‘Cleanfluencers’ sweep TikTok, drawing millions

‘Cleanfluencers’ sweep TikTok, drawing millions
Combo image of screen grabs taken from viral TikTok videos showing (from left) Maria Kondom, Auri Kananen and Abbi in action.
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Updated 23 March 2023

‘Cleanfluencers’ sweep TikTok, drawing millions

‘Cleanfluencers’ sweep TikTok, drawing millions
  • With the global rise of TikTok, cleaning videos have become hugely popular on social media, inspiring a growing number to start posting content

HELSINKI, Finland: Marie Kondo may have admitted defeat, but a new generation of “cleanfluencers” is taking social media by storm, with millions watching them scour filthy homes and dole out cleaning hacks.
Digging through a mountain of trash, Auri Kananen uncovered a rotten piece of pizza on the floor of a Helsinki flat, with insects devouring it.
“I love cleaning, I love dirt,” declared the 30-year-old Finn, who has far more social media followers than Kondo, the Japanese tidying guru who has admitted embracing the messier side of life since having her third child.
Kananen has quickly become one of the world’s most successful “cleanfluencers,” traveling the globe hunting for “the dirtiest homes possible.”
“I remember when I had 19 followers. Even then it felt really cool to have 19 strangers wanting to see me clean,” said Kananen, or aurikatariina as she is known to her nine million followers on TikTok, with two million on YouTube.
In her upbeat videos, she dusts, scrubs and sorts, wearing her signature hot pink rubber gloves as zippy pop music plays in the background.
Her voiceovers often explain how the person she is helping ended up living in squalor.
“Usually people have some mental health problem or other tragedy that has happened in their lives,” Kananen told AFP.
The flat in Helsinki is the home of a depressed young man whose brother suffers from multiple sclerosis, she explained.
She can relate to people living in miserable conditions because she went through a period of depression herself, she said.
“I know how overwhelming it is,” she said.
But her experience has shown her that no situation is hopeless.
The comments sections of her videos are filled with people saying how her videos have helped them cope with their difficulties, praising her non-judgmental manner.
“I love how she is understanding the person in this situation and helping them instead of blaming them,” one commenter wrote.

With the global rise of TikTok, cleaning videos have become hugely popular on social media, inspiring a growing number to start posting content.
“I was watching videos and I thought, that’s what I do at home, I can just film myself doing it,” recalled 27-year-old Abbi, known as cleanwithabbi to her two million followers.
The English single mum films herself cleaning, doing the dishes and hoovering in her red brick home in Huyton near Liverpool.
Cleaning has always been an important part of her life as her youngest son Billy lives with sensory processing disorder.
“He really loves his routine and he does like things to be clean,” she said.
Now Abbi, who does not wish to reveal her full name, posts TikTok videos for a living. Brands sponsor her to use their products, and she earns between $720 and $1,200 a video.
Abbi — whose sons Jack and Billy are six and five — hits the record button on her phone and swiftly makes their beds, arranging the soft toys nicely.
“It relaxes me, it’s like therapy,” she told AFP.
“For me it’s like an escape from any worries I’ve got.”

Ann Russell, a 59-year-old full-time cleaner from the south of England, has a different approach.
Sitting on her sofa with her black dog Hollie, she answers a question from one of her TikTok followers, holding her phone up to her face.
To remove a felt tip mark from a wooden table without removing the varnish she recommends isopropyl alcohol: “Dip a cotton bud in it and just rub it gently.”
She said people need to be taught how to clean properly.
“If nobody told you, how on earth are you supposed to know?” she told AFP.
Russell makes between four and 12 videos every day, answering questions from her 2.3 million followers in a no-nonsense fashion.
“I turn the phone on, I talk to the phone, and that’s it. That’s about as good as it gets. I am not very proficient,” she said with a laugh.
The fact that cleaning “is satisfying” may be behind the videos’ success, Russell said.
Most of her and Abbi’s viewers are women and millennials, as well as people struggling to find the motivation to clean.
“Washing your socks, pairing them up and putting them in the drawer (gives) a sense of a good job well done,” she said.
“It makes people feel in control. And because they feel in control in their personal life, they feel that the outside world is a safer place.”
 


UAE-based creatives launch Cannes Lions prediction platform ‘The Loudest Roar’

UAE-based creatives launch Cannes Lions prediction platform ‘The Loudest Roar’
Updated 29 May 2023

UAE-based creatives launch Cannes Lions prediction platform ‘The Loudest Roar’

UAE-based creatives launch Cannes Lions prediction platform ‘The Loudest Roar’
  • “The Loudest Roar” is an independent project that is not affiliated with Cannes Lions

DUBAI: A team of UAE-based creatives has launched “The Loudest Roar,” an interactive prediction platform for the advertising industry’s premier awards program, Cannes Lions, which takes place next month.

Founded by Chirag Khushalani, Tobbi Vu, Teena Mathew, and Jack Rogers, “The Loudest Roar” aims to become the “fantasy league” for awards festivals, according to a company statement.

Khushalani said: “If the world can have a say on who can win the Superbowl or Premier League, why can’t they cast an eye on the Cannes Lions too?

“It’s a space where everyone has a say on what’s great, and can feel inspired to create more great work.”

The free, gamified platform is open to all. Participants compete for leaderboard positions and prizes, including cash rewards of up to $500 in Amazon gift cards and a portfolio revamp by Pimp My Portfolio. Each player will receive a personalized juror badge that can be shared on social media.

Industry experts and former Cannes Lions jury members such as Rob Schwartz, Tracey Follows and Akhilesh Bagri will also be present on the platform, sharing their advice on judging and creating award-winning work.  

Voting will begin when Cannes Lions releases its shortlists on June 2, and end a few hours before the winners are announced. Participants can view the shortlisted case studies and vote for Grand Prix winners in six categories: Titanium, Innovation, Film, Entertainment Lions for Gaming, Creative Effectiveness, and Creative Business Transformation. 

After the Cannes Lions awards are announced, “The Loudest Roar” will announce the winners chosen by the participants, as well as invite this year’s jury members to share insights into the work that won the Grand Prix trophies.

The company plans to roll out the concept across other award festivals and add interactive features like a simulated jury room.

It also plans to introduce private leagues for agencies and universities to gather insights into how their employees and students think, and how they can improve their entries to be more successful on the awards circuit.

“The Loudest Roar” is an independent project that is not affiliated with Cannes Lions.


OSN signs partnership with Mintroute to expand streaming app’s reach

Regional entertainment company OSN has signed a partnership with UAE-based e-voucher distribution platform Mintroute. (Supplied)
Regional entertainment company OSN has signed a partnership with UAE-based e-voucher distribution platform Mintroute. (Supplied)
Updated 29 May 2023

OSN signs partnership with Mintroute to expand streaming app’s reach

Regional entertainment company OSN has signed a partnership with UAE-based e-voucher distribution platform Mintroute. (Supplied)
  • Mintroute is an e-voucher distribution platform with over 250,000 retailers across the MENA region

DUBAI: Regional entertainment company OSN has signed a partnership with UAE-based e-voucher distribution platform Mintroute to expand the reach of its streaming app, OSN+, in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The partnership will allow OSN to access Mintroute’s network of more than 250,000 retailers across MENA, including Virgin Megastores in Bahrain and Kuwait, Sadad and Zain Cash in Iraq and Jordan, and Smartbuy in Jordan.

Customers will be able to purchase OSN+ subscriptions from these retailers through an e-code delivered via email, text message, or an e-receipt.

“This alliance will enable us to reach and increase awareness of our service offering through Mintroute’s impressive network of retailers providing more people with access to our leading entertainment platform,” said Ryan Restell, vice president of growth and strategy for OSN+.

Last year, Mintroute also partnered with TikTok allowing users to purchase digital vouchers at 50,000 points of sale across Saudi Arabia including STC, Jarir Bookstore and Virgin Megastore, which could be used to make purchases on TikTok instead of using a credit card.

“As a leading electronic voucher distribution platform with an unrivaled network of retailers in the region, we are excited to partner with OSN to provide our clients access to a comprehensive entertainment experience,” said Samar Mushainesh, chief commercial officer at Mintroute.


Former Google X CBO urges for more high-quality Arabic content to train AI

Former Google X CBO urges for more high-quality Arabic content to train AI
Updated 29 May 2023

Former Google X CBO urges for more high-quality Arabic content to train AI

Former Google X CBO urges for more high-quality Arabic content to train AI
  • Mo Gawdat expressed concerns about scarcity of rich online content and AI ability to provide valuable insights into the Arab world

LONDON: Artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT should be trained with more high-quality Arabic content, Egyptian writer and entrepreneur Mo Gawdat said.

Speaking during the International Congress for Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries event in Abu Dhabi, Gawdat expressed concern about the scarcity of rich Arabic discourse online.

The author of “Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy” and former chief business officer of Google X, the company’s experimental arm, argued that without deeper Arabic content, AI applications may struggle to provide valuable insights into the Arab world.

“A lot of megabytes of Arabic language online are very empty,” Gawdat explained. “The initial versions of AI will reflect whatever it is that we put out there.”

Even though he believes that future AI iterations will become smart enough to discern between “real information and fluff,” he said the lack of quality content should be tackled as soon as possible.

Gawdat called on Arabic content creators, publishers, and educational institutions to produce more insightful material for AI tools to analyze.

“The problem we are facing is that we are creating an impression that knowledge of the Arab world is shallow, in comparison to the incredible wisdom that is really coming from the region,” he said.

“We need to create content with depth and with more intellectual value.”

Gawdat added that as future AI systems increasingly rely on authoritative sources, educational institutions should make more Arabic research accessible online.

“With AI utilizing the Arabic content that we put in, it is our responsibility to put the right kind of content out there,” he emphasized.

“This will ultimately determine the quality of Arabic artificial intelligence-driven content.”

Gawdat compared this responsibility to parenting, describing the process as being aware of how children learn to interact with the world.

He also urged researchers and content creators to reconsider their strategies, as the ChatGPT-led revolution in information access and content creation has the potential to threaten human authors.

However, Gawdat also recognized the opportunities that AI brings.

“As an author, I have learned to no longer define myself as someone who is supposed to write words on paper,” he said.

“My job definition now is to provide interesting human perspectives and inspiration regarding certain topics.

“Through whatever knowledge is available to me and in whatever form, I am trying to find a way to connect with other humans and communicate what I believe needs to be communicated.”


Websites linked to Iran’s presidency hacked with images of exile group’s leaders

Websites linked to Iran’s presidency hacked with images of exile group’s leaders
Updated 29 May 2023

Websites linked to Iran’s presidency hacked with images of exile group’s leaders

Websites linked to Iran’s presidency hacked with images of exile group’s leaders
  • Iran has been targeted by a series of embarrassing hacks amid the rising tensions over its rapidly advancing nuclear program

DUBAI: A series of websites linked to Iran’s presidency bore the images of two leaders of an exiled opposition group Monday, with others showing the pictures of Islamic Republic’s supreme leader and president crossed out.
An Internet account describing itself as a group of hackers claimed responsibility for allegedly taking down websites. The account GhyamSarnegouni, whose name in Farsi means “Rise to Overthrow,” previously claimed hacking websites associated with Iran’s Foreign Ministry earlier this month.
Iranian state media and officials did not immediately acknowledge the apparent hack. However, Associated Press journalists accessing the sites found them defaced with images of Massoud Rajavi, the long-missing leader of the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, and his wife Maryam, who is now the public face of the group.
One site bore the slogan: “Death to Khamenei Raisi- Hail to Rajavi.” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi both were targeted similarly in the previously claimed hacked in May.
Iran has been targeted by a series of embarrassing hacks amid the rising tensions over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. That’s included the signal of Iranian state television being targeted, gasoline pumps that provide subsidized fuel being targeted in a cyberattack and government surveillance camera imagery being released, including from a notorious prison.
The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, known by the acronym MEK, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The MEK had angrily condemned a prisoner swap Belgium conducted with Iran on Friday to free an aid worker that saw an Iranian diplomat convicted of being behind a bomb plot targeting the group released.
The MEK began as a Marxist group opposing the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It claimed and was suspected in a series of attacks against US officials in Iran in the 1970s, something the group now denies.
It supported the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but soon had a falling out with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and turned against the cleric. It carried out a series of assassinations and bombings targeting the young Islamic Republic.
The MEK later fled into Iraq and backed dictator Saddam Hussein during his bloody eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s. That saw many oppose the group in Iran. Although largely based in Albania, the group claims to operate a network inside Iran.


Google Doodle celebrates the late Saudi novelist Abdelrahman Munif

Google Doodle celebrates the late Saudi novelist Abdelrahman Munif
Updated 29 May 2023

Google Doodle celebrates the late Saudi novelist Abdelrahman Munif

Google Doodle celebrates the late Saudi novelist Abdelrahman Munif
  • Since childhood, Munif developed an interest in writing and believed “the mission of literature is to increase awareness”

DUBAI: Google Doodle on Monday celebrated what would have been the 90th birthday of Saudi novelist, journalist and cultural critic Abdelrahman Munif. 

Munif was born on May 29, 1933 in Amman, Jordan. In 1952, he moved to Iraq to study law at the University of Baghdad.

Years later he graduated from Cairo University in Egypt before earning his PhD in petroleum economics at the University of Belgrade in 1961.  

Munif had a career in the oil industry as an economist in Iraq, and later for the Oil Ministry in Syria and OPEC. 

Since childhood, Munif developed an interest in writing and believed “the mission of literature is to increase awareness”.

While living in Baghdad, he worked as an editor at the monthly periodical Al-Naft wa Al-Tanmiyya (Oil and Development). 

He published short stories and eventually his first book during his time as an editor. 

His first novel, Al Ashjar wa-ightiyal Marzuq (Trees and the Assasination of Marzooq) was published in 1973. 

His best known work is the quintet, Mudan al-Milh (Cities of Salt) which describes the Arab world during the oil era.

Other notable works by Munif included Al-Nihayat (Endings), Sharq al-Mutawassit (East of the Mediterranean) and historical novel trilogy Ard Al-Sawad (Land of Darkness).

In 1989, Munif was awarded the Al-Owaist Cultural Award for his distinction in writing and the Award of Cairo Gathering for Arab Creativity in Novel Writing in 1998. 

“Thank you for your contributions to Arab literature and your analysis of sociopolitical issues,” read Google’s description of the novelist.  

The doodle was seen across the Middle East on Monday.