Z Cheng
Biographic Data
| ID | 31708 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Z Cheng |
| GIVEN NAMES | Z |
| FAMILY NAME | Cheng |
| SIGNATURE | CHENG Z |
| AFFILIATIONS | Pennsylvania State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0859-0538 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 42 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Political Content Engagement Model: A large-scale analysis of TikTok political video content features and audience engagement
Exploring the Direct and Indirect Effects of Traditional and Social Media News Use on Media Trust and Journalism Error Tolerance
Accuracy, or getting the news right, has been viewed as a paramount journalism value. However, in the digital age, the pressure to disseminate news rapidly has increased the possibility that erroneous information may be published. Based on longitudinal survey data in the United States, this study investigates the factors that influence news users’ tolerance towards journalism errors. Alternative and competing theoretical models are tested to deli…
TikTok’s political landscape: Examining echo chambers and political expression dynamics
Using a comprehensive dataset of over 160,000 public TikTok accounts and more than 16 million videos, this study indicates a notable increase in political TikTok video content from 2019 to 2023, with a peak around the 2020 US presidential election. The network analysis reveals distinct clusters of politically homogeneous networks or “political echo chambers” where users were exposed to attitude-consistent political TikTok content. Furthermore, th…
Selective Exposure to News, Homogeneous Political Discussion Networks, and Affective Political Polarization: An Agent-Based Modeling of Minimal versus Strong Communication Effects
This study employs an agent-based model (ABM) simulation grounded in polarization theory to explore how social and media influences shape affective polarization, social diversity, and media diversity within a hostile partisan information environment. We examine four scenarios: minimal, strong, social-dominated effect, and media-dominated effect, by iterating 16 combinations of parameters, including influence strength, homogeneous discussion, and …
News on TikTok Through the Lens of Quality Journalism: How TikTok Users Perceive News Values, Content, and Engagement
As TikTok becomes an increasingly popular platform for news consumption, it is important to understand how its unique format aligns with or challenges traditional journalistic standards. This study draws on the quality journalism framework, which consists of professional norms, content features, and audience engagement dimensions, to examine how U.S. TikTok users perceive the quality of news they encounter on the platform. Based on in-depth inter…
Birds of a Feather Get Angrier Together: Social Media News Use and Social Media Political Homophily as Antecedents of Political Anger
A significant body of literature within political communication revolves around the constructive political virtues and blighting social and democratic consequences of political anger. For the most part, studies have focused on identifying the primary causes and antecedents of political anger. However, within the context of social media, fewer efforts have been devoted to clarifying how and what infuriates people about politics. Does social media …
Second screening and trust in professional and alternative media: The Mediating Role of Media Efficacy
In the media convergence landscape, consumption of traditional, well-established media is increasingly combined with newer digital and online platforms such as blogs, podcasts, and social media, which has changed the way news users engage with media content. This study examines the relationship between hybrid media use-specifically, second screening-and trust in both professional and alternative media. Drawing on a two-wave U.S. panel data, first…
Social media influencers talk about politics: Investigating the role of source factors and PSR in Gen-Z followers’ perceived information quality, receptivity and sharing intention
Afforded by the unprecedented interactivity of social media, social media influencers (SMI) can build strong and trusting relationships with their followers. Such connections carry great potential and may be a powerful asset for political campaigns. Drawing on the existing literature on parasocial relationships (PSR) and political persuasion, we examined the effect of source factors and PSR on followers’ perceived message quality, receptivity, an…
Like, Comment, and Share on TikTok: Exploring the Effect of Sentiment and Second-Person View on the User Engagement with TikTok News Videos
TikTok—the world’s most downloaded app since 2020, has become a place for more than silly dancing and lip-syncing. TikTok users are increasingly turning to TikTok for news content. Meanwhile, news publishers are embracing TikTok to reach a younger audience. We aim to examine the content strategy adopted by the most-followed news publishers on TikTok and how effective their TikTok strategy is in spurring audience engagement in terms of liking, com…
Effects of the news finds me perception on algorithmic news attitudes and social media political homophily
Prior literature on political filter bubbles suggests an overall positive association between social media use and political networks diversification. Sometimes, this might not be the case. This study argues that the News Finds Me perception (NFM) or the belief that “one” can be well-informed about public affairs without actively seeking information as news will find “me” through “my” networks, tend to nurture a positive attitude toward algorithm…
Antecedents of Political Consumerism: Modeling Online, Social Media and WhatsApp News Use Effects Through Political Expression and Political Discussion
According to lifestyle politics theory, social media platforms introduce new ways for people to engage in civic life. Based on the communication mediation model, prior scholarship laid out theoretical and empirical foundations for how media exposure to the news positively influences people’s political participatory behavior through supplemental communicative processes. Building on this line of research, we rely on a two-wave panel survey of U.S. …
Origin and evolution of the News Finds Me perception: Review of theory and effects
Research revolving social media and democracy has exploded. For almost two decades, scholarship has offered new theories, revisited some old ones, and provided empirical evidence that helped cast a strong light on social media effects over people’s social life, and democracy at large. Thanks to social media, citizens consume news, express their political views, discuss political matters, and participate in political activities. However, social me…
Like, Comment, and Share on TikTok: Exploring the Effect of Sentiment and Second-Person View on the User Engagement with TikTok News Videos
TikTok—the world’s most downloaded app since 2020, has become a place for more than silly dancing and lip-syncing. TikTok users are increasingly turning to TikTok for news content. Meanwhile, news publishers are embracing TikTok to reach a younger audience. We aim to examine the content strategy adopted by the most-followed news publishers on TikTok and how effective their TikTok strategy is in spurring audience engagement in terms of liking, com…
Origin and evolution of the News Finds Me perception: Review of theory and effects
Research revolving social media and democracy has exploded. For almost two decades, scholarship has offered new theories, revisited some old ones, and provided empirical evidence that helped cast a strong light on social media effects over people’s social life, and democracy at large. Thanks to social media, citizens consume news, express their political views, discuss political matters, and participate in political activities. However, social me…
Social media influencers talk about politics: Investigating the role of source factors and PSR in Gen-Z followers’ perceived information quality, receptivity and sharing intention
Afforded by the unprecedented interactivity of social media, social media influencers (SMI) can build strong and trusting relationships with their followers. Such connections carry great potential and may be a powerful asset for political campaigns. Drawing on the existing literature on parasocial relationships (PSR) and political persuasion, we examined the effect of source factors and PSR on followers’ perceived message quality, receptivity, an…
Birds of a Feather Get Angrier Together: Social Media News Use and Social Media Political Homophily as Antecedents of Political Anger
A significant body of literature within political communication revolves around the constructive political virtues and blighting social and democratic consequences of political anger. For the most part, studies have focused on identifying the primary causes and antecedents of political anger. However, within the context of social media, fewer efforts have been devoted to clarifying how and what infuriates people about politics. Does social media …
Antecedents of Political Consumerism: Modeling Online, Social Media and WhatsApp News Use Effects Through Political Expression and Political Discussion
According to lifestyle politics theory, social media platforms introduce new ways for people to engage in civic life. Based on the communication mediation model, prior scholarship laid out theoretical and empirical foundations for how media exposure to the news positively influences people’s political participatory behavior through supplemental communicative processes. Building on this line of research, we rely on a two-wave panel survey of U.S. …
TikTok’s political landscape: Examining echo chambers and political expression dynamics
Using a comprehensive dataset of over 160,000 public TikTok accounts and more than 16 million videos, this study indicates a notable increase in political TikTok video content from 2019 to 2023, with a peak around the 2020 US presidential election. The network analysis reveals distinct clusters of politically homogeneous networks or “political echo chambers” where users were exposed to attitude-consistent political TikTok content. Furthermore, th…
Second screening and trust in professional and alternative media: The Mediating Role of Media Efficacy
In the media convergence landscape, consumption of traditional, well-established media is increasingly combined with newer digital and online platforms such as blogs, podcasts, and social media, which has changed the way news users engage with media content. This study examines the relationship between hybrid media use-specifically, second screening-and trust in both professional and alternative media. Drawing on a two-wave U.S. panel data, first…
Origin and evolution of the News Finds Me perception: Review of theory and effects
Research revolving social media and democracy has exploded. For almost two decades, scholarship has offered new theories, revisited some old ones, and provided empirical evidence that helped cast a strong light on social media effects over people’s social life, and democracy at large. Thanks to social media, citizens consume news, express their political views, discuss political matters, and participate in political activities. However, social me…
Effects of the news finds me perception on algorithmic news attitudes and social media political homophily
Prior literature on political filter bubbles suggests an overall positive association between social media use and political networks diversification. Sometimes, this might not be the case. This study argues that the News Finds Me perception (NFM) or the belief that “one” can be well-informed about public affairs without actively seeking information as news will find “me” through “my” networks, tend to nurture a positive attitude toward algorithm…
Antecedents of Political Consumerism: Modeling Online, Social Media and WhatsApp News Use Effects Through Political Expression and Political Discussion
According to lifestyle politics theory, social media platforms introduce new ways for people to engage in civic life. Based on the communication mediation model, prior scholarship laid out theoretical and empirical foundations for how media exposure to the news positively influences people’s political participatory behavior through supplemental communicative processes. Building on this line of research, we rely on a two-wave panel survey of U.S. …
Social media influencers talk about politics: Investigating the role of source factors and PSR in Gen-Z followers’ perceived information quality, receptivity and sharing intention
Afforded by the unprecedented interactivity of social media, social media influencers (SMI) can build strong and trusting relationships with their followers. Such connections carry great potential and may be a powerful asset for political campaigns. Drawing on the existing literature on parasocial relationships (PSR) and political persuasion, we examined the effect of source factors and PSR on followers’ perceived message quality, receptivity, an…
Like, Comment, and Share on TikTok: Exploring the Effect of Sentiment and Second-Person View on the User Engagement with TikTok News Videos
TikTok—the world’s most downloaded app since 2020, has become a place for more than silly dancing and lip-syncing. TikTok users are increasingly turning to TikTok for news content. Meanwhile, news publishers are embracing TikTok to reach a younger audience. We aim to examine the content strategy adopted by the most-followed news publishers on TikTok and how effective their TikTok strategy is in spurring audience engagement in terms of liking, com…
Birds of a Feather Get Angrier Together: Social Media News Use and Social Media Political Homophily as Antecedents of Political Anger
A significant body of literature within political communication revolves around the constructive political virtues and blighting social and democratic consequences of political anger. For the most part, studies have focused on identifying the primary causes and antecedents of political anger. However, within the context of social media, fewer efforts have been devoted to clarifying how and what infuriates people about politics. Does social media …
Second screening and trust in professional and alternative media: The Mediating Role of Media Efficacy
In the media convergence landscape, consumption of traditional, well-established media is increasingly combined with newer digital and online platforms such as blogs, podcasts, and social media, which has changed the way news users engage with media content. This study examines the relationship between hybrid media use-specifically, second screening-and trust in both professional and alternative media. Drawing on a two-wave U.S. panel data, first…
Exploring the Direct and Indirect Effects of Traditional and Social Media News Use on Media Trust and Journalism Error Tolerance
Accuracy, or getting the news right, has been viewed as a paramount journalism value. However, in the digital age, the pressure to disseminate news rapidly has increased the possibility that erroneous information may be published. Based on longitudinal survey data in the United States, this study investigates the factors that influence news users’ tolerance towards journalism errors. Alternative and competing theoretical models are tested to deli…
TikTok’s political landscape: Examining echo chambers and political expression dynamics
Using a comprehensive dataset of over 160,000 public TikTok accounts and more than 16 million videos, this study indicates a notable increase in political TikTok video content from 2019 to 2023, with a peak around the 2020 US presidential election. The network analysis reveals distinct clusters of politically homogeneous networks or “political echo chambers” where users were exposed to attitude-consistent political TikTok content. Furthermore, th…
Selective Exposure to News, Homogeneous Political Discussion Networks, and Affective Political Polarization: An Agent-Based Modeling of Minimal versus Strong Communication Effects
This study employs an agent-based model (ABM) simulation grounded in polarization theory to explore how social and media influences shape affective polarization, social diversity, and media diversity within a hostile partisan information environment. We examine four scenarios: minimal, strong, social-dominated effect, and media-dominated effect, by iterating 16 combinations of parameters, including influence strength, homogeneous discussion, and …
News on TikTok Through the Lens of Quality Journalism: How TikTok Users Perceive News Values, Content, and Engagement
As TikTok becomes an increasingly popular platform for news consumption, it is important to understand how its unique format aligns with or challenges traditional journalistic standards. This study draws on the quality journalism framework, which consists of professional norms, content features, and audience engagement dimensions, to examine how U.S. TikTok users perceive the quality of news they encounter on the platform. Based on in-depth inter…
Political Content Engagement Model: A large-scale analysis of TikTok political video content features and audience engagement
Political science (8 works) · Politics (8 works) · Social media (8 works) · Social Media and Politics (8 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Public relations (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works)