SEOUL, KOREA - Media OutReach - 28 February 2019 -^[1]Twitter is the best place for KPop fans to see what's happening and join global conversations on the latest Kpop news and artists. Twitter will once again collaborate with Rakuten Viki's publishing arm, Soompi (@soompi^[2]), the largest global online community for Korean entertainment, for their 14^th annual #SoompiAwards^[3]. The #TwitterBestFandom^[4] award will continue to recognize the most passionate KPop fandom on Twitter, but in a fresh twist, a new honorary distinction, called the Twitter Rising Fandom Achievement, will also be given out for the biggest increase in vote Tweets compared to last year's results. Exclusively held on Twitter, the #TwitterBestFandom^[5] award will be the only voting to take place on any social media platform for this year's #SoompiAwards^[6].

In 2018, Twitter users voted for their favourite Korean artists and interacted with each other on the platform, generating over 42 million vote Tweets globally. Eventually, GOT7 (@GOT7Official)^[7] and their passionate fans won the #TwitterBestFandom^[8] award, successfully clinching the most popular crown for the third year in a row. Check out the heat map below to see the global #TwitterBestFandom^[9] conversation during last year's Soompi Awards.

Heatmap of global #TwitterBestFandom^[10] conversations during Soompi Awards in 2018

The new Twitter Rising Fandom Achievement will recognise the KPop fandom that has grown the most on Twitter by comparing the total vote Tweets for each KPop artist this year to the total vote Tweets for each KPop artist in 2018. The increase in vote Tweets will show the rising popularity of KPop artists who built up their fandom worldwide over the last year.

For both the #TwitterBestFandom^[11] award and the Twitter Rising Fandom Achievement, KPop fans worldwide can send their vote Tweets during two separate 24-hour periods by Tweeting #TwitterBestFandom^[12] hashtag along with the team hashtag: #Team(group name). For example, to vote for GOT7 (@GOT7official^[13]), fans should use the #TwitterBestFandom^[14]and #TeamGOT7^[15] hashtags in the same Tweet. For the full list of team hashtags, please visit https://www.soompi.com/bestfandom^[16].

The first voting period will be from 8pm KST on 2 March 2019 to 8pm KST on 3 March 2019, while the second voting period will be from 8pm KST on 16 March 2019 to 8pm KST on 17 March 2019.

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/soompi/status/1100962525019987968^[17] 

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/soompi/status/1100963935098888192^[18]

Enjoy #TwitterBlueroom^[19] and Customised Emojis for #SoompiAwards^[20]

The KPop artist winners of both the #TwitterBestFandom^[21] award and Twitter Rising Fandom Achievement will receive their #SoompiAwards^[22] trophy and be invited to their own exclusive #TwitterBlueroom^[23] allowing them to personally thank their fans and answer their questions, while enabling their fans to congratulate and directly talk to them on Twitter.

Last year, Mamamoo (@RBW_MAMAMOO^[24]) participated in a live global conversation with their fans through a #TwitterBlueroom^[25] after their nomination in five categories including Album of the Year and Song of the Year.

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/soompi/status/953154415531147266^[26]

Twitter also launched two customised emojis for the #SoompiAwards^[27] and #TwitterBestFandom^[28] hashtags from 27 February to 27 March 2019. If you belong to the global #KPpopTwitter^[29] community, join the worldwide Soompi Awards conversations with these two hashtags, while voting and expressing your love for your favourite KPop stars on Twitter!

Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is what's happening in the world and what people are talking about right now. On Twitter, live comes to life as conversations unfold, showing you all sides of the story. From breaking news and entertainment to sports, politics and everyday interests, when things happen in the world, they happen first on Twitter. Twitter is available in more than 40 languages around the world. The service can be accessed at twitter.com^[30], on a variety of mobile devices and via SMS. For more information, visit about.twitter.com^[31] or follow @TwitterKorea^[32]. For information on how to download the Twitter and Periscope apps, visit twitter.com/download^[33] and periscope.tv^[34].

Soompi^[35], the publishing arm of Rakuten Viki^[36], is the leader in online communities, news, music and more for K-pop and K-entertainment. Rakuten Viki^[37] is a global over-the-top platform and a  premier destination for Asian entertainment, where millions of people watch their favorite TV shows, movies, and Viki Originals -- translated into 200+ languages by a community of avid fans. Together, we're breaking down barriers that stand between great entertainment and its fans, no matter where they are.

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} @soompi (twitter.com)
3. ^{^} #SoompiAwards (twitter.com)
4. ^{^} #TwitterBestFandom (twitter.com)
5. ^{^} #TwitterBestFandom (twitter.com)
6. ^{^} #SoompiAwards (twitter.com)
7. ^{^} @GOT7Official) (twitter.com)
8. ^{^} #TwitterBestFandom (twitter.com)
9. ^{^} #TwitterBestFandom (twitter.com)
10. ^{^} #TwitterBestFandom (twitter.com)
11. ^{^} #TwitterBestFandom (twitter.com)
12. ^{^} #TwitterBestFandom (twitter.com)
13. ^{^} @GOT7official (twitter.com)
14. ^{^} the #TwitterBestFandom (twitter.com)
15. ^{^} #TeamGOT7 (twitter.com)
16. ^{^} https://www.soompi.com/bestfandom (www.soompi.com)
17. ^{^} https://twitter.com/soompi/status/1100962525019987968 (twitter.com)
18. ^{^} https://twitter.com/soompi/status/1100963935098888192 (twitter.com)
19. ^{^} #TwitterBlueroom (twitter.com)
20. ^{^} #SoompiAwards (twitter.com)
21. ^{^} #TwitterBestFandom (twitter.com)
22. ^{^} #SoompiAwards (twitter.com)
23. ^{^} #TwitterBlueroom (twitter.com)
24. ^{^} @RBW_MAMAMOO (twitter.com)
25. ^{^} #TwitterBlueroom (twitter.com)
26. ^{^} https://twitter.com/soompi/status/953154415531147266 (twitter.com)
27. ^{^} #SoompiAwards (twitter.com)
28. ^{^} #TwitterBestFandom (twitter.com)
29. ^{^} #KPpopTwitter (twitter.com)
30. ^{^} twitter.com (twitter.com)
31. ^{^} about.twitter.com (about.twitter.com)
32. ^{^} @TwitterKorea (twitter.com)
33. ^{^} twitter.com/download (twitter.com)
34. ^{^} periscope.tv (periscope.tv)
35. ^{^} Soompi (ctt.marketwire.com)
36. ^{^} Rakuten Viki (ctt.marketwire.com)
37. ^{^} Rakuten Viki (www.viki.com)