wenhong chen 陈文泓 | The University of Texas at Austin (original) (raw)

Articles by wenhong chen 陈文泓

The COVID-19 pandemic brought Zoom explosive growth and a major privacy and security crisis in Ma... more The COVID-19 pandemic brought Zoom explosive growth and a major privacy and security crisis in March 2020. This research advances a producer's perspective that directs attentions to institutional and organizational actors and draws on theories of privacy management and organizational crisis communication to examine Zoom's response to its privacy and security crisis. We primarily use data from 14 weekly Ask Eric Anything webinars from April 8 to July 15, 2020 to illustrate the strategies of Zoom's crisis response, especially organizational representation, the contours of its analytic account acknowledging and reducing responsibility, and patterns of corrective and preventive action for user education and product improvement. Results demonstrate the usefulness of the producer's perspective and shed light on how Zoom navigated the privacy and security crisis through mobilizing networks of executives, advisors, consultants, and clients for expertise, endorsement, and collaboration. Moreover, its response strategies have built on and contributed to Zoom's organizational mission and culture, reframing the crisis as a growth opportunity for prioritizing privacy and security rather than mere growing pains. Zoom's nimble, reasonable, collaborative, interactive and curated organizational response to its privacy and security crisis as an unintended consequence of its sudden rise to prominence amid a global pandemic offers a useful model for tech firms' crisis response at a crucial moment for the tech industry around the world. Implications are relevant to understanding the sociotechnical and economic consequences of this ongoing global pandemic.

Drawing on theories on transnationalism and organizational crisis communication, this research us... more Drawing on theories on transnationalism and organizational crisis communication, this research uses the lens of glocalized networks with both global and local connections to examine how Zoom, as a transnational tech firm, responds to geopolitics and technopolitics during the volatile times of a global pandemic. Based on digital, text, and video data, corporate documents, media interviews, and coverage, the research traces Zoom's trajectory before and during the pandemic. I first describe how glocalized networks enabled Zoom's birth and growth, especially taking advantage of cross-border talent flow and fundraising. Second, I assess how the same glocalized networks become a liability, forcing the firm to zoom in and out along the hardening physical and digital borders, due to shifting geopolitics and technopolitics in and between the United States and China. Results shed light on the transnational logics shaping Zoom's network reconfiguration to defend and restore its image that has been threatened by national security accusations.

Information, Communication & Society, 2022

The red, yellow, and green three-colored health code apps (HCAs) have been credited as an effecti... more The red, yellow, and green three-colored health code apps (HCAs) have been credited as an effective tool for the COVID-19 response in China, with a golden color added indicating vaccination status in spring 2021. Although the success of HCA as a public health intervention might have legitimized government or corporate surveillance, the scope and contour of postpandemic HCA use remain unclear. Both officials and tech firms have been promoting broader post-pandemic HCA use for purposes beyond pandemic control. This research draws on theories on privacy, trust, and media engagement to investigate factors affecting Chinese public opinion on HCA's post-pandemic use. Original survey data were collected in 2021 from adult HCA users in two major Chinese cities: Wuhan where COVID-19 cases were first identified and Hangzhou where the first HCA was deployed. Results point to a majority for moderate postpandemic HCA use, while almost four out of ten users support expansive HCA use and the voice for restricted or terminated use is tiny. Greater acceptance of HCA data use by various institutional stakeholders, greater institutional trust, greater engagement with COVID-19 related social media content increased the support for expansive use.

Information, Communication & Society, 2021

Addressing several important gaps in the digital inequality literature, this study examines digit... more Addressing several important gaps in the digital inequality literature, this study examines digital inequalities in public housing communities. Using a door-to-door survey of a hard-toaccess population, it demonstrates how three distinct yet interrelated layers of digital inequalitiesaccess, skills, and expectations for digital inclusion programsare shaped by social inequalities and reinforce one another. First, it develops a multimodal view of access inequalities from the disconnected to the hyper-connected. Second, it highlights the expectation gaps on expected changes that digital inclusion efforts would bring. Results show deep, layered gaps by access, skills, and expectations for digital inclusion programs within disadvantaged communities. The access inequalities contribute to the skill inequalities, which in turn amplify the inequalities in expectations for digital inclusion programs.

Telematics and Informatics, 2021

A decade after Google Fiber promised faster, cheaper internet connections in selected American ci... more A decade after Google Fiber promised faster, cheaper internet connections in selected American cities, few studies have investigated its adoption, let alone in disadvantaged urban communities. Drawing on a household survey of public housing communities in Austin, Texas, a major Google Fiber city, we examine how relational, technological and community factors affect Google Fiber signup. Results show that community intervention combining digital inclusion programs and promotional neighborhood events was the most important contributor that elevated the likelihood of signing up for Google Fiber. Internet use, network diversity, expectations about the outcomes of digital inclusion programs, and having young children living in the household also significantly increased the likelihood of Google Fiber signing up. The findings have policy implications, highlighting the importance of coordinated efforts of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to engage underprivileged urban residents in a digital future through targeted community interventions.

First Monday, 2020

Marking the 25th anniversary of the “digital divide,” we continue our metaphor of the digital ine... more Marking the 25th anniversary of the “digital divide,” we continue our metaphor of the digital inequality stack by mapping out the rapidly evolving nature of digital inequality using a broad lens. We tackle complex, and often unseen, inequalities spawned by the platform economy, automation, big data, algorithms, cybercrime, cybersafety, gaming, emotional well-being, assistive technologies, civic engagement, and mobility. These inequalities are woven throughout the digital inequality stack in many ways including differentiated access, use, consumption, literacies, skills, and production. While many users are competent prosumers who nimbly work within different layers of the stack, very few individuals are “full stack engineers” able to create or recreate digital devices, networks, and software platforms as pure producers. This new frontier of digital inequalities further differentiates digitally skilled creators from mere users. Therefore, we document emergent forms of inequality that...

First Monday, 2020

2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the “digital divide.” Although a quarter century has passed, l... more 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the “digital divide.” Although a quarter century has passed, legacy digital inequalities continue, and emergent digital inequalities are proliferating. Many of the initial schisms identified in 1995 are still relevant today. Twenty-five years later, foundational access inequalities continue to separate the digital haves and the digital have-nots within and across countries. In addition, even ubiquitous-access populations are riven with skill inequalities and differentiated usage. Indeed, legacy digital inequalities persist vis-à-vis economic class, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, aging, disability, healthcare, education, rural residency, networks, and global geographies. At the same time, emergent forms of inequality now appear alongside legacy inequalities such that notions of digital inequalities must be continually expanded to become more nuanced. We capture the increasingly complex and interrelated nature of digital inequalities by intro...

American Behavioral Scientist, 2020

Drawing on diverse theoretical and methodological approaches, this special issue takes a fresh lo... more Drawing on diverse theoretical and methodological approaches, this special issue takes a fresh look at the various aspects of the messy gridlock of privacy practices from the user and the producer perspectives. On the one hand, we aim to advance privacy research at the individual level in terms of scope, typology, and implications. On the other hand, we advocate for greater attention to one of the most important, yet still underdeveloped, lines of inquiry in privacy research: the perspective of producers such as governments, corporations, and tech startups, especially looking at how corporations and entrepreneurs design and develop their privacy policies, practices, and strategies. Together, these articles have numerous implications for policy makers, industry, and community practitioners.

IJOC, 2020

This study empirically investigates the institutionalization process of burgeoning global Interne... more This study empirically investigates the institutionalization process of burgeoning global Internet of things (IoT) governance from a network perspective. Previous work privileges nation-states as the dominant agents shaping global ICT governance organizations at the expense of the growing presence of private sector actors. Meanwhile, despite its growing usefulness, past governance research tends to use network as a metaphor rather than a method. Addressing these critical gaps, we incorporate a network approach to institutions involved in IoT technical standard making to advance a networked understanding of global IoT governance. An analysis of comembership networks of four major IoT international organizations (i.e., Open Connectivity Foundation, oneM2M, Thread Group, and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) in 2017 and 2018 identified powerful private sector players shaping global IoT governance, the emerging trend of power consolidation at the core of the network, and growing industrial and regional diversity that would further complicate the formation and implementation of regulatory policy at both the global and national levels.

Asia Pacific Issues, 2019

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, and Cloud Computing (ABC) have generated unprecedented op... more Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, and Cloud Computing (ABC)
have generated unprecedented opportunities and challenges for economic competitiveness, national security, and law and order, as well as the future of work. This essay focuses on two issues: the comparative ABC strengths of the United States and China in data and research and development (R&D); and the emerging ABC policies and practices in the two nations. Empirical analysis suggests that the United States and China lead in different areas. Compared to China’s top-down, whole-of-government, national strategy approach, the U.S. ABC policy has been less articulated but is evolving.

As the Internet penetration in the United States increases, many digital divide researchers have ... more As the Internet penetration in the United States increases, many digital divide researchers have delved into the parent–child dynamics regarding family digital access and use. However, little attention has been paid to digital parenting in terms of monitoring, guiding, and regulating children's digital lives, especially in the context of disadvantaged communities. As an initial step to fill the critical gaps in related literature, this study casts light on factors that affect the self-efficacy of digital parenting in disadvantaged urban communities. Using a census survey of public housing households in one of the largest public housing authorities in the United States, we found that single motherhood and home Internet access significantly accounted for low–socioeconomic status parents' digital parenting self-efficacy. We also found that parental engagement in children's school activities strongly affected their digital parenting self-efficacy. By contrast, we found that other sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors (i.e., gender, education, race/ethnicity), mobile Internet access, parents' homework help, and educational expectation fail to be contributing factors.

Privacy has become a crucial issue of the digital age, with significant social, political, and ec... more Privacy has become a crucial issue of the digital age, with significant social, political, and economic ramifications. A growing body of literature has dedicated to the patterns, causes, and consequences of individuals' privacy concerns, skills, and practices. Advancing a producer's perspective, this research draws on in-depth interviews with 45 tech entrepreneurs to examine privacy practices of mobile start-ups in the United States. Results reveal (a) factors that contribute to the problematic status of privacy issues and (b) whether and how entrepreneurs leverage privacy management as a competitive advantage. Results show that data are widely seen by entrepreneurs as a potentially profitable asset. Privacy practices are networked and thus pose challenges for privacy management as different parties may have different privacy practices. Fast-moving technologies often leave government regulations behind, making them look outdated or irrelevant to many entrepreneurs. For most start-ups not specialized in identity, privacy, or anonymity service, privacy is neither a core business strategy nor a top concern. Only a few mobile ventures have leveraged privacy management as a competitive advantage and designed their products from the ground up concerned about privacy. Most entrepreneurs adopt a building-the-plane-while-flying-it approach: as business grows, privacy policies and practices would evolve. Many entrepreneurs fail to recognize the significance of privacy policies and practices as they lack the awareness, bandwidth, and capacity. Growth and monetization pressures from investors are perceived as more urgent and important than privacy and security issues. Offering a richer account of the power structure that shapes mobile entrepreneurs’ privacy practices and their challenges of managing privacy in a data driven
digital economy, our work advances the existing literature dominated by
stories of the individual consumers.

International Journal of Communication, 2018

Little attention has been given to how members of economically, socially, and digitally disadvant... more Little attention has been given to how members of economically, socially, and digitally disadvantaged groups experience privacy. Using a door-to-door paper-and-pencil household census of public housing communities in a major American city, this study examined three layers of digital privacy experiences among public housing residents— privacy concerns, privacy skills, and privacy-compromising activities. Results showed that privacy concerns are one of the major reasons that hinder residents from adopting the Internet. Regression analysis revealed significant gaps in digital privacy skills among residents by generation and by having private Internet access or not. Moreover, higher levels of privacy skills and relatively private Internet access contribute to more frequent engagement in digital activities that can compromise privacy. This research provides valuable insights on how privacy concerns and skills affect digital inclusion in a marginalized population.

Information, Communication & Society, 2018

The relationship between the disciplines of communication and sociology has been primarily descri... more The relationship between the disciplines of communication and sociology has been primarily described as being abandoned by sociologists. This article historicizes the alleged sociological abandonment of communication and media research and centers on media sociology as the key manifestation of an ongoing vibrant relationship between the two disciplines. It has two goals. First, I examine the contours of the abandonment notion since Berelson vs. Schramm, Riesman, and Bauer in Public Opinion Quarterly in 1959. I demonstrate the diversity and the depth of media sociology and argue that an US-centric positivist understanding of media sociology has led to the exaggerated and misleading notion of abandonment, which homogenizes theoretical discourse and discounts scholarly contributions from outside of the US. Personal and collective memories have also documented institutional and organizational growth of media sociology. Second, I propose to conceptualize media sociology as a networked transfield driven by questions transcending disciplinary little boxes. Rather than returning to the Lazarsfeldian media effect paradigm, media sociology as a networked transfield driven by questions will allows scholars take advantage of structural holes for synthesis and innovation.

Networking skills are conventionally treated as a form of human capital shaped by individual attr... more Networking skills are conventionally treated as a form of human capital shaped by individual attributes. In this study, we investigate the relationship between cultural capital, techno-capital and networking skills among college students. Based on a survey of a sample of college students, we identify that socialization into various cultural genres in an early age equips individuals with the cultural knowledge, attitude, and disposition to network skillfully. Second, we find that digital competency can contribute to networking skills. In particular, digital cultural production, in other words, actively engaging in creative online expression of one's cultural taste, is positively related to greater networking skills. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Drawing on digital trace data, publicly accessible government documents, and journalistic reports... more Drawing on digital trace data, publicly accessible government documents, and journalistic reports, this research integrates Beck’s risk society theory with digital media theories to examine the mediated process of risk definition and assessment of PM2.5 (particulate matters with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers) in a networked public sphere. Network and content analysis of a PM2.5 Twitter network shows that political and professional elite remained the most powerful producers of risk definition. Established media played a key role yet faced challenges from a variety of actors who disseminated and filtered information. Laypersons, while peripheral, actively interacted with elite and established media. The blurring geographic boundary in the PM2.5 Twitter network revealed an emerging transnational public sphere, which, however, was segregated by language. This research advances a layered understanding of the contingent, paradoxical media impact for social changes in a risk society.

This study integrates the theory of media multiplexity and a social network perspective to examin... more This study integrates the theory of media multiplexity and a social network perspective to examine whether and how multiple modes of participation in voluntary groups, that is, multimodal voluntary participation, facilitate community involvement. Analyzing a 2013 random sample survey of 400 residents in the Greater Cleveland area in the United States, the results show that multimodal voluntary participation contributes to community involvement after controlling for local social ties and multiple affiliations. However, the normalization hypothesis was not supported as individuals who occupy bridging affiliation positions are not necessarily more advantaged than are those without such positions in adopting multimodal voluntary participation and engaging in community activities. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Organizations have been experimenting with intraorganizational crowdsourcing (IOC), yet the mecha... more Organizations have been experimenting with intraorganizational crowdsourcing (IOC), yet the mechanisms of IOC production remain an underresearched topic. Drawing on a 2-mode ERGM, we examine structural mechanisms and individual-level factors that shape the network structure of idea generation and selection yielded by an IOC idea challenge in a global IT corporation. Results show a Matthew effect leading to 1) highly centralized employee participation around a few " superactive " employees who engage with many ideas and 2) highly centralized idea popularity with a few ideas attracting most employee attention. We find support for shared affiliations among employee-idea clusters in the first half of the participation, which is, however, less likely in the second half. We also find support for geographic homophily. The rise of crowdsourcing platforms for idea generation and selection has attracted research on their implications for organizational problem solving and innovation (Brabham, 2013). However, most studies have focused on open crowdsourcing platforms, which allow the influx of ideas beyond a clearly defined, formal organizational boundary. By contrast, relatively few studies have examined how intraor-ganizational crowdsourcing (IOC) platforms allow organizations to tap the collective wisdom within a closed system of employees for new ideas and innovation. More importantly, little attention has been

Information, Communication & Society, 2022

Information, Communication & Society, 2021

Telematics and Informatics, 2021

First Monday, 2020

American Behavioral Scientist, 2020

IJOC, 2020

Asia Pacific Issues, 2019

International Journal of Communication, 2018

Information, Communication & Society, 2018

The Internet and digital media have become conduits and locales where millions of Chinese share i... more The Internet and digital media have become conduits and locales where millions of Chinese share information and engage in creative expression and social participation. This book takes a cutting-edge look at the impacts and implications of an increasingly networked China. Eleven chapters cover the terrain of a complex social and political environment, revealing how modern China deals with digital media and issues of censorship, online activism, civic life, and global networks. The authors in this collection come from diverse geographical backgrounds and employ methods including ethnography, interview, survey, and digital trace data to reveal the networks that provide the critical components for civic engagement in Chinese society.

The Chinese state is a changing, multi-faceted entity, as is the Chinese public that interacts with the new landscape of digital media in adaptive and novel ways. Networked China: Global Dynamics of Digital Media and Civic Engagement situates Chinese internet in its complex, generational context to provide a full and dynamic understanding of contemporary digital media use in China. This volume gives readers new agendas for this study and creates vital new signposts on the way for future research.

Personal Networks: Classic Readings and New Directions in Egocentric Analysis, 2021

An overview of empirical findings, emerging theories, and challenges to the ego-centric perspecti... more An overview of empirical findings, emerging theories, and challenges to the ego-centric perspective in the study of social media and digital technologies broadly. The relationship between social media use and network size and diversity has been discussed in relation to topics that include social capital, social support, political engagement, and mental health. We explore the role these technologies play in shaping networks, and how the ego-centric perspective can advance the study of social media. Two trends-persistent contact and pervasive awareness-are explored for their potential to counter transitory, segmented personal networks. The ego-centric perspective can play an important role in the study of social media, which has primarily focused on understanding how media works as an agent of change, while overlooking opportunities for research related to social influence and network flows. However, ego-centric researchers face methodological challenges, including the risk of overgeneralizing from social media platforms to personal networks more broadly, and the role of algorithmic personalization. We end with a discussion of how ever shifting social media platforms remain a barrier to advancing one of the most promising opportunities for the ego-centric approach: combining relational data from social media platforms with data from other sources, such as surveys.

Drawing on data from the Social Capital in the US Survey 2004/2005 and 2007, this research examin... more Drawing on data from the Social Capital in the US Survey 2004/2005 and 2007, this research examines the stock and changes of Americans' social capital measured by the position generator. Results reveal that general social capital increases modestly during a two-year period, but the growth mainly comes from an increase of weak ties while strong ties decrease slightly. As importantly, the Internet implications for social capital vary by tie strength as Internet use increases the fluctuation of weak ties but the stability of strong ties.

As the Internet evolves, its users and uses grow and diversify globally. Data from a National Geo... more As the Internet evolves, its users and uses grow and diversify globally. Data from a National Geographic web survey enables us to compare how people in different parts of the world use the Internet. The widest digital divide is between North America and the rest of the world, and secondarily between other developed countries and developing countries.

While the literature on digital media and China has grown quickly since the 1990s, much attention... more While the literature on digital media and China has grown quickly since the 1990s, much attention has revolved around issues of censorship and authoritarian controls. Although the state still has enormous power to manage information flows, this focus on top-down regulation and control understates how networked technologies have helped create new forms of civic engagement from the bottom-up. This workshop discusses new theories, methods, and data to capture the transformative power and the limitations of digital media technologies in the Chinese societies and beyond.

Despite ample hype about the ubiquity of ICTs, 53% of the world’s population has never gone onlin... more Despite ample hype about the ubiquity of ICTs, 53% of the world’s population has never gone online. Even within the most prosperous nations, digital divides remain significant, based on such factors as age and income, but also geography, excluding many in rural areas and distressed areas of cities. The consequences are increasingly significant to perpetuating social and economic inequalities as government services, healthcare, education and job opportunities move online. Resources have been invested in initiatives to close digital divides, but with limited results. This Workshop will explore theories and methods guiding the study of divides, and critically assess emerging policy and practice. Multiple stakeholders are invited to identify promising policy and technical initiatives, and how they can best be studied

Aim and Scope Big Data are dramatically changing many aspects of social life, including political... more Aim and Scope Big Data are dramatically changing many aspects of social life, including political elections, public discourse, business, public health, and journalistic practices. Big Data has gained new meaning and is no longer restricted to digitally collected information, rather it encompasses any and all information collected, stored, linked, and analyzed either online or offline. Accordingly, scholars from multiple disciplines are increasingly interested in investigating the ethics and politics of Big Data. Big Data and their meaning are socially constructed, and influenced by evolving social, political, and technological forces. The Arab Springs of 2010 uniquely demonstrated the political side of Big Data and the role social media engagement came to play in mobilizing societal groups. The 2016 US presidential election further raises questions around the use of Big Data for political purposes and the ethics of harnessing the power of the Big Data for political purposes. Addressing data ethics and politics is an integral part for Big Data studies. The study of Big Data ethics requires new understandings, as big data has a unique set of features and parameters. The complexity ranges from data sampling to informed consent to data analytics. New ethical dimensions and questions are surfacing as more scholars engage in Big Data projects. Big Data have challenges such as objectivity, accuracy, veracity, and inclusiveness. Bigger does not always mean better, accessible does not always mean ethical, and convenience does not mean efficient. It is important to understand and create awareness of the biases and limitations inherent in Big Data studies, especially when its predictive power is taken for granted. This special issue calls for theoretically‐grounded, empirically‐sound, original work to advance a balanced and context‐rich understanding of Big Data ethics and politics, especially epistemological and methodological vantage points are welcome that help to make visible Big Data contradictions, gaps, and omissions. It encourages work with diverse theoretical and empirical approaches that shed light on ethical and political concerns, consequences, and contingencies of various aspects of Big Data studies. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to): 1. What are the historical developments and current socio‐political trends that influence and structure Big Data production, distribution, and application? 2. What power relations influence, structure, and play out in Big Data? 3. What are the socio‐technical processes underlying data collection and storage? From whom is data collected and by whom is data used? 4. How are class, gender, and processes of racialization presented and represented in and through Big Data? 5. What are the global patterns and local variations of Big Data practices, ethics and politics, especially when comparing liberal democracies and authoritarian regimes,

talk at dept professional development day on how to develop CV

The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. ... more The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. 真正的發現不在於尋找新風景，而是看事物的新角度 Marcel Proust Mantra 1: Relations rather than attributes 关系，而不是属性 Causation is located in the structure, not in the individuals! 在结构而不是个人中寻找因果关系 A C B

Handle with Care: Digital Methods, Sociological Imagination & the Chinese Dream. Keynote Speech a... more Handle with Care: Digital Methods, Sociological Imagination & the Chinese Dream. Keynote Speech at the Inaugural Chinese University of Hong Kong Research Summit
Digital data have generated great expectation and concerns, challenging conventional modes of social and knowledge production. Digital technologies in China reflect many contradictions and complexity of the society: wide access but persistent digital divide, significant economic development and tightening political control, new forms of civic engagement and pervasive surveillance and manipulation. Yet, the Chinese regime seems to have solved “the Dictator’s Dilemma” and set Internet+ as top national strategy to achieve the Chinese dream.
A contextualized understanding of the production, distribution and use of digital methods beyond Eurocentric, liberal democracies will facilitate innovative, rigorous, yet affordable methods that benefit the less privileged in the glocalized mediascape. I call for a producer’s perspective to highlight digital methods as control mechanism, business model, activism strategy in negotiated processes involving a web of social actors. The accumulation process of data capitalism, especially privacy practices, has generated less attention in China than in the U.S or Europe. Transnational and cross-platform approaches are needed to capture the divides, dilemmas, and dividends of digital methods.

allows local governments to require cable operators serving their markets to offer, supply, and f... more allows local governments to require cable operators serving their markets to offer, supply, and fund public access channels by a portion of franchise fees paid by cable operators to the local government

Course Description: Policies and practices of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Cloud Comput... more Course Description: Policies and practices of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Cloud Computing (ABC) have become a central piece in the U.S.-China trade war and a major contentious issue in the U.S.-China relations. Drawing on media studies, international relations, management, and sociology, this interdisciplinary course surveys the complicated, challenging, and critical U.S.-China relations and its interactions with tech and media in the two nations and beyond. Highlighting an interdisciplinary, global, and network perspective, the course centers on the arguably most important bilateral relations in the world from the lens of disruptive tech and media innovations such as AI, big data, cloud computing, streaming, gaming and VR/AR. As the U.S.-China relations enters uncertain and potentially stormy water in the age of unprecedented technological transformation, an enlightened, contextualized understanding is more important than ever. The course informs and prepares students for careers related to U.S.-China relations, tech, media and cultural industries. It aims to facilitate students grow as capable, responsible global citizens. It is designed to equip students with a repertoire of skills such as critical thinking, teamwork, project design, data analysis, and engaging in difficult dialogues for concrete learning outcomes.

Theory is the foundation of knowledge production. Drawing on literature from the fields of media ... more Theory is the foundation of knowledge production. Drawing on literature from the fields of media studies, communication, sociology, and management, this course aims to equip PhD students with skills to learn, use, and build media theories. The course has three major components: 1. We start with the foundational theorists and theories, broadly in social science and specifically in media and communication studies. We will examine whether and how these theorists and theories remain relevant in the digital age. We will discuss how digital media have challenged conventional modes of theorizing. 2. In the second part, we will draw on milestone studies to showcase how theories are applied, criticized, appropriated, revised, and reclaimed, crossing disciplinary and national boundaries. 3. In the third part, students are encouraged to engage with media theories through review and research. This course is one of the two RTF 395 courses on key theories of communication and media studies. This fall semester seminar focuses on foundational scholars and theories on communication contexts, processes, and audiences. The readings reflect the diverse theoretical streams and approaches in communication and media studies: historical, critical, and political economy approaches in social science, including the Chicago School, the Frankfurt School, the Columbia School, and the Toronto School. Students will be guided step-by-step to achieve the following goals: A1. Demonstrate a solid understanding of: a. Major theoretical approaches and their confluence in media studies, especially as applicable to recent advancements in digital media studies b. Modes and processes of theorizing media and society A2. Develop skills to apply major media theories to specific research topics A3. Recognize various opportunities, challenges, and implications of doing and communicating media theories in a rapidly changing digital media landscape

Students occasionally miss big things on write assignments. Why and how to respond?

What are social media doing to us? And we to them? Drawing on literatures from media studies, soc... more What are social media doing to us? And we to them? Drawing on literatures from media studies, sociology, communication, and management, this course invites students to engage in critical analysis of the causes, patterns, and consequences of social media in a global context. Building on cases from diverse cultures and nations, the course provides a rich comparative perspective. The course has three components.
• We start with major debates on the role of digital communication and media technologies in network society, globalization, and transnationalism.
• In the second part, we focus on how macro social forces and institutions such as state and market shape the development of social media and other new technologies. We explore how social inequalities and cultural differences affect digital divides and inclusions.
• In the third part, we investigate how social and mobile media have facilitated changes in politics, organizations, networks, as well as media and culture.

The course is designed to help students achieve the following goals:
• Recognize various opportunities, challenges, and responses to globalization and technological advancements
• Understand the trajectory and development of social and mobile media
• Understand the complicated interaction between social media and society
• Understand policies and practices that affect social and mobile media
• Evaluate professional and entrepreneurial opportunities, challenges, and process in the glocalized networked societies

Dear all I know you are having great fun answering the take-home exam questions. If you are inspi... more Dear all I know you are having great fun answering the take-home exam questions. If you are inspired by our earlier discussions on networks, creativity/good ideas, and entrepreneurship, as well as online data, we will have an entrepreneur, Mr. Jeff Smith, CEO of Brightsmith, visiting us wed afternoon. Brightsmith has designed platforms for business as well as for communities to propose, share, comment on and evaluate ideas.

Office hours: Thu 11:30-1:30; 3:30-4:30 (Please sign up http://bit.ly/1xpHy1c) or by appointment ... more Office hours: Thu 11:30-1:30; 3:30-4:30 (Please sign up http://bit.ly/1xpHy1c) or by appointment CMA 5.142

Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2014

This research adopts a repertoire approach to examine the concept of a health information reperto... more This research adopts a repertoire approach to examine the concept of a health information repertoire defined as a set of sources through which people get health information. Drawing on a random sample survey in Austin, TX, it borrows the concepts of cultural omnivores and univores to investigate how health information repertoire are related to social capital and digital inequalities. Results demonstrate that both the size and the composition of health information repertoires vary by social and digital connectivity. People with greater social capital have a larger repertoire and are less likely to be univores dependent on the Internet or interpersonal contacts. People with Internet access have a larger repertoire and are less likely to be univores dependent on television. More skilled Internet users are less likely to be univores dependent on interpersonal contacts, whereas frequent Internet users are more likely to be omnivores with a four-channel repertoire including the Internet, interpersonal contacts, television, and newspaper. The positive relationship between social capital and repertoire size is stronger among less-skilled Internet users. There are significant variations in health information repertoires in terms of media access and sociodemographic characteristics. Scholarly and practical implications are discussed.

Social Networks, 2015

Existing studies have paid limited attention to how media use and network diversity are related t... more Existing studies have paid limited attention to how media use and network diversity are related to cultural capital along or across ethnic boundaries. Extending the network model to a mediated network model of cultural capital, this research examines cultural knowledge as a function of media use and network diversity and whether media use moderates or mediates the relationship between network diversity and cultural knowledge. Data were drawn from a random sample survey on Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Toronto. Results showed that media use was a stronger predictor of cultural knowledge than network diversity. It also moderated and mediated the relationship between network diversity and cultural knowledge along and across ethnic boundaries.

Human Communication Research, 2014

ABSTRACT This research draws on national survey data in the United States to investigate the vari... more ABSTRACT This research draws on national survey data in the United States to investigate the variation of mobile cultural participation by the access to mobile Internet devices, the intensity, diversity, and specific types of app use, sociodemographic characteristics, and in-person cultural participation. Results show that the access to mobile Internet devices and diverse app use, especially recreational and work-related app use, are positively related to mobile cultural participation. The Hispanic lead, the reversed educational gap, and the disappeared urban–rural divide in mobile cultural participation suggest that it offers members of disadvantaged groups a more accessible venue for cultural participation. The stronger relationships between mobile Internet devices, in-person and mobile cultural participation among the less educated support the mobilization thesis.

Social Science Computer Review, 2013

Drawing on nationally representative survey data, this article examines the implications of Inter... more Drawing on nationally representative survey data, this article examines the implications of Internet use and online communication for strong and weak ties in Americans’ social networks. In line with the existing literature, this research shows that frequent Internet use and online communication are associated with a larger core discussion network and a more extensive position-generated network. More importantly, this research provides a finer tuned analysis by disaggregating the overall network into strong and weak ties. First, Internet use—but not online communication—is positively related to weak-tie based network extensity in the position-generated networks. Second, Internet use and online communication are positively related to the number and the proportion of strong ties in Americans' core discussion networks. These results help reconcile some of the conflicting findings and interpretations based on different network measures in the exiting literature.

Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 2007

ABSTRACT Les auteurs examinent les liens micro et macroscopiques dans l'étude de l&#3... more ABSTRACT Les auteurs examinent les liens micro et macroscopiques dans l'étude de l'économie en transition, en analysant la façon dont les entrepreneurs mobilisent leurs réseaux sociaux personnels intégrés à diverses institutions, afin de protéger leurs ressources d'affaires. Les résultats démontrent que les membres du réseau travaillant dans les organismes du gouvernement ou du parti jouent, en gros, un rôle essentiel dans l'obtention des ressources importantes comme les contacts gouvernementaux et l'information sur le marché et le financement. Ils démontrent aussi que les entrepreneurs utilisent différents membres de leurs réseaux pour différents types de ressources. Les auteurs discutent les différentes conséquences que cela entraine pour l'étude des réseaux et de l'économie en transition.This paper addresses the micro and macro link in studying transitional economy by examining how entrepreneurs mobilize their personal social networks embedded in various institutions to secure business resources. The results show that, by and large, network members working in government/party agencies play an essential role in obtaining important resources, such as those for government contact and market information/funding. The results also show that entrepreneurs utilize different members of their networks for different types of resources. Implications to the study of networks and transitional economy are discussed.

Information, Communication & Society, 2009

How does the connectivity afforded by new communication and transportation technologies affect en... more How does the connectivity afforded by new communication and transportation technologies affect entrepreneurs' geographic and social closeness to each other? Using qualitative and quantitative evidence we analyze how Chinese Canadian entrepreneurs combine the Internet and airplane travel in their business activities. Our results show that the use of new communication and transportation technologies are positively related to to the creation and maintenance of "glocalized" networks, a function of both local embeddedness and global outreach. We find that online interaction cannot replace face-to-face interaction; travel abroad is crucial for adding a human touch to glocalized networks. Moreover, while technologies help to liberate communication from being local, Internet use and travel have limited impact on the ethnic diversity of the entrepreneurs' social networks.

First Monday, 2020

This study integrates the theory of media multiplexity and a social network perspective to examin... more This study integrates the theory of media multiplexity and a social network perspective to examine whether and how multiple modes of participation in voluntary groups, that is, multimodal voluntary participation, facilitate community involvement. Analyzing a 2013 random sample survey of 400 residents in the Greater Cleveland area, Ohio, in the United States, the results show that multimodal voluntary participation contributes to community involvement after controlling for local social ties and multiple affiliations. However, the normalization hypothesis was not supported as individuals who occupy bridging affiliation positions are not necessarily more advantaged than are those without such positions in adopting multimodal voluntary participation and engaging in community activities. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

First Monday, 2020

Computers in Human Behavior, 2017

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2016

Computers in Human Behavior, 2015

ABSTRACT Limited attention has been paid to the influence that social network dimensions associat... more ABSTRACT Limited attention has been paid to the influence that social network dimensions associated to sender’s position relative to the receiver may have on an individual’s choices of contents. Thus, it is relevant to know how network dimensions (i.e., network centrality, structural holes, and tie strength) may influence the content selection by receivers. This raises the question of what determines such content selection. These relationships are empirically tested by using both social network data and participants’ survey data. Findings show that despite the fact that degree and strength of tie are associated with central positions in the network, they are not related to individuals’ choices of contents. Findings also suggest that structural holes in association with the emotion of surprise, used as a proxy for the perception of novelty, offer a good representation of people’s behavior when they select contents. These are valuable arguments to enhance content personalization with new perspectives for receivers. Know more here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215003787