I'm currently a PhD researcher in Communication and Media at Loughborough University (UK). My doctoral project examines nation branding in social media users’ everyday lives. More specifically, the project focuses on the promotion of two nations, Japan and China, by online users through daily vlogs and images on various platforms (e.g., YouTube, Instagram, Sina Weibo), and how this provides new insights into nation branding in regard to individual branders and their promotional strategies and the influence of digital platforms. The project also includes an investigation of how audiences with different national and cultural backgrounds engage with nation branding led by online users, and to what extent they consider this bottom-up nation branding is different from top-down campaigns which usually seek for stereotypical representations of the nation.
I hold a MSc in Media and Communication Studies from Lund University (Sweden), and a MA in Media and Journalism from Newcastle University (UK). Besides my PhD studies, I'm serving as Vice-Chair for the Digital Culture and Communication section in the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA).