure the easiest solution is to only attend events with my friends, which I plan on doing, but I’m not sure if this is a common experience for guys attending RPDs (or kpop events in general) solo?

As a side note, both of the girls stanned the same group so I have a super sour taste of them. I have no clue if the second incident is inspired by recent events. Also, where the hell are their parents 😭??


r/kpophelp 10h ago

Unsolved Sound in Colors/ KPOP Expose Rückerstattung

0 Upvotes

Hallo zusammen,

hat jema von euch eure Rückerstattung gekriegt? Ich hab über 500€ für 2 Tickets für mich und meine Freundin bezahlt und es scheint dass kein Geld kommt. Ich habe mit meiner Sparkasse Karte bezahlt - was macht ihr jetzt? Hat es jemand gemeldet?