publications

2026

1. IJPOR

   Triadic Network Agenda-Setting of Asylum and Refugee Discourses during Hong Kong’s Political Transition

   Zhihuai Lin^*, and Yin Zhang

   International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 2026

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   Network agenda-setting theory proposes that media transfer issue salience and structural attribute relationships to public and political agendas. However, this theory has been predominantly tested in stable democracies, leaving unclear how network-level agenda transfer functions during authoritarian transitions. This study employs a Triadic Network Agenda-Setting framework to examine how Hong Kong’s transition from semi-democratic to authoritarian governance shifted agenda dynamics about asylum seekers. Analyzing asylum coverage across Hong Kong newspapers, online forums, and legislators’ Facebook pages between 2016 and 2024, the study employed structural topic modeling, multiple regression quadratic assignment procedure, and Granger causality tests to assess network-level structural alignment and attribute-level temporal dynamics. Within a corpus dominated by one pro-establishment newspaper, legislative-to-media structural alignment emerged in the authoritarian period but concentrated within that outlet rather than diffusing across the press system, while legislative temporal influence on attribute salience disappeared. This press-state alignment ran directly between legislators and the dominant outlet rather than transitively through public discourse, and engaged online publics remained structurally independent of media and legislative networks across politically heterogeneous communities. Given the outlet-selective character of press–state alignment, humanitarian counter-narratives may gain greater traction through outlets retaining structural autonomy than through direct contestation of the dominant outlet.

   @article{IJPOR2026,
     title = {Triadic Network Agenda-Setting of Asylum and Refugee Discourses during Hong Kong's Political Transition},
     author = {Lin, Zhihuai and Zhang, Yin},
     journal = {International Journal of Public Opinion Research},
     volume = {38},
     number = {3},
     eid = {edag019},
     year = {2026},
     publisher = {Oxford University Press},
     doi = {10.1093/ijpor/edag019},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edag019},
   }

2. OIR

   Modality and Cultural Tailoring in Human–AI Disaster Communication: Examining Mechanisms and Outcomes for Hispanic Communities

   Xinyan Zhao, Zhihuai Lin, and Chau-Wai Wong

   Online Information Review, 2026

   Advance online publication

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   Purpose

   This study examines how GenAI chatbots can support Hurricane preparedness among Hispanic/Latino communities by comparing combined audio-text delivery with text-only delivery and culturally tailored with generic content. It focuses on information overload and emotional attachment as cognitive and affective mechanisms.

   Design/methodology/approach

   We conducted a 2 × 2 between-subjects online experiment with 186 Hispanic/Latino participants in Texas. Participants interacted with GPT-4o-powered chatbots that varied in (1) information modality (combined audio-text vs. text-only) and (2) cultural tailoring (tailored vs. generic). We also examined Hispanic/Latino acculturation as a boundary condition that may moderate the effects of modality and cultural tailoring.

   Findings

   GenAI chatbots combining audio and textual delivery increased information overload and decreased information-seeking intentions compared to text-only chatbots, and this modality effect on overload was stronger among participants with lower Hispanic/Latino acculturation. Cultural tailoring improved disaster preparedness and seeking intentions by fostering emotional attachment. This suggests that while cultural tailoring drives affective engagement, combining AI-generated speech and text may create cross-modal redundancy in disaster communication.

   Research limitations/implications

   This study extends limited capacity and cross-modal redundancy perspectives to GenAI disaster communication by showing how combined audio-text delivery can shape disaster outcomes through information overload, with Hispanic/Latino acculturation serving as a boundary condition. It also advances cultural tailoring research by showing how culturally tailored content shapes outcomes through emotional attachment.

   Practical implications

   Practically, public agencies should design modality-sensitive GenAI chatbots rather than defaulting to simultaneous audio-text delivery. Audio should be optional and user-controlled, with clear opt-in choices, replay, pause and speed controls. When audio and text are combined, the content should avoid unnecessary duplication and support pacing. At the same time, culturally tailored content can make disaster guidance feel more relevant and emotionally resonant for underserved Hispanic/Latino communities.

   Social implications

   As GenAI chatbots become more common in disaster preparedness, adding modalities by default may increase overload and reduce information seeking for some users, potentially widening resilience gaps. These findings underscore the need for culturally inclusive and cognitively accessible chatbot design. Public-facing systems should provide user control over modality and pacing, avoid redundant audio-text delivery, and account for within-group differences such as acculturation. Such design choices can help ensure that GenAI preparedness tools support, rather than burden, underserved communities.

   Originality/value

   This study examines an integrated model explaining how GenAI chatbot design shapes disaster outcomes through cognitive and affective mechanisms. It extends limited capacity and cross-modal redundancy perspectives by linking combined audio-text delivery to information overload, with Hispanic/Latino acculturation as a boundary condition, and advances cultural tailoring research by identifying emotional attachment as an affective mechanism.

   @article{OIR2026,
     title = {Modality and Cultural Tailoring in Human--AI Disaster Communication: Examining Mechanisms and Outcomes for Hispanic Communities},
     author = {Zhao, Xinyan and Lin, Zhihuai and Wong, Chau-Wai},
     journal = {Online Information Review},
     year = {2026},
     publisher = {Emerald Publishing},
     note = {Advance online publication},
     doi = {10.1108/OIR-01-2026-0096},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-01-2026-0096},
   }

3. HSSC

   AI as the Mirror, Mate, and Mentor: Negotiating Romantic Relationships with ChatGPT as “Teacher G” on Xiaohongshu

   Elizabeth Lishan Qin^†, and Zhihuai Lin^*†

   Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2026

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   How are artificial intelligence technologies transforming human experiences of romance and intimacy in the digital age? So far, human-AI romantic relationships have primarily been studied in the context of AI models designed explicitly for emotional companionship (e.g., Replika). This study focuses on users’ engagement with general-purpose AI systems like ChatGPT, which lack built-in romantic features and invite users to shape the relationship from scratch. It explores how female users on Xiaohongshu (i.e., RedNote) discursively construct ChatGPT as “Teacher G,” a form of address that merges romantic interest with pedagogical authority to negotiate AI-mediated intimacy. Through critical discourse analysis of user-generated posts, we identify three roles users assign to ChatGPT: a mirror for self-reflection, a mate fulfilling relational desires, and a mentor guiding self-acceptance and personal growth. Findings suggest that users actively appropriate AI for self-exploration with considerable metacognitive awareness of projection. In its mentor role, the AI fosters reflexive self-awareness by guiding autonomy in social contexts, encouraging self-acceptance, and supporting the renegotiation rather than the transcendence of relational boundaries through individual and communal reflection. Yet this process may also reproduce hierarchical authority structures, particularly when users seek validation for conforming to feminine norms, potentially reinforcing dependence on an authoritative persona. This duality positions human-AI intimacy as a sociotechnical practice where users navigate self-discipline within persistent cultural constraints, highlighting the co-constitution of technology and social norms. We argue that future AI design would benefit from centering user empowerment while critically accounting for cultural contexts rather than relying on prescriptive relational scripts.

   @article{HSSC2026,
     title = {AI as the Mirror, Mate, and Mentor: Negotiating Romantic Relationships with ChatGPT as ``Teacher G'' on Xiaohongshu},
     author = {Qin, Elizabeth Lishan and Lin, Zhihuai},
     journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences Communications},
     volume = {13},
     eid = {1290},
     year = {2026},
     publisher = {Springer Nature},
     doi = {10.1057/s41599-026-07682-2},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07682-2},
   }

4. PR Review

   Organizational Sociopolitical Engagement in Issue-Centric Networks: The Roles of Organizational Size, Industry Type, and Political Ideology

   Leping You, Zhihuai Lin, Xinyan Zhao, and Xiaohui Wang

   Public Relations Review, 2026

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   As society becomes increasingly polarized, corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities are becoming more politicized, with more organizations adopting specific political CSR agendas to navigate this shifting landscape and engage the public. However, there remains a limited understanding of whether organizations exhibit preferences for particular sociopolitical issues and how such preferences vary based on organizational attributes. The notion of issue-centric networks, informed by network ecology and issue niche theory, offers a systemic understanding of how interorganizational CSR communication is structured through the co-mentioning of sociopolitical topics. This study examines how organizational attributes affect the co-mentioning of various sociopolitical topics within an interorganizational network. The study analyzed 102,441 Facebook posts by 60 organizational donors to major political action committees (PACs) from 2018 to 2023. The results reveal that large enterprises, national and Democratic-leaning organizations are more active in sociopolitical advocacy. Organizations of the same size and in the same industries are more likely to co-mention certain sociopolitical topics. This heightened involvement by politically active organizations enriches the network paradigm in public relations, illustrating how organizations leverage sociopolitical engagement not only to advance specific agendas but also to cultivate interconnected networks in online communities.

   @article{PRR2026,
     title = {Organizational Sociopolitical Engagement in Issue-Centric Networks: The Roles of Organizational Size, Industry Type, and Political Ideology},
     author = {You, Leping and Lin, Zhihuai and Zhao, Xinyan and Wang, Xiaohui},
     journal = {Public Relations Review},
     volume = {52},
     number = {3},
     eid = {102713},
     year = {2026},
     publisher = {Elsevier},
     doi = {10.1016/j.pubrev.2026.102713},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2026.102713},
   }

5. ASR

   How Soft Propaganda Operates across the Strait: Analysing the Interplay between Taiwanese YouTubers and Pro-Beijing News Media

   Yinqiao Zhao, Zhihuai Lin, and Luwei Rose Luqiu

   Asian Studies Review, 2026

   Advance online publication

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   This article maps the Taiwan‑focused soft propaganda ecosystem and examines how Taiwanese YouTubers and pro‑Beijing news media influence perceptions of Xinjiang. Drawing on 68 YouTube vlogs and 97,235 comments, this study investigates the intersection of social-media influencers, conventional news media, and audience engagement dynamics. Using critical discourse analysis, structural topic modelling, sentiment analysis, and interrupted time-series analysis, the research demonstrates that the news amplification of YouTuber content was associated with short-term increases in public engagement and more positive sentiment, although these effects eventually dissipated. The findings highlight both the effectiveness and the limitations of leveraging influencers and news media for propaganda purposes, thereby offering insights into the evolving dynamics of soft propaganda and the growing sophistication of state-aligned narratives in the digital age.

   @article{ASR2026,
     title = {How Soft Propaganda Operates across the Strait: Analysing the Interplay between Taiwanese YouTubers and Pro-Beijing News Media},
     author = {Zhao, Yinqiao and Lin, Zhihuai and Luqiu, Luwei Rose},
     journal = {Asian Studies Review},
     year = {2026},
     publisher = {Taylor & Francis},
     note = {Advance online publication},
     doi = {10.1080/10357823.2026.2681167},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2026.2681167},
   }

6. NMS

   Biophilia gratification: Evidence from nature-related posts and images on social media

   Yu-Leung Ng^*†, and Zhihuai Lin^†

   New Media & Society, 2026

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   People use social media to gratify various needs, one of which is the need to affiliate with mediated nature. By combining the uses and gratifications approach and the biophilia hypothesis, this study coins this gratification as biophilia gratification. We computationally analyzed three million Facebook posts to test whether user reactions (likes, shares, loves, and cares) reflect biophilia gratification derived from human-created nature on social media, that is, mediated nature. Ten percent of posts that are image-based (approximately 170,000) were also randomly selected and analyzed. The results showed that social media users were more likely to react to most posts (particularly image-based posts) of mediated nature compared with nonmediated nature posts. These findings may imply that user reactions on social media may serve as indicators of biophilia gratification fulfilled through engagement with mediated nature.

   @article{NMS2026,
     title = {Biophilia gratification: Evidence from nature-related posts and images on social media},
     author = {Ng, Yu-Leung and Lin, Zhihuai},
     journal = {New Media & Society},
     volume = {28},
     number = {3},
     pages = {951-976},
     year = {2026},
     publisher = {Sage},
     doi = {10.1177/14614448241303776},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241303776},
   }

2025

1. IJHCI

   Unraveling Gratifications, Concerns, and Acceptance of Generative Artificial Intelligence

   Zhihuai Lin, and Yu-Leung Ng^*

   International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2025

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   Despite the burgeoning interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI), specifically ChatGPT, little is known about the underlying user motivations and concerns that may shape technology acceptance indicators, such as post popularity and engagement on online platforms. Guided by the uses and gratifications and technology acceptance approaches, this study utilizes ecologically valid social media data to unearth user-driven topics and themes on Reddit. We extracted six key themes: utilitarian, hedonic, and social gratifications, creativity enhancement, and technical and societal concerns. Our results showed that specific topics of gratifications and concerns predicted post scores and comments in different patterns. Our findings could offer guidance for developers and policymakers, underlining the necessity for user-centric and ethically informed generative AI systems that address technological prowess and societal implications.

   @article{IJHCI2025,
     title = {Unraveling Gratifications, Concerns, and Acceptance of Generative Artificial Intelligence},
     author = {Lin, Zhihuai and Ng, Yu-Leung},
     journal = {International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction},
     volume = {41},
     number = {17},
     pages = {10725-10742},
     year = {2025},
     publisher = {Taylor & Francis},
     doi = {10.1080/10447318.2024.2436749},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2024.2436749},
   }

2. JCSS

   Enhancing tokenization accuracy with dynamic patterns: cumulative logic for segmenting user-generated content in logographic languages

   Yin Zhang^*, Zhihuai Lin, Castiel Tong, and Sam Ho

   Journal of Computational Social Science, 2025

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   Despite the significant advancements of Large Language Models (LLMs) in recent years, tokenization remains a critical step in Natural Language Processing (NLP) for social scientific research. This study presents a simple but effective approach to enhance tokenization accuracy in segmenting user-generated content (UGC) in logographic languages, such as Chinese. Existing tokenization techniques often struggle to effectively handle the complexities of UGC on digital platforms, which include informal language, slang, and newly coined terms. To address this challenge, we developed a dynamic tokenization model that incorporates cumulative logic to recognize and adapt to evolving linguistic patterns in social media content. By analyzing large online discussion datasets from LIHKG, a Reddit-like forum in Hong Kong, the model’s effectiveness is demonstrated through its ability to accurately segment domain-specific terms and novel expressions over time. Our results show that the model outperforms traditional tokenizers in recognizing contextually relevant tokens. This innovative approach offers practical advantages for analyzing large-scale UGC data, and has the potential to improve the performance of downstream NLP tasks.

   @article{JCSS2025,
     title = {Enhancing tokenization accuracy with dynamic patterns: cumulative logic for segmenting user-generated content in logographic languages},
     author = {Zhang, Yin and Lin, Zhihuai and Tong, Castiel and Ho, Sam},
     journal = {Journal of Computational Social Science},
     volume = {8},
     number = {3},
     eid = {80},
     year = {2025},
     publisher = {Springer},
     doi = {10.1007/s42001-025-00406-7},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s42001-025-00406-7},
   }

2024

1. J Health Commun

   Opinion Leadership and Sharing Positive and Negative Information About Vaccines on Social Media: A Mixed-Methods Approach

   Xiaohui Wang, Zhihuai Lin, Jingyuan Shi^*, and Ye Sun

   Journal of Health Communication, 2024

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   In our research, we examined how three dimensions of opinion leadership—connectivity, maven, and persuasiveness—are associated with sharing positive and negative information about vaccines among parents in Hong Kong through a mixed-methods approach. In two studies, we assessed opinion leadership following a sociometric approach that involved using data from social media (Study 1) and a self-assessment using survey data (Study 2), which yielded largely consistent results. In particular, whereas connectivity and maven were significantly associated with sharing positive information about vaccines, all three dimensions were significantly associated with sharing negative information about vaccines. Those findings suggest that different dimensions of opinion leadership play different roles in information sharing depending on the information’s valence. Moreover, the similar pattern of findings from both studies suggested that the sociometric approach and self-assessment may capture the multidimensional nature of opinion leadership equally well. In sum, the findings advance theoretical discussions on the role of opinion leadership in information sharing and offer practical insights into promoting vaccination for children among parents.

   @article{JOHC2024,
     title = {Opinion Leadership and Sharing Positive and Negative Information About Vaccines on Social Media: A Mixed-Methods Approach},
     author = {Wang, Xiaohui and Lin, Zhihuai and Shi, Jingyuan and Sun, Ye},
     journal = {Journal of Health Communication},
     volume = {29},
     number = {11-12},
     pages = {693-701},
     year = {2024},
     publisher = {Taylor & Francis},
     doi = {10.1080/10810730.2024.2426810},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2024.2426810},
   }

2. SEE

   Between Technological Utopia and Dystopia: Online Expression of Compulsory Use of Surveillance Technology

   Yu-Leung Ng^*†, and Zhihuai Lin^†

   Science and Engineering Ethics, 2024

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   This study investigated people’s ethical concerns of surveillance technology. By adopting the spectrum of technological utopian and dystopian narratives, how people perceive a society constructed through the compulsory use of surveillance technology was explored. This study empirically examined the anonymous online expression of attitudes toward the society-wide, compulsory adoption of a contact tracing app that affected almost every aspect of all people’s everyday lives at a societal level. By applying the structural topic modeling approach to analyze comments on four Hong Kong anonymous discussion forums, topics concerning the technological utopian, dystopian, and pragmatic views on the surveillance app were discovered. The findings showed that people with a technological utopian view on this app believed that the implementation of compulsory app use can facilitate social good and maintain social order. In contrast, individuals who had a technological dystopian view expressed privacy concerns and distrust of this surveillance technology. Techno-pragmatists took a balanced approach and evaluated its implementation practically.

   @article{SEE2024,
     title = {Between Technological Utopia and Dystopia: Online Expression of Compulsory Use of Surveillance Technology},
     author = {Ng, Yu-Leung and Lin, Zhihuai},
     journal = {Science and Engineering Ethics},
     volume = {30},
     number = {19},
     year = {2024},
     publisher = {Springer},
     doi = {10.1007/s11948-024-00483-3},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-024-00483-3},
   }

2022

1. CHB

   Exploring conversation topics in conversational artificial intelligence–based social mediated communities of practice

   Yu-Leung Ng^*†, and Zhihuai Lin^†

   Computers in Human Behavior, 2022

   Abs DOI Bib HTML

   This study utilized ecologically valid social media data to identify motivations and relevant topics regarding the interaction with conversational artificial intelligence (AI) in a natural setting through investigating user conversations on Reddit, a social mediated community of practice. By applying the latent Dirichlet allocation approach, this study extracted conversation topics in six subreddit communities among users of AI–powered virtual assistants (Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant) and the corresponding smart speakers (Apple HomePod, Amazon Echo, and Google Home), and investigated changes in the conversation topics over time. Findings showed six themes of conversation topics, i.e., functional gratification, hedonic gratification, social gratification, settings, problems encountered, and connections between devices. A large volatility of the conversation topics over time was found. The results implied that members in subreddit communities share their motivations for interacting with conversational AI and collaboratively discuss the relevant issues and problem solving to learn how to practice better.

   @article{ComputHumanBehav2022,
     title = {Exploring conversation topics in conversational artificial intelligence–based social mediated communities of practice},
     author = {Ng, Yu-Leung and Lin, Zhihuai},
     journal = {Computers in Human Behavior},
     volume = {134},
     pages = {107326},
     year = {2022},
     publisher = {Pergamon},
     doi = {10.1016/j.chb.2022.107326},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107326},
   }