A Cultural Analysis of Public Opinion - A Case Study of the Museum Industry in New Taipei City

In order to explore the effect of public opinion towards culture affairs on the number of visitors attending activities in New Taipei City public museums, the following report analyzed user activity on the most common search engine (Google) and social media platform (Facebook) from Jan 1, 2013 to Dec 31, 2015. 5 categories of keywords including “cultural development,” “performing arts,” “promotion of the arts,” “cultural assets,” and “cultural facilities” were targeted to identify user search behavior and analyze word usage frequency using GoogleTrends and fbCrawler. The report hoped to use a new analytical method to measure public opinion to help identify influential keywords as a reference for museum operators. The analysis into the fan pages of 6 categories showed that when expressing or debating topics regarding cultural affairs, the public tended to use the fan page for “the arts.” The report believed that this fan page has become the primary channel for the general public and cultural workers to follow news and topics regarding cultural affairs. The analysis into the 5 keywords showed that “performing arts,” “cultural assets,” and “cultural facilities” are the most hotly searched and discussed. The report shows that when there are numerous online public discussions or search behavior linked to keywords under the “cultural assets” category, there is significant impact to the average number of participants present at activities in the 5 museums and 1 garden of New Taipei City (including Yingge Ceramics Museum, Gold Museum, Shihsanhang Museum, Tamsui Historical Museum, Pinglin Tea Museum, and Lin Family Mansion and Garden).