2018 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Comparison of the uses of Social Media by International Students
| Project/Area Number |
15K12893
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| Research Institution | Kobe University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
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| Keywords | Social Media / Social Media Influencers / Community of Inquiry / Study Abroad in Japan |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The aim of this research was to clarify ways in which students use Social Media to determine their plans for study abroad in Japanese universities, using the theory of Community of Inquiry (CoI).
My hypothesis was that although there is an increasing amount of FORMAL information on study abroad available on the internet, from universities, MEXT etc., students actually prefer to use INFORMAL channels of information, and create their own individual networks to gain information directly from trusted information sources, such as seniors who are studying/have studied abroad in Japan.
Throughout the course of this research, I have collected data through online surveys and interviews with students, teachers and administrators.
The major finding that emerged in the final stages of this research, has revealed the existence of students of Japanese/Japanese studies who are so-called ‘social media influencers’. These are students who have large audiences of followers on their social media accounts, and leverage this to influence or persuade their followers about studying Japanese and study abroad. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis of this research, in particular the core CoI concept of Social Presence.
The implications for these findings are that universities and institutions aiming to increase the number of inbound international students, must focus not only on formal channels of information dissemination, but also integrate information channels created by students of Japanese/Japanese studies who are social media influencers into their strategies for student recruitment.
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