Dr. Zhang is committed to transdisciplinary research and education, and actively participates in international and local cross-sector collaborations. Trained in communication and computer science, he works in the areas of computer-mediated communication, computational social science, digital cultural participation, and social indicators research. His research has appeared in international academic journals and edited volumes, and he has received several top paper awards in international conferences.

Prof. Zhang is HKSAR University Grants Committee (UGC) Teaching Award recipient. He now serving as the Programme Director of the University’s newly established transdisciplinary undergraduate programme (BASct – Individualised Major); and served as the Programme Director of the Data and Media Communication concentration during 2019 to 2022.


Prof. Zhang obtained his Ph.D. in Communication from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is an honorary research fellow at the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (CUHK) and have been a visiting scholar to the Department of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam.

 

Classes Taught

Introduction to Journalism and Communication
Media Studies in a Changing Society
Fact-checking Misinformation and Disinformation
Data Media Research Project
Methods of Inquiry
Transdisciplinary Problem Solving

 

Research & Teaching Interests

AI and Journalism Practices
Social Network Analysis and Social Capital
Media and Quality of Life (Well-being and Poverty)
Computational Social Science
Digital Platforms and Cultural Participation

 

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Selected Publications

I. Refereed Journal Articles

Song, Y., Zhang, Y., Zou, S., Yang, X., & Huang, Q. (2025). The spread of pro- and anti-vaccine views by coordinated communities on Facebook during COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Computational Social Science, 8, 98.

Zhang, Y. (2025). Mattering on the margin: Thoughts on cultural participation in creative digital media. European Journal of Cultural Studies. DOI: 10.1177/13675494251347747

Zhang, Y., Lin, Z., Tong, C. C., & Ho, W. S. (2025). Enhancing tokenization accuracy with dynamic patterns: Cumulative logic for segmenting user-generated content in logographic languages. Journal of Computational Social Science, 8, 80. 

Song, Y., Schuldt, J. P., Zhang, Y., Wang, Z., Yuan, Y. C., Zou, S., & Li, J. (2025). Bridging ideologies: analyzing the use of moral language and framing in social media discourse on climate change by U.S. congress members through computational approaches. Climatic Change, 178, 56.

Tse, T. H. L., Zhang, Y., & van Noord, N. (2025). China as data colonizer? Rethinking cultural production, cultural mediation, and consumer agency on Kenya and Chinese e-commerce platforms. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 28(1), 278–299.

Au-Yeung, T. C., Wong, H., Tang, V., Chan, S. M., & Zhang, Y. (2024). When means-testing meets work-testing: A multi-level institutional analysis of claiming in-work benefits in Hong Kong. International Journal of Social Welfare, 32(2), 457–470.

Erni, J. N. & Zhang, Y. (2022). Wild Hopes: Sourcing the political vocabulary of digital citizenship from the LIHKG forum. International Communication Gazette, 84(4), 349–375.

Lee, F. L. F. & Zhang, Y. (2021). A network analytic approach to selective consumption of newspapers: The impact of politics, market, and technology. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 98(2), 346–365.

Zhang, Y., Wong, H., Chen, J.-K., & Tang, V. M. (2019). Comparing income poverty gap and deprivation on social acceptance: A mediation model with interpersonal communication and social support. Social Policy & Administration, 53(6), 889–902.

Wong, H., Huang, Y., Fu, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2018). Impacts of structural social capital and cognitive social capital on the psychological status of survivors of the Yaan earthquake. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 14(5), 1411–1433.

Zhang, Y. & Lee, F. L. F. (2018). Examining the connectedness of connective action: The participant-initiated Facebook pages in Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement. International Journal of Communication, 12, 1591–1611.

Ng, S. L., Zhang, Y., Ng, K. H., Wong, H., & Lee, J. W. Y. (2018). Living environments and quality of life in Hong Kong. Asian Geographer, 35, 35–51.

Huang, Y. H. C., Bedford, O., & Zhang, Y. (2018). The relational orientation framework for examining culture in Chinese societies. Culture & Psychology, 24(4), 477–490.

Song, Y. & Zhang, Y. (2017). What can software tell us about media coverage and public opinion? In Ciampaglia, G. L., Mashhadi, A. J., & Yasseri, T. (eds.), Social Informatics 2017, LNCS 10540, 230–241.

Chong, E. S. K., Zhang, Y., Mak, W. W. K., & Pang, I. H. Y. (2015). Social media as social capital of LGB individuals in Hong Kong—Its relations with group membership, stigma, and mental well–being. American Journal of Community Psychology, 55(1–2), 228–238.

Zhang, Y. & Leung, L. (2015). A review of social networking service (SNS) research in communication from 2006 to 2011. New Media & Society, 17(7), 1007–1024.

Huang, Y. H. C. & Zhang, Y. (2013). Revisiting organization-public relations research over the past decade. Public Relations Review, 39(1), 85–87.

Chen, Y. B. & Zhang, Y. (2013). SNS communication for the public interests: A study of the practices by Greenpeace in Mainland China (SNS 時代的環保公益傳播). Press Circles (新聞界), 5, 9–13. (In Chinese) (CSSCI)

Zhang, Y., Tang, L. S. T., & Leung, L. (2011). Gratifications, collective self-esteem, online emotional openness, and traitlike communication apprehension as predictors of Facebook uses. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14, 733–739.

II. Book Chapters

Zhang, Y. (forthcoming). The promises and pitfalls of growing public participation in fact-checking: Reflection on technical and cultural factors in Asian societies. In Thussu, D., Song, Y. Y., & Margolin, D. (Eds), Checking the Fact-Checkers: A Global Perspective. Routledge.

Qie, R., Zhao, Y., Zhang, Y., & Cui, S. (2025). Exploring public discourse and sentiment toward aging on Chinese social media: Machine learning analysis of Weibo and Douyin. In Thomas, K. (Ed), Oxford Intersections: Social Media in Society and Culture. Oxford University Press.

Erni, J. N. & Zhang, Y. (2020). Ethnic minority youth as digital cultural participants: Toward a critical indicator study. In Lam, S. S. (Ed.), New Media Spectacles and Multimodal Creativity in a Globalised Asia (pp. 3–24). Singapore: Springer Nature.

Zhang, Y. & Erni, J. N. (2018). In with expectations and out with disappointment: Social media uses by sexual minority and the redefinition of intimacy. In Andreassen, R., et al. (Eds.), Mediated Intimacies (pp. 143–155). London: Routledge.

Wong, H., Zhang, Y., & Tang, M. (2017). Quality of life (生活質素). In Chiu, W. K., & Cheung, F. M. (Eds.), HKSAR at 20 (香港特區二十年) (pp. 343–366). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. (In Chinese)

Leung, L., Liang, J. M., & Zhang, Y. (2017). Media addiction. In Roessler, P., et al. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Media Effects (pp. 879–893). New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Huang, Y. H. & Zhang, Y. (2015). Revisiting organization–public relations (OPR) research. In Ki, E. J., Kim, J-N., & Ledingham, J. (Eds.), Public Relations as Relationship Management (pp. 3–27). New York: Routledge.

III. Other Scholarly Publications

ChatGPT, Lee, C. C., Qiu, J. L., Fung, Y. H., Wei, R., Zhou, S., Huang Y.-H., Chan, J. M., Huang Y., Zhong, B., Song, Y., Liang, H., & Zhang, N. Y. (2023). A dialogue between Chinese communication scholars and ChatGPT: Artificial intelligence and communication research. Communication and Society, 66, 1–18.

Arao, D. A., Brooten, L., la Custodio, P., Du, R., Rivera, M. T. R., & Zhang, Y. N. (2020). Fighting infodemics. Media Asia, 47(3), 1–3.

Arao, D. A., Brooten, L., la Custodio, P., Du, R., Rivera, M. T. R., & Zhang, Y. N. (2020). Realities of repression, intricacies of assertion. Media Asia, 47(1–2), 1–3.

Huang, L. & Zhang, Y. (2018). User survey of Hong Kong digital media. In Li, R. & Huang, Y. (eds), Hong Kong digital media development report 2018 (pp. 172–197). Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Press.

Wong, H. & Zhang, Y. (2017). Report of Impacts of implementing ‘Lowincome Working Family Allowance’ (LIFA) on labour market situation and quality of life of low income working families in Hong Kong. Chinese University of Hong Kong; Hong Kong Baptist University.

Wong, H., Zhang, Y., Ho, C. T., & Ng, S. L. (2016). The changes of youth quality of life in Hong Kong: Observation from the Youth QoL Index (從青年生活質素指數看青年生活的變化). In Chiu, W. K., Ip, C. Y., & Li, H. (Eds.), The Restless Youth: Observation of Hong Kong’s new generation (躁動青春：香港新世代處境觀察) (pp. 78–92). Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Press. (In Chinese)

Wong, H., Zhang, Y. (2016). Quality of Life in Hong Kong from 2002 to 2014: Trends and Insights (香港生活質素的變化：趨勢與反思). Hong Kong & Macau Affairs (紫荊論壇), 25, 48–53. (In Chinese)

IV. Conference Papers / Presentations

Gu, Y. T. & Zhang, Y. (2025, July). Cultural resilience in music: How Cantopop reflects and responds to Hong Kong’s economic shifts. 2025 Conference of International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Singapore.

Zhang, Y., Chio, W. T., & Chong, E. (2025, June). The hybrid path to faith: Examining the interplay of convergent religious practices in enhancing Buddhist understanding and mental well-being. 2025 Conference of International Communication Association (ICA), Denver, USA.

Lin, Z. H. & Zhang, Y. (2025, June). Exploring the role of political agenda: Triadic network agenda-setting on asylum seekers and refugees issues in Hong Kong. 2025 Conference of International Communication Association (ICA), Denver, USA.

Deng, D., Trepanowski, R., Li, M., Zhang, Y., Bujic, M., Hamari, J. (2024, October). Streaks and coping: Decoding player performance in League of Legends using big data from top players’ matches. Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY). Tampere, Finland.

Zhang, Y. & Au Yeung, A. C. K. (2024, June). ESG reporting and the challenge of greenwashing: An examination of corporate sustainability practices, conglomerates structure, and financial constraint. ICA 2024 Preconference: Impacts of Strategic Communication in an Interconnected World, Sydney, Australia.

Erni, N. J. & Zhang, Y. (2024, March). Sourcing the political vocabulary of digital citizenship from digital forum: A case study of the LIHKG. Symposium on Emerging Media for Communicating SDGs, Yang Ming Chiao Tong University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Zhang, Y., Lin, Z. H., Tong, C., & Ho, S. (2023, May). How dynamic patterns help? A cumulative logic for improving tokenization data pre-processing of online user-generated content. 2023 Conference of International Communication Association (ICA), Toronto, Canada.

Zhang, Y. (2022, October). The promises and pitfalls of growing public participation in fact-checking. Checking the Fact-Checkers: A Global Perspective (An International Virtual Conference). Hong Kong, China.

Zhang, Y. & Erni, J. (2022, May). Rethinking cultural non-participation by ethnic minority youth: A cultural indicator analysis. 2022 Conference of International Communication Association (ICA), Paris, France.

Zhang, Y., Kwan, C. W., Ho, S. W., Tong, C. C., & Hui, J. T. (2020, May). Using time-series patterns in word segmentation for data pre-processing: A methodological development in evolving public discourse mining. 2020 Conference of International Communication Association (ICA), Gold Coast, Australia.

Lee, F. L. F. & Zhang, Y. (2019, May). A network analytic approach to selective consumption of newspapers: The impact of politics, market, and technology. 2019 Conference of International Communication Association (ICA), Washington D.C., USA.

Zhang, Y. & Song, Y. Y. (2018, September). The role of social media in political campaigns: A sentiment and engagement analysis… IPP 2018, Oxford, UK.

Zhang, Y. & Lee, F. L. F. (2018, May). The connectedness of connective action… 2018 ICA, Prague, Czech Republic.

Song, Y. Y. & Zhang, Y. (2017, September). What can software tell us about media coverage and public opinion? SocInfo2017, Oxford, UK.

Zhang, Y. & Wu, D. (2016, December). Social Media in the Frontline Practices… 9th Int. Forum on Public Relations & Advertising, Hong Kong, China.

Zhang, Y. & Chen, J. K. (2016, November). Mediating effect of subjective poverty and social acceptance. Int. Conference on Social Disadvantages, Well-being and Health, Hong Kong, China.

Bedford, O., Huang, Y. H., & Zhang, Y. (2016, June). The Dual-Factor Relational Framework. 2016 ICA, Fukuoka, Japan.

Chen, Y. B. & Zhang, Y. (2016, January). Comparing the Chinese and Western SNS research in communication… Internet and Society, Shanghai, China.

Zhang, Y. (2012, August). What has SNS research done for the half decade? AEJMC 2012, Chicago, IL, USA.

Chen, Y. B. & Zhang, Y. (2012, August). Application of SNS by Greenpeace in Mainland China (In Chinese). 5th Int. Forum on Public Relations & Advertising, Taipei, Taiwan.

Huang, Y. H. & Zhang, Y. (2012, May). Revisiting organization–public relations research… 2012 ICA, Phoenix, AZ, USA.

Zhang, Y. (2011, November). Social network in network society… China Communication Forum & New Media and Society of Contemporary China, Shanghai, China.

Zhang, Y. (2011, July). Self-motivation, peer influence and celebrities endorsement… 2011 IAMCR, Istanbul, Turkey.

Tang, S. T. & Zhang, Y. (2010, June). Conversational-dominance and ambiguity-generations factors… 2010 ICA, Singapore.

Zhang, Y. & Tang, S. T. (2009, August). Why and how Facebook satisfies you… AEJMC 2009, Boston, MA, USA.

 

Selected Grants

Ideation Programme, HKSTP. Integrated AI-powered Platform Development for Professional News Media and Journalism Education. HKD300,000. (Principle-Investigator)

General Research Fund, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong. Health Discourses from Below: Exploring a Citizen Self-Health Approach to Sustainable Care in Hong Kong. (2026-2027). HKD525,996. (Co-Investigator)

General Research Fund, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong. Ethnic minority workers, platformed ‘precarities’ and tactics of resilience in Hong Kong – An intersectional and interdisciplinary study (2023–2024). HKD 459,120. (Co-Investigator)

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Jockey Club Food Assistance Programme (Research and Evaluation) (2021–2023). HKD 1,550,000. (Co-Investigator)

Initiation Grant for Faculty Niche Research Areas, Hong Kong Baptist University. Macro environment and non-company news on stock market performance… (2019–2021). HKD 586,560. (Principal Investigator)

Faculty Research Grant, Hong Kong Baptist University. Audience fragmentation and technologies adoptions… (2018–2019). HKD 45,000. (Principal Investigator)

The National Social Science Foundation of China. Chinese urban inhabitants’ social media uses and addiction (2017–2020). RMB 200,000. (Co-Investigator)

Public Policy Research Fund, Central Policy Unit, HKSAR Government. Impacts of implementing LIFA on labor market situation and quality of life… (2016–2017). HKD 999,299. (Co-Investigator)

The National Social Science Foundation of China. Youth’s mobile internet uses and addiction (2014–2017). RMB 200,000. (Co-Investigator)

 

Editorship & Research Board

Associate Editor, Media Asia by Taylor & Francis (Indexed in: Scopus, EBSCO Research Databases)

 

Honours & Awards

UGC Teaching Award (Collaborative Team category), University Grants Committee, Hong Kong S.A.R., 2025.

President’s Award for Outstanding Performance (Team Teaching), Hong Kong Baptist University, 2024.

Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Youth Studies, HKIAPS, CUHK, 2021–present.

Visiting Scholar, Media Studies Department & Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2022.

The Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) Scholar in Journalism, Technology & Democracy, U.S. Department of State, 2021.

Research Award, Kappa Tau Alpha (KTA), Chicago, USA, 2012.

Top Student Paper Award, Jung-Sook Lee Paper Competition, AEJMC, Chicago, USA, 2012.

Lion Dr. Francis K. Pan Scholarship, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012.

ICS Mok Hing Cheong Postgraduate Research Scholarship, CUHK, 2011.

1st Place, Moellor Student Paper Competition, Mass Communication & Society Division, AEJMC, Boston, USA, 2009.

Top 2 Student Paper, Mass Communication & Society Division, AEJMC, Boston, USA, 2009.

Southern Metropolitan Daily Journalism Scholarship, China, 2006.