Korean celebrities exhibit their social media power yet again through the recently concluded "3rd Annual Shorty Awards". Hailed as the "Oscars of Twitter", the "Shorty Awards" recognizes people and organizations who are producing the best "short-form, real-time social media content". Nominations were made through Twitter while winners were determined using a combination of popular vote and deliberations by the members of the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences.
Several Korean celebrities won accolades for their use of Twitter. The biggest winner is JYJ's Kim Jaejoong who won the "Celebrity" category beating out Canadian superstar Justin Bieber and Super Junior's Heechul. Other Korean stars were nominated for this category including Jay Park (6th), JYJ's Yoochun (10th), JYJ's Junsu (11th), and Super Junior's Leeteuk (24th), Eunhyuk (39th), and Donghae (47th).
In the "Actor" category, the boys of JYJ including Yoochun (9th), Jaejoong (12th), and Junsu (26th) exhibited their Twitter popularity once again by ranking higher than other Korean celebrities including worldwide superstar Rain (50th), Donghae (28th) and Heechul (29th). Korean stars also figured well in categories such as "Music", "Entertainment", and "Fashion".
Perhaps the most meaningful mention of a Korean celebrity in the "Shorty Awards" is that pertaining to Jay Park who was nominated for the Nokia-sponsored "Connecting People" award. This special award is given "to a person who is genuinely bringing people together through Twitter and social media." The nominees were judged based on the impact they had on their communities and how they used creative ways to connect people. Jay Park, a former member of popular K-Pop idol group 2PM, was nominated. Describing the way he uses Twitter to connect people, the organizers expressed that:
"He uses Twitter to communicate with fans in English and Korean, and inspires fans to volunteer and donate to good causes. Park received more nominations for this award than any other finalist. One voter wrote, "We not only support Mr. Park but also lend out a helping hand in improving the society around each of our communities in attempts to follow in Mr. Park's footsteps in spreading love and respect, a motto he lives by."
Congratulations to all the Korean celebrities who have used Twitter well. To see the complete list of categories, nominees and winners, visit the Shorty Awards website.
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