Internet Aggregators Constructing the Political Right Wing in Japan

Abstract

The Matome Saito are edited popular topic threads of the Ni-Channel anonymous bulletin board. The information on the Matome Saito is efficiently and concisely edited for those who do not usually access the vast Ni-Channel forum. This paper overviews the state and mechanism of the Ni-Channel forum of Japan, the edited blogs of Ni-Channel called Matome Saito, and aggregation of Matome Saito in relation to online aggregation and politics, with a focus on Japan and the December 2012 election. This paper examines the tone argument of the Matome Saito aggregation by conducting a content analysis of 148 politically related threads from November 16, 2012 to December 20, 2012 spanning the time period following the dissolving of the Japanese government by Prime Minister Noda to five days after the election.

Keywords

• Japan
• 2012 General Election
• House of Representatives
• Ni-Channel (2Ch)
• Matome Saito
• Aggregator