1. Advisors: Dr. Ramune Braziunaite Dr. Ewart Skinner
Krystal Ingman Communication Major International Focus Japanese Minor Chinese Minor
Advisors: Dr. Ramune Braziunaite Dr. Ewart Skinner

2. The Creation, Sharing, and Promotion of Japanese Popular Culture on Tumblr: Exposure to Internationality in Early Adulthood
こんにちは！　

3. Japanese Pop Culture: What is it?
Anime アニメ
Manga　 漫画
Soap operas ドラマ
Video games　 テレビゲーム
Fashion　 洋服と和服
Music 　 音楽
Sports 　 スポーツ
Cuisine　 料理
Virtually anything imaginable!　
日本大衆文化について

4. What is tumblr? Founded in February 2007 by David Karp
Multimedia/Multi-format social media platform
Photos – including animated gifs
Videos
More!
288.4 million blogs
132.1 billion posts
378 employees
16 languages

5. “Tumblr empowers people to create something extraordinary.”
Why tumblr?
“Tumblr empowers people to create something extraordinary.”

6. Research Questions
Do people who have a history of being exposed to international cultural products (chiefly Japanese products) early in life more likely to become interested in global affairs?
Are people who are interested in international cultural products (chiefly Japanese products) more likely to pursue careers in global contexts later in life?

7. Method Content Analysis
Step 1: find a congregate of bloggers interested in Japanese culture
Step 2: follow the blogs and observe posted content
Step 3: study themes and trends observed by bloggers
Step 4: review findings

8. Definition of Terms: Blog
To blog (or when used present progressively: blogging) is operationally defined by the researcher as a habit or hobby observed by a person who has broadband access to the Internet, and who additionally creates or shares content online via a social media platform on at least a semi-routine basis (or at least a few times during a month’s time).

9. Units of Analysis
The study uses a blog (or blogs) as a unit of analysis. All content included in a blog was considered for analysis. This included all textual and visual material provided in the blog by its creator (or sharer). Content includes: photos, videos, text, quotes, links, audio, animated gifs, and emoji.

10. Time Frame/Data Sample
Units: 50 blogs
Demographics: College-aged people
Bloggers’ origin: 11 different countries
Timeframe: February 13th to February 27th
Total amount of posts: 1,782
Daily mean of posts: 119
Daily mean of posts per blog: 2.38
Topics: 65 unique themes

11. CODING Sheet: Tumblr Post analysis
February 13th, 2016 to February 27th, 2016

12. Preliminary Results Unsurprisingly popular topics:
Cats
Anime
Fan art and fan fiction
Surprisingly popular topics:
Global politics
Civil rights and liberties
Self-help and encouragement

13. Implications & Future Research
People exposed to Japanese culture, or any sort of international cultural product at a young age were more likely to be interested in international affairs in later life
A survey based on the preliminary findings was created for future research
Field observation and interviews are planned to gain more insight

14. Given to BGSU students, analyzed blogs, social media lurkers
Survey
Given to BGSU students, analyzed blogs, social media lurkers

15. Observation and interviews
Field Work
Observation and interviews
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