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nakamina · 6 years ago

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What is Produce 101 Japan? + Fav members

Hello again! Today, I’m here with another long blog post NOT about Yuzuru Hanyu or anime but............ PRODUCE 101 JAPAN!! Because there are just not enough posts about it on Tumblr. AGH! WHY!? So here we go...

What is Produce 101 Japan?

Produce 101 Japan is a 2019 Japanese reality competition show and a spin-off of the South Korean television series Produce 101 . The show follows 101 trainees with the intention of producing an 11-member boy band. The members, group name, and concepts are selected by viewers, referred to as "national producers." The series was first announced in April 2019 as a co-production between Yoshimoto Kogyo and CJ E&M and premiered on September 25, 2019, with the first and final episodes airing on TBS while the full series will be streamed on GyaO! beginning September 26, 2019. - Totally not copied and pasted from wiki lol

So yes, if you are familiar with the Korean Produce 101 franchise then you get the gist; if not, it is basically a Japanese idol show where the viewers get to vote and decide who will debut in the end as part of a 11-member boy band. Almost each week the ranking is released to the public online. This ranking resets every 3-4 weeks, so every trainee has the opportunity to redeem themselves as well as drop down in rank. Currently 9 out of 12 episodes have aired. The final episode is set to air on December 11, 2019.

Who are MY top 11 members?

So my favourite part of this blog has come! I will now show case my top/favourite 11 members of Produce 101 Japan. So obviously these are the members that I hope will make it into the final 11 to debut as a group. I will first list their age, prefecture, current rank (as of 27th Nov 2019), audition group (as some members entered this show as a group), position/persona (made up by me) and a short blurb about what I like about them. FYI this is not in any particular order......except for maybe no.1 hehe.

1. Shiroiwa Ruki

Age: 22 Prefecture: Tokyo, Japan Current rank: 4th Audition group: Hangyaku no Prince Position/persona: A prince on the outside, a dork on the inside

Ruki is by far my favourite trainee and my 1-pick. He is a total visual, an all rounder and the dark horse of this show. His rank has been steadily improving and just last week he jumped from 13th place to 4th place! So far he has been the centre for all of the group battle performances. He is known for his “Prince” persona, and yes on stage he is indeed like a prince from a Shojo-manga; however, as some other trainees have confessed he is actually quite dorky and down to earth. I mean, in his 60-second PR video he sang while nonchalantly playing a guitar that was clearly out of tune (face palm). Furthermore, he talks to his dorm mates on and on until 4am only because he gets lonely and doesn’t want to be the last one to fall asleep. This young fella just yearns for some company haha. With all jokes aside though, I think he honestly has the potential to challenge the current top three members and be chosen as the final centre.

2. Komatsu Koshin

Age: 18 Prefecture: Hyogo, Japan Current rank: 28th Audition group: Puchi-men Position/persona: Small boy with a big heart

Komatsu-kun is a 18 year old high schooler that has captured the hearts of many with his cute face and personality. Ruki may be my 1-pick, but Komatsu-kun was the first trainee I had my eyes on. He is very underrated IMHO as he just does not get enough screen time. But you can tell from the few scenes that he is featured in that he is so polite, cares a lot about his fellow peers and can always lift up the the entire mood within the team. He also has a stable vocal and solid dance skills. He may be small (165cm), but he has a heart of a giant.

3. Uehara Jun

Age: 23 Prefecture: Tokyo, Japan Current rank: 5th Audition group: n/a Position/persona: King of Rap

Where do I even begin with Uehara Jun!? He was actually in Produce X (4th season of the Produce franchise in Korea) but as he could not make the final cut there, he has now committed to this second opportunity in Japan to make his debut as an idol. Jun has many amazing qualities, one of the obvious ones being his skills as a rapper. Honestly, he is in a league of his own when it comes to rap. I’m no rap pro, but when he raps it just sounds so GOOD! When he first started off I think a lot of viewers were hesitant to vote for him as he had the tendency to succumb to pressure and self-guilt, but as the weeks went by he really redeemed himself and gained a lot more confidence. I mean...the fact that he moved from one season to another without second thought just shows he really wants this, and I genuinely hope he will make it into the final 11. He deserves it and the group will suffer without a top-quality rapper like him.

4. Kono Junki

Age: 21 Prefecture: Nara, Japan Current rank: 11th Audition group: Six Packs Position/persona: Kpop ready vocals and visual

Junki is a very handsome trainee with a beautiful voice. Despite having little to no experience with singing or dancing prior to this show, he has really demonstrated the ability to adapt and deliver. Also his face and voice is so Kpop worthy it’s crazy. If I saw him walking down the street with no prior knowledge of who he is and someone told me he is a Kpop idol I will be convinced. He has also been voted by the other trainees as one of the top visuals. Oh and did I mention he has amazing muscles? I mean he did audition as part of a group called “Six Packs” ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).

5. Yonashiro Sho

Age: 24 Prefecture: Okinawa, Japan Current rank: 8th Audition group: Six Packs Position/persona: 50 Shades of Yonashiro

Ah yes... Yonashiro, the Christian Grey of Produce 101 Japan. I say this because many viewers find his face, body and most of all his VOICE to be very sensual. He is a member of Six Packs, the same group as Kono Junki, so of course he has muscles and is also an amazing vocalist. His deep liquid gold voice has just added so much spice to every group performance that he has been a part of, and is now regarded as one of the best vocalists of all the trainees. You may think that he is this know-it-all arrogant narcissist because of his looks, but he is actually very kind, considerate of others and has genuine passion for singing.

6. Kim Heecheon

Age: 25 Prefecture: South Korean Current rank: 14th Audition group: Hello Again Position/persona: Ready to lead a country

Heecheon was a former member of the Kpop group Halo. As they disbanded, he decided to join this show alongside two other former members of Halo (Younghoon & Youndong). Due to their experience Halo is really on a league of their own in many ways. Their dance, vocals, performance and professionalism as an idol are just top notch and SO stable. Heecheon particularly has a voice of an angel. He can really hit those high notes and it sounds so tranquil. One of the vocal trainers even praised him for it in one of the first episodes. He has also demonstrated great leadership skills. He has the ability to gain everyone’s trust and respect, while not being afraid to give constructive criticism and call out on those who are not being professional within the team. He is so level-headed, but that is not to say he isn’t fun. He is actually so funny and I am just impressed how well he understands Japanese sense of humour despite being Korean. Heecheon for president anyone??

7. Jeong Younghoon

Age: 26 Prefecture: South Korea Current rank: 6th Audition group: Hello Again Position/persona: Embodiment of Kindness

Look up “kindness” in your dictionary and you are sure to find his name. Younghoon, the eldest member of the Halo trio, is such a kind-hearted individual. One of the younger trainees even said that he wants Younghoon in his group during one of the group battles because he is kind (uwu). He has actually been judged quite harshly by the trainers despite being a former Kpop idol, and was even placed in group C (3rd lowest group) at one point. Even with these challenges he never showed the slightest bit of annoyance towards the trainers and accepted to improve on the flaws the he was criticised for. Like Heecheon, he has also gained a lot of trust and admiration from the other trainees.

8. Kim Youndong

Age: 24 Prefecture: South Korea Current rank: 10 Audition group: Hello Again Position/persona: Little Mr Sunshine

Youndong, also a former member of Halo, is such a sunshine of the show. He is absolutely a pleasure to watch both on and off stage and is always smiling. He is probably the least fluent in Japanese out of the Halo trio, but that in itself is what makes him so charming. His personality is so likeable I think it is impossible for anyone to hate him. Not to mention his stunning presence while performing.

9. Kawanishi Takumi

Age: 20 Prefecture: Hyogo, Japan Current rank: 12th Audition group: KSIX Position/persona: Princess

I think Takumi is a must needed member for the final 11. He really is a talented individual. He apparently has no experience with dancing or singing but for some reason he manages to always pull off complicated choreos and is also working steadily on his vocals right now. He may be ranked 12th at the moment, but he was previously ranked no.1, so I’m sure his one-pickers will place him back up high in the ranking again soon enough. He is also labelled as the “Princess” of Produce 101 Japan due to his picture perfect looks. Unsurprisingly he was also voted as the no.1 visual by the trainees. I mean just look at him, those eyes just so striking and and full of hope!

10. Kawashiri Ren

Age: 22 Prefecture: Fukuoka, Japan Current rank: 2nd Audition group: UN Backers Position/persona: Mr Perfect

Now Ren is a special one. He is a very experienced dancer and is one of, if not the best dancer of all the trainees. He has worked as a back dancer for many Kpop and Jpop groups such as FT Island, WannaOne, Pentagon and SMAP. Of course he is not the only experienced dancer in the show, but every move of his is so effortless and clean. He was voted as the very first centre of Produce 101 Japan, and maintained this position throughout the first half of the season. His rank has now dropped down to 2nd, but he still maintains an incredible amount of following. He has so much aura and has garnered a lot of respect from the other trainees. I think it’s safe to say that he will make it into the final 11 and will undoubtedly be one of the top contenders for the final centre position.

11. Tsurubo Shion

Age: 18 Prefecture: Shiga, Japan Current rank: 3rd Audition group: n/a Position/persona: Bad boy gone sweet

I think Shion is a type that really pulls the ladies’ heart strings. Similar to Uehara Jun, Shion also sees Produce 101 as his second chance to accomplish his dream as an idol, as he has had a history of failing an audition....an audition which he even dropped out of high school for. There was some negativity around his reputation at the start as the trainers addressed his “rude” attitude in the first episode (By rude, he talked over some of the trainers and hosts, and was not using proper formal language). This was only for the first episode and was most likely due to nerves of being on screen as as the weeks went by we saw him break out of his shell and show a very sweet side of him. I mean just look at his pure smile in the GIF below!

Honourable mentions

Now I am going to cheat a bit and show case three other trainees that could not make it into MY top 11 but deserves a mention.

Ando Tomoaki

Age: 22 Prefecture: Fukuoka, Japan Current rank: 7th Audition group: Six Packs Position/persona: Michelangelo’s Ando

The third member of Six Packs. I say he’s “Michelangelo’s” Ando because he has such deep set eyes and western facial features. One trainee said that he’s like one of the statues you’d find in the Louvre lol. Ando may very well be the most talented vocalist in Six Packs. It would be very sad to not see all of the three Six Packs members make it into the final 11, so thats why I have placed him here.

Honda Kosuke

Age: 24 Prefecture: Fukushima, Japan Current rank: 15th Audition group: Hangyaku no Prince Position/persona: Big bro Honda

Honda is so big bro-material. Even Kawajiri Ren, one of the most respected trainees comes to him for moral support. I actually would be really happy if he makes it into the final 11 with Ruki because they are from the same group and have such a strong bond (cries). So much drama happened around him during one of the group battles, and he is such a great dancer and choreographer.

Urano Shuta

Age: 22 Prefecture: Kanagawa, Japan Current rank: 34th Audition group: Hangyaku no Prince Position/persona: Mood maker

Urano Shuta, also a member of Hangyaku no Prince, is someone that very recently caught my attention. He has a great voice and great sense of humour. Honestly, every scene he is featured in just cracks me up because he is always pulling off jokes. Let’s give him a bonus GIF for his loveable humour.

In Summary

Produce 101 Japan is such an entertaining, dramatic and inspiring show. I am usually not into idols at all (Kpop or Jpop), so I am honestly surprised just how invested I have become. I’ve only showcased 14 trainees today, but no joke each one of them has something to offer and you just have to watch it to understand the greatness of this show. Unfortunately you are only able to vote if you live in Japan (as it requires to have a Japanese cell phone number). Since I don’t live in Japan I thought this blog post is the least I could do to help promote the trainees. If you are able to please check this show out! You can use a VPN to watch all the episodes on Gyao. Otherwise, they have an official youtube channel and many fans have uploaded videos of Produce 101 Japan as well online.

Thanks so much if you made it to the end of this blog! And I’m sorry if this is not the kind of content you expected from me. Do not fret though, plenty of Yuzuru Hanyu content will still be coming from me.

Adios until my next blog post!!

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thekonnection82 · 6 years ago

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As promised, Mamamoo completes their year long project ‘Four Seasons Four Colors’ with the release of their ninth mini album ‘White Wind’ on March 14. ‘Four Seasons Four Colors’ had goals of building up Mamamoo’s artistic repertoire by exploring new sounds that are unexpected of the group. Using seasons and colors for the concept gives the quartet wide range to accomplish these goals. Reviewing the last two mini albums (‘Red Moon’ and ‘Blue;s’) have been awesome, and I felt obliged to post about the final piece of the project.

The concept for this album treats white as the blank canvas for Mamamoo to freely create an array of colors by using the colors they had showcased in the past, conceptually both primary and neon colors. Mamamoo pays homage to their start as they use their bright colors in a modernized way parallel to their jazzy, retro-pop concept of debut. The way they are bolder and cooler with the pop of neon gave me the essence of their previous releases under the primary colors. Even the album cover design used a gradient accent of blue and purple that reminded me of their mini album cover for ‘Purple’ that was released prior to this project, which they first expressed the concept of mixing colors to symbolize a new sound. With all this said and seeing the teasers, I wondered if they were in any way revisiting their old sound.

I’ll be quoting Mamamoo as they gave descriptions of each song in their highlight medley video.

Let’s get to it!

‘White Wind’ Album Art

‘Where R U’

R&B song that expresses the heart fluttering feelings of waiting for a destined lover, as if they’re playing hide-and-seek.

This track took me by surprise by how airy and light the production was. The plucked chords reminded me of strings from the violin family, and the flute synth notes created a refreshing, dreamy sound. If you listen closely during the pre-chorus you can hear xylophones chiming in and it plays as a cute little accent. These parts gave me the feeling that I was probably going to transcend into heaven, but the guitar and the main beat helped balance out the mentioned parts as if to keep listeners grounded. The vocals expressed well about wondering where their future lover is. Although Mamamoo sang lightly, they didn’t sound weak or broken but rather firm. The way the song ended felt abrupt and awkward, only to realize it emphasized the wonder that surrounded the repeated question.

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‘Gogobebe’ (Title Track)

The song uses the ‘jijibee (…)’ from Kim Gunmo‘s ‘Jjanga‘ as a motif for the lyrics and melody. You will be able to see Mamamoo having fun and enjoying themselves without clinging to past loves or things that have happened.

Mamamoo embodies a liberating dance track here. Solar and Hwasa have entrancing control of the refrain as it draws you in and encourages you to continue partying with the group. Wheein delivers her lines in a sassy and chic way that you can forget her soft side. Moonbyul, raps her self-written lines coolly and with ease, and I appreciate her parts had two differing tones. The chorus’ melody reminded me of R&B girl groups of the 1990’s, which gave a different kind of retro vibe (compared to their rookie funky-pop releases). Within the chorus, the line where the members sang in unison gives emphasis to the theme of letting everything go. Yet, I find the theme ironic when the arrangement and production of this song sounded like it was crafted carefully and intricately. I never would have thought the combination of reggaeton and this latin guitar riff would be tasteful. So this is a fun, colorful track that will make you move in any way as you please.

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Check out ‘Jjanga‘ by Kim Gun Mo, who co-composed this track.

‘Waggy‘

Bossanova-style song that tickles your heart like a spring wind, and has witty lyrics. It’s a song that’s like listening to a friend who has fallen in love and can’t hide their heart fluttering excitement.

When the simple instrumentals started playing, I already had good feelings towards this song as it sounded upbeat and sweet. ‘Waggy’ really oozes fluttering affection, perfect for the spring season. The vocals are charming as they sing like a fresh breeze, and bounced to the rhythm like animated springing flowers. Mamamoo’s “beagle” humor could not be avoided as they added cute but subtle animal sounds throughout the song. The trumpet solo was a nice, classy touch that rides along the track’s wholesomeness. This quaint song was a little reminiscent to their similar, but more relaxing bossa nova track called ‘My Hometown’ (2016). It was nice to hear Mamamoo do this style of song again as it reminded listeners of their strength in making something a little old sound new while maintaining their boisterous group personality. You can definitely see this come to life as they performed ‘Waggy’ on music shows as they dressed up in various costumes and finding amusement out of Hwasa’s tsundere attitude.

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‘25‘

…still clumsy at 25, missing her natural, pure younger days while still loving her own self now, a step closer to her dream by maturing strongly.

Since Wheein holds the color and wind symbol for this project, ‘25’ is the album’s obligatory solo track. Knowing her discography, Wheein is usually the one being featured, or has had a rapper feature on her tracks. It was nice to hear Wheein sound relaxed yet her serious effort was still prevalent. Even co-writing this song, ‘25’ gives listeners a chance to hear a personal, introspective side of Wheein. Besides the lyrics, the smoothness and steady groove of this song gives a sense of nostalgia, especially for those who grew up with ‘90s-early 2000s R&B. The simple arrangement of guitar and snap beats didn’t overshadow Wheein’s varying vocals as it expressed genuine gratitude. Mamamoo’s fanbase, or Moomoos, would find this track so obvious in style as they are familiar with her leaning towards R&B and soul. It’s a down-to-earth, chill song which acted as a nice break between the livelier songs throughout the album.

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On the set of ‘You Hee-yeol’s Sketchbook’ .

Backstage at M Countdown.

‘Bad Bye‘

Pop slash R&B track that ardently expresses the painful feelings of not being able to accept an approaching breakup. As the farewell is too painful and bad, a ‘good bye’ is expressed as ‘bad bye’.

This song started off with sad piano notes and I assumed it would be Mamamoo’s classic pop-ballad like the way they performed on music show “Immortal Songs 2” or their diva-esque ‘I Miss You’ (2016). But the thought was immediately denied when the mid-tempo beat with brief pulsating synth high hats, rain drops as snaps, and deep basses came in. The vocals are strong throughout the song, even at their lowest, softest parts. The melody sounded distressing and reminiscent (again) of old-school pop slash R&B tracks of the early millennium. The arrangement briefly alters during Moonbyu’s first rap part, and I thought it was interesting how dark it felt. Overall, listeners can belt out their heartache with some rhythm and soul.

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‘My star‘

It expresses ‘You are my star’ to someone who can’t be compared to anyone else. The heavy bass and trendy beat hit you powerfully.

A few seconds of the intro created a dramatic mood. Mamamoo is definitely right when they say that this song hits you hard, especially since the heavy bass drives the song. To match the heavy bass’ booming energy, the vocals had to sound mighty and confident as well. Solar’s tone fits perfectly for this, and Hwasa’s raspiness added some texture as it stands out more when reaching for those loud, high notes. The rap sounded gritty and flowed rhythmically well even though it was so brief. I kind of expected the bridge to be totally toned down, but there were spurts of the resonant notes (in the background) that tells me the energy was not going to be halted at any time. Kudos to Wheein who sprinkles the ending chorus with her falsettos. This song was very enjoyable and can uplift one’s mood.

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‘4season (Outro)‘

It’s a song that brings Mamamoo’s ‘Four Seasons Four Color’ project into one. It has lyrics about each of the album themes, ‘moon, wind, flower, and sun’

This definitely ties up the ‘Four Seasons Four Colors’ project nicely. The arrangement felt warm and laid back, and it had me reminiscing of what Mamamoo tried to prove with this project for the past year. It’s parallel to their song ‘Paint Me’, but instead of talking about the colors they mention each season. Like how Mamamoo has described in their highlight medley, the outro encourages listeners and fans alike to continue on making memories with the group, which implied that just because the project is over, does not mean their musical ventures end.

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Promoting to vote on M Countdown.

Promoting on Music Bank.

‘White Wind’ for the majority of the album reached the retro vibes in a way I did not expect. Rather than the funk and blues similar in their debut, Mamamoo took elements of 90s-2000s R&B pop and showed a more modernized confidence. It is a unique take of fusing old trends with the current trends of programmed music. I mostly enjoyed the diverse beats and production of this album, thanks to the magic provided by Cosmic Girl, and Rainbow Bridge World’s Cosmic Sound, Park Soo Wang, and hit maker CEO Kim Do Hoon. They were able to provide clean, vibrant backdrops while keeping Mamamoo’s vocals shining upfront. This EP also compiled the gists of previous albums: the freshness of spring like ‘Yellow Flower’, the bold and daring like ‘Red Moon’, and the chicness like ‘Blue;s’. Mixing these sounds gave Mamamoo more to paint with and it has produced vivid and entertaining tunes for any kind of listeners.

What do you think of ‘White Wind’? Comment your thoughts down below!

Take Our Poll

Written by: Eliana L.

Sources: Mamamoo Facebook | Mamamoo Twitter | Mamamoo Youtube | TV-People Youtube | Mnet K-POP

Check out Mamamoo's newest album 'White Wind' ! As promised, Mamamoo completes their year long project ‘Four Seasons Four Colors’ with the release of their ninth mini album ‘

#four_season_four_color #girl group #girlgroup #gogobebe #kmusic #KPOP #mamamoo #mini album review #mini-album #music #news #RBW #The KONNECTION 82 #whitewind #white_wind

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reginaschmidtriovalle-blog · 8 years ago

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Media Switch Up - Week 9

Are You Reddit to Ramble?

One of the advantages of being a middle aged woman who does not live in the U.S. is that there are many new platforms to discover and analyze when you are trying to broaden and diversify your media consumption.

I found this week’s platform at the bottom of the list of this 2016 “Zero BS guide to choosing a social media platform for business.”

Although I had a vague recollection of having seen the little Reddit alien before, I did not know where it belonged to or what it represented. And neither do many other people, or so it seems according to the following graphic depicting the number of monthly active users on social media:

So, who is this tiny alien and should brands care?

The Gist of It

Are you commuting? Or maybe on a coffee break on your own? Do you have your headphones with you? Then watch this five-minute video to get a pretty good idea of what Reddit is. (Please don’t be one of those people who watch videos at full volume in public spaces).

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If you are one of those rare specimens who still prefer reading to watching videos, here is the gist of it:

Reddit is an American social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. Registered members can submit content such as text posts or direct links, while registered users can then vote submissions up or down to determine their position on the page.

Content entries are organized by areas of interest called "subreddits" and they include topics such as news, science, gaming, movies, music, books, fitness, or food, to name a few.

According to the Wikipedia entry, as of 2017, Reddit had 542 million monthly visitors (234 million unique users). Across 2015, Reddit had 82.54 billion page views, 73.15 million submissions, 725.85 million comments, and 6.89 billion upvotes from its users.

Politics, Opioid Addicts and GIFs

Reddit markets itself as “the front page of the Internet”. The fact is that redditors, as Reddit users are known, can share and vote on any topic. While some of those topics might seem irrelevant, other posts have an impact on real life events.

A great example is how the Spanish political party Podemos used Reddit to organize, a story brilliantly described in this 2014 article in The New Yorker.

But that is not all. According to an article in the British newspaper The Guardian, “Reddit is a modern-day canary in the coal mine for the people of Appalachia – a region [...] disproportionately affected by the opioid epidemic. Since the presidential election, a Reddit forum called r/opiates has transformed into a lifesaving map for addicts navigating a minefield frequently filled with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid nearly 100 times more potent than morphine.”

And of course we all have heard about the Trump tweet featuring a wrestling GIF. Apparently the infamous GIF originated from a Reddit’s right-wing extremist forum, but it was picked up by POTUS and sparkled a nation-wide debate that lasted weeks and probably will never be completely forgotten.

Facts, anyone?

Here are some facts you need to know about Reddit:

Champions of Free Speech, Challengers of Harassment

While Reddit is known as a champion of free speech, and its founders defend an open Internet, the site has decided to crack down on online harassment after their Chief Executive Steve Huffman was targeted by users.

In an interview with Reuters, Huffman said that Reddit's content policy had always prohibited harassment, but that it had not been adequately enforced.

In the past, Reddit worked with moderators of communities to try to enforce its rules, but that tactic has not always yielded the expected results. The fact is that Reddit has a more permissive attitude than other social networks, and some users frequently cross the line. This, surely, is a reason for brands to stay away.

After the Huffman affair - and some say after the wrestling GIF scandal - Reddit has stepped up its efforts to combat abuse and has put together what it calls an 'anti-evil' team of engineers dedicated to fighting harassment. According to Business Insider, when users are “out of line” those engineers can warn them for bad behaviour, or give them "timeouts," as well as permanent bans.

Should brands really stay away?

I am not going to become an avid Reddit user. It has too much rambling and too much text for my taste. The front page of the internet looks like an old MS-DOS screen shot and calling it uninviting is an understatement.

However, there are several brands that are currently using the platform to their advantage. Companies like Lenovo, Nissan or Spotify have achieved positive results on Reddit.

Jack Simpson, writer at Econsultancy, writes that “Reddit has some of the best communities on the internet, but its users are extremely unforgiving when it comes to unrepentant marketing guff.” He goes on to say that "there are huge opportunities for brands on the site, but you have to truly learn how the site works and the way people react to certain content. Otherwise you could end up doing much more harm than good.”

If you are a small business and are looking for one platform to engage your audience, Reddit might not be for you. But if you are looking for new opportunities and Kim’s and Mauborgne’s Blue Oceans, why not follow the example of Coca Cola, Procter & Gamble or EBay?

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restateagnt17101 · 8 years ago

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GeekWire Awards: From marketing to machine learning, vote for your favorite App of the Year

OfferUp CEO Nick Huzar accepts the App of the Year award at the 2016 GeekWire Awards.

Some of the most promising and popular software applications are built in the Pacific Northwest. That much is evident from our nominees for the App of the Year category in the GeekWire Awards, which kicked off online voting today.

This year’s nominees range from tech giants trying to improve enterprise communication to university researchers trying to revolutionize health screening. Last year’s winner was Bellevue-based OfferUp.

Finalists for 2017 include Microsoft Teams; Mighty AI; RIPL; Shyft Technologies; and Senosis Health. Read more about each of them and vote for your pick in the poll below. And a big thanks to Northeastern University Seattle for sponsoring this year’s Newcomer of the Year category.

Public voting is currently under way in the GeekWire Awards, as GeekWire readers decide the winners from finalists selected by our panel of judges, after an open call for nominations from the community

All of the winners will be revealed at the GeekWire Awards — presented by Wave Business — on May 4 at the Museum of Pop Culture. Tickets are selling fast, and we do expect to sell out, so make sure to go here to grab yours. Vote here:

Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams, officially launching today, integrates with existing Office apps as a free add-on to Microsoft Office 365 for business users. (Microsoft Image)

Microsoft last month launched its Teams “chat-based workspace” for Office 365 in 181 markets around the world, challenging Slack and tech giants including Facebook, Google and Amazon in the increasingly competitive market for enterprise messaging. The company’s goal is to become the digital equivalent of the open office space by combining pretty much everything there is to do at work — chatting, having meetings, collaborating on documents, sending cute animal GIFs — all into one place.

Microsoft is looking to leverage its global enterprise customer base and its widely-used software applications for an edge in what’s becoming a key competitive battleground in the business technology market. Microsoft integrates apps and services including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, SharePoint and Power BI into Microsoft Teams, and it’s promising deeper Outlook integration in a few months. Microsoft Teams is included at no extra charge in business editions of Office 365 subscription service.

This is far from Microsoft’s first foray into enterprise collaboration and messaging; one long-term question following the Microsoft Teams launch is what will happen to Skype for Business and Yammer, a work social network that Microsoft acquired for $1.2 billion in 2012.

Mighty AI Spare5 founders, from left to right: Patrick O’Donnell, Founder and Chief Architect; Matt Shobe, Founder and Chief Product Officer; Matt Bencke, Founder and CEO; Daryn Nakhuda, Founder and CTO. Photo via Mighty AI.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are two of the most important tech trends in 2017, and Mighty AI finds itself right in the middle.

The Seattle startup, which originally launched in 2014 as Spare5, helps companies train and scale their machine learning/natural language models with human insights that AI engines need to “think” like people. It is essentially making artificial intelligence more intelligent by using human labor to re-tune those models.

Mighty AI, the first spin-out from Madrona Venture Labs, calls this “Training Data as a Service,” as CEO and co-founder Matt Bencke told GeekWire in January after the company raised $14 million.

“Everybody knows AI is probably the biggest wave in technology innovation right now,” explained Bencke, formerly a senior vice president at Getty Images. “Yet there is a lot of anticipation and frustration about seeing it applied successfully across a number of specific use cases. I think our investors are looking at us as providing picks and shovels to the AI goldrush. No one knows exactly where the gold is, but everyone knows you need picks and shovels.”

Ripl

Ripl is seeing traction with its app that gives small business owners and entrepreneurs a “marketing team in their pocket.”

That’s how Ripl CEO Paul Ingalls describes his company’s app, which lets everyone from restaurant owners to fitness instructors to real estate agents create visual content that they can use for social media marketing. It’s a free app, but users can pay $9.99 per month to access premium features like additional designs, custom logos, music libraries, scheduled posts, and more.

Since last year, the company’s paying customer base has grown by 20X and it just passed 1 million in installs of the app, with more than 250,000 active small business users on the platform. It is currently the fourth-highest grossing photo and video app in the App Store.

Ripl, which just raised a $3 million investment round, went through a series of pivots before eventually landing on its current business model. Ingalls and Ripl Chairman Andrew Wright, who previously worked together at Redmond-based Smilebox and Seattle-based RealNetworks, originally tried to crack into the sports content business back in 2012 with an app called Fanzo. They quickly realized that Fanzo was not differentiated enough from other sports-related services and shifted to the first iteration of Ripl, which helped social media influencers leverage their online fanbase to make money.

Ripl began to see some traction, but the app wasn’t seeing enough user growth or monetization uptick. The startup decided to narrow its focus on one pillar of the app — visual content creation — and that’s what ultimately led to what Ripl is today.

Shyft Technologies Chris Pitchford (Dir. of Growth), Daniel Chen (CTO), Brett Patrontasch (CEO), Kyle Liu (Lead Mobile Developer).

Shyft wants to help retail and service employees quickly swap work shifts with its real-time labor marketplace.

The startup, backed by investors like Madrona Venture Group and local angels, gives workers a way to increase flexibility and also keep businesses from losing money. The app lets people post shifts they need covered or take other people’s shifts, and allows users to offer incentives like a tip for covering a shift.

“The labor industry is broken,” CEO Brett Patrontasch said last year. “Gaps in real-time labor supply and demand create billions of dollars of loss every year. It is our goal to repair this market, and create a marketplace where labor supply and demand can reach equilibrium.”

Shyft, a Techstars Seattle graduate, picked up early traction since launching in 2015 and Shyft CEO Brett Patrontasch told FOX Business in January that there are more than 19,000 Starbucks employees, 8,000 Old Navy employees, and 7,500 McDonald’s employees using the app. There have been 260,000 working hours exchanged on the app in the past year, he added.

Senosis Health A team of doctors at a clinic in Bangladesh observe the use of SpiroSmart to measure a patient’s lung function. (University of Washington Photo) Shwetak Patel. (UW Photo)

Shwetak Patel’s latest project aims to turn cell phones into health monitoring devices that can measure everything from pulmonary function to hemoglobin counts.

Patel, a University of Washington computer scientist who won a MacArthur genius grant in 2011 and has sparked innovations ranging from energy meters to air quality sensors, is leading a stealth Seattle startup called Senosis Health that is developing four apps going through an FDA clearance process for clinical testing: SpiroSmart, SpiroCall, HemoApp, and OsteoApp.

Senosis draws upon startup expertise from CEO T.A. McCann (co-founder of Rival IQ and Gist) and COO Mike Clarke (former associate director in UW’s technology transfer office). Patel’s projects are also getting a big assist from the UW through his own UbiComp Lab as well as the university’s tech transfer operation.

Patel’s vision is to provide new lines of screening tools that serve as a first line of defense to counter conditions ranging from asthma to anemia and jaundice. If a person’s smartphone app picks up a problem, that could serve as an alert to go for further screening, and professional care.

“If you think about the capabilities on a mobile device, if you look at the camera, the flash, the microphone, those are all getting better and better,” Patel said in February. “In fact, capabilities on those phones are as great as some of the specialized devices. … Those sensors that are already on the mobile phone can be repurposed in interesting new ways, where you can actually use those for diagnosing certain kinds of diseases.”

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realestate63141 · 8 years ago

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GeekWire Awards: From marketing to machine learning, vote for your favorite App of the Year

OfferUp CEO Nick Huzar accepts the App of the Year award at the 2016 GeekWire Awards.

Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams, officially launching today, integrates with existing Office apps as a free add-on to Microsoft Office 365 for business users. (Microsoft Image)

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are two of the most important tech trends in 2017, and Mighty AI finds itself right in the middle.

Mighty AI, the first spin-out from Madrona Venture Labs, calls this “Training Data as a Service,” as CEO and co-founder Matt Bencke told GeekWire in January after the company raised $14 million.

Ripl

Ripl is seeing traction with its app that gives small business owners and entrepreneurs a “marketing team in their pocket.”

Shyft Technologies Chris Pitchford (Dir. of Growth), Daniel Chen (CTO), Brett Patrontasch (CEO), Kyle Liu (Lead Mobile Developer).

Shyft wants to help retail and service employees quickly swap work shifts with its real-time labor marketplace.

Senosis Health A team of doctors at a clinic in Bangladesh observe the use of SpiroSmart to measure a patient’s lung function. (University of Washington Photo) Shwetak Patel. (UW Photo)

Shwetak Patel’s latest project aims to turn cell phones into health monitoring devices that can measure everything from pulmonary function to hemoglobin counts.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2pb2pgh

#DIYS

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realestateagent532 · 8 years ago

Text

GeekWire Awards: From marketing to machine learning, vote for your favorite App of the Year

OfferUp CEO Nick Huzar accepts the App of the Year award at the 2016 GeekWire Awards.

Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams, officially launching today, integrates with existing Office apps as a free add-on to Microsoft Office 365 for business users. (Microsoft Image)

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are two of the most important tech trends in 2017, and Mighty AI finds itself right in the middle.

Mighty AI, the first spin-out from Madrona Venture Labs, calls this “Training Data as a Service,” as CEO and co-founder Matt Bencke told GeekWire in January after the company raised $14 million.

Ripl

Ripl is seeing traction with its app that gives small business owners and entrepreneurs a “marketing team in their pocket.”

Shyft Technologies Chris Pitchford (Dir. of Growth), Daniel Chen (CTO), Brett Patrontasch (CEO), Kyle Liu (Lead Mobile Developer).

Shyft wants to help retail and service employees quickly swap work shifts with its real-time labor marketplace.

Senosis Health A team of doctors at a clinic in Bangladesh observe the use of SpiroSmart to measure a patient’s lung function. (University of Washington Photo) Shwetak Patel. (UW Photo)

Shwetak Patel’s latest project aims to turn cell phones into health monitoring devices that can measure everything from pulmonary function to hemoglobin counts.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2pb2pgh

#DIYS

0 notes