Research

International Communication and Digital Public Diplomacy

My first line of research is international communication, especially how the Chinese government utilizes social media platforms to carry out digitalized public diplomacy and computational propaganda. In the paper Building a Network to “Tell China Stories Well”: Chinese Diplomatic Communication Strategies on Twitter, we were among the early scholars to pay attention to the digital propaganda activities of Chinese diplomats on Twitter and analyze it from a network perspective. Subsequently, I published a series of studies related to this. For my contributions to the field of digital public diplomacy, I was recently appointed as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Public Diplomacy.

Selected publications in international communication and digital public diplomacy:

Wang, R., & Huang, Z. A. (2023). Do closer relationships increase content similarity? Assessing transnational agenda-setting influence of Chinese media on Twitter. Journalism Practice. Online first, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2023.2239228 [PDF]

Wang, R., & Xu, W. W. (2023). Hashtag framing and stakeholder targeting: An affordance perspective on China’s digital public diplomacy campaign during COVID-19. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 20(3), 250-268. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2022.2096742 [PDF]

Huang, Z. A., & Wang, R. (2023). An intermestic approach to China’s public diplomacy: A case study of Beijing’s COVID-19 Communication in the early stages. Journal of Communication Management, 27(2), 309-328. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-04-2022-0042 [PDF]

Xu, W. W., & Wang, R. (2022). Nationalizing truth: Digital practices and influences of state-affiliated media in a time of global pandemic and geopolitical decoupling. International Journal of Communication, 16, 356–384. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/17191 [PDF]

Huang, Z. A., & Wang, R. (2021). Exploring China’s digitalization of public diplomacy on Weibo and Twitter: A case study of the U.S.-China trade war. International Journal of Communication, 15, 1912–1939. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/15105 [PDF]

Huang, Z. A., & Wang, R. (2020). ‘Panda engagement’ in China’s digital public diplomacy. Asian Journal of Communication, 30(2), 118–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2020.1725075 [PDF]

Huang, Z. A., & Wang, R. (2019). Building a network to “tell China stories well”: Chinese diplomatic communication strategies on Twitter. International Journal of Communication, 13, 2984–3007. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/11221 [PDF]

Social Media and Social Justice

Another line of my research is social media and social justice, specifically how social media empowers marginalized people. In the paper From Disembedding to Digital Re-Embedding: Social Media Empowerment and Solidarity Practices of Chinese Truck Drivers published in Social Media + Society, we investigated how Chinese truck drivers utilize social media to organize and negotiate with capital holders to protect their interests. In another paper (under review), we delved into the discussion on women's abortion rights on social media and the participation and interaction behaviors of social robots in the conversation. In addition, another ongoing study of mine focuses on the online discussion of the "Stop Asian and AAPI Hate" movement.