Anfan Chen
Biographic Data
| ID | 4258303 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Anfan Chen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Anfan |
| FAMILY NAME | Chen |
| SIGNATURE | CHEN A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Hong Kong Baptist University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7406-0415 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 36 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Buzz Across Borders: Analyzing the Global and Local Dynamics Shaping the ChatGPT Media Hype in China
ChatGPT ignited a global AI media hype. Surprisingly, China ranks as the leading country in online searches for “ChatGPT,” despite the platform’s limited accessibility there. In this study, we explore how the ChatGPT media hype was produced within a framework of international information flow and the localization of a global issue. We employ computational methods to investigate the inter-media and intra-media dynamics shaping the ChatGPT media hy…
Beyond risk-benefit perceptions: Social influence pathways in public attitudes toward genetic modification in China
Public support for genetic modification (GM) remains contested, shaped not only by individual risk-benefit evaluations but also by social contexts. Drawing on social influence theory, this study analyzes national survey data from China to examine how perceived majority opinion affects GM support directly and indirectly via perceived risks and benefits, and how these pathways are moderated by perceived important others’ opinion and government cont…
When knowledge fades but loyalty persists: Examining the contextual dynamics of media effects on vaccination intentions in China
Introduction Media exposure shapes health behaviors directly and via cognitive and affective/attitudinal mediators. However, how different types of mediating route’s function and how evolving environments affect these mediators remains understudied. Methods Drawing on three national survey waves fielded at distinct stages of China’s COVID-19 response (April 2021 vaccine rollout; April 2022 zero-COVID debate; January 2023 post-lockdown), this stud…
Authenticity perceived, authenticity performed: How inconsistency between self-generated and other-generated location-based information influences user engagement on Weibo
Inconsistency between self- and other-generated information impacts user engagement. • The effect of SGI-OGI inconsistency on user engagement depends on audience size. • The effect is negative for bloggers with fewer followers. • The effect is positive for microcelebrities due to self-presentation strategies. • Newly attracted audiences could also explain the increase among microcelebrities. Unanticipated other-generated information has posed cha…
Unveiling the Making of Trending Topics on a Digital Platform: A Research Note on Chinese Sina Weibo
Understanding the dynamics and duration of trending topics on digital platforms has been deemed a crucial issue of research in computer-mediated communication. Employing event history analysis (EHA), this study attempts to examine the antecedents of the lifespan and evolution of trending topics on Sina Weibo, one of the most prevalent social media platforms in China. Based on a collection of 2,386 Sina Weibo trending topics that emerged between J…
Nostalgia, Social Media, and Subjective Wellbeing: The Dualistic and Conditional Effects of Nostalgia During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Drastic lifestyle changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic have caused many people to undergo nostalgic longing for the past. Drawing on the regulatory model of nostalgia, we built a research model to examine the dualistic effects of nostalgia on subjective wellbeing, using self-continuity as a mediator and social media use as a moderator. The findings from an online survey (N = 373) indicated that when nostalgia is associated with an enhanced sense …
Chinese scientists’ mediated participation in public outreach: Multiple direct and personal norm-mediated predictors
The rise of new media technologies has reshaped the landscape of science communication. There is little research on scientists’ outreach participation and its possible predictors in different media contexts. Based on a national survey of 8,533 scientists in China, this study examined multiple direct and personal norm-mediated predictors of scientists’ intentions to participate in public outreach via legacy media versus social media. Our findings …
AI Privacy in Context: A Comparative Study of Public and Institutional Discourse on Conversational AI Privacy in the US and Chinese Social Media
The proliferation of conversational artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as chatbots, has sparked widespread privacy concerns. Previous research suggests that privacy perceptions and practices vary across sociocultural contexts. This study examines public and institutional discourses on conversational AI privacy in the United States and China. Semantic network and discourse analyses of privacy-related discussions on Twitter and Weibo reveal…
The bright and dark sides of social media use during Covid-19 lockdown: Contrasting social media effects through social liability vs. social support
Pandemic Nationalism: Use of Government Social Media for Political Information and Belief in Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories in China
The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a torrent of conspiracy theories across different social media platforms. Parallel to this conspiracy wave was a heightened sense of nationalism, which manifested through both in-group solidarity and perceived out-group threats. In this study, we examine how individuals’ use of government social media to gather political information correlated with nation-related conspiracy beliefs during the pandemic. Data were co…
The Sagan Effect and Scientists’ Public Outreach Participation in China: Multilayered Roles of Social Norms and Rewards
In this study, we investigate public outreach participation among Chinese scientists through a multiple mediation model. Factors related to the Sagan effect—negative experiences and negative personal norms—are examined as potential predictors and/or mediators. Based on a national survey of 8,533 scientists, we validate the Sagan effect triggered by their negative experiences, which indirectly inhibit their outreach participation intentions throug…
Excavating the social representations and perceived barriers of organ donation in China over the past decade: A hybrid text analysis approach
Background: Organ donation has been claimed as a prosocial behavior to prolong the recipient's life and deliver great love. However, the supply-demand ratio of organs in China is highly unbalanced. Being entangled with multiple factors derived from individual and supra-individual levels, organ donation in China is important but sensitive. Previous scholars usually depended on obtrusive approaches to explore the facilitators and hindrances of orga…
Rethinking the knowledge-attitudes model and introducing belief in human evolution: Examining antecedents of public acceptability of human gene editing
In the science communication literature, we can easily notice the persistence of the knowledge-attitudes model (or the deficit model) that attributes the lack of public support to a lack of scientific knowledge. However, there has also been a continuing debate over the roles of scientific knowledge in explaining public attitudes towards specific controversial science and technologies. Using the data from an American nationwide survey, this study …
When national identity meets conspiracies: The contagion of national identity language in public engagement and discourse about Covid-19 conspiracy theories
There are growing concerns about the role of identity narratives in spreading misinformation on social media, which threatens informed citizenship. Drawing on the social identity model of deindividualization effects (SIDE) and social identity theory, we investigate how the use of national identity language is associated with the diffusion and discourse of COVID-19 conspiracy theories on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China. Our results…
Exploring public perceptions of the Covid-19 vaccine online from a cultural perspective: Semantic network analysis of two social media platforms in the United States and China
Before and after the Chinese gene-edited human babies: Multiple discourses of gene editing on social media
This study examines discourses in Chinese online discussions of gene editing by multiple social actors on Weibo before and after a significant scientific crisis, the 2018 scandal of Chinese gene-edited human babies. A content analysis of 2074 posts was done to identify frames, emotions, and metaphors. Findings reveal that Chinese social media have opened up new spaces for multiple social actors to generate multiple discourses. This has resulted i…
The Expression of Cultural Identities in Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement: A Semantic Network Analysis of Tweets
Building upon the theories of nested identity and optimal distinctiveness, this study examines the identity structure of Hong Kong Twitter users as reflected in their tweets and how their structure changed over time during the Anti-Extradition Movement. By employing semantic network analysis and discursive historical analysis, we found that the identity structure expressed by Hong Kong Twitter users manifested a composite mesh of a sense of victi…
Changing Social Representations and Agenda Interactions of Gene Editing After Crises: A Network Agenda-Setting Study on Chinese Social Media
By incorporating social representation theory with science communication and by using a critical milestone scientific crisis (i.e., the scandal of Chinese gene-edited human babies in 2018) as a dividing point, this study adopted a network agenda-setting approach to explore how various actors (i.e., scientists, the media, laypeople, and the government) engaged in the construction of social representations of the controversial issue of gene editing…
The Role of Online Media in Mobilizing Large-Scale Collective Action
This study investigates the role of online media in mobilizing large-scale collective action. Adopting the theoretical framework of collective action space, we formulated the organizing process of collective action into a model with two dimensions-hierarchy and closure-and analyzed how they influence mobilization. The model was tested against Twitter data collected during the 2020 Hong Kong protest, including a total of 54,365 tweets posted by 14…
MeToo as a Connective Movement: Examining the Frames Adopted in the Anti-Sexual Harassment Movement in China
This study was aimed to contribute to understanding how networked yet fragmented online actors create meaning in digital media–enabled movements like #MeToo. By drawing upon a multidimensional framing analysis, this study investigated how personal action frames, collective action frames, and issue-specific frames were adopted in #MeToo movement in China, and it also shed light on how different groups of social actors respond to sexual harassment …
Why do replies appear? A multi-level event history analysis of online policy discussions
Participation takes time in both synchronous and asynchronous communication. To encourage participation, most scholars suggested strategies to change participants’ motivation to adjust the way how they distribute their time resources. We, instead, view time as an evolving environment with specific temporal norms. This study employed a multi-level event history model to explore what factors affect response behaviors in an online policy discussion …
MeToo as a Connective Movement: Examining the Frames Adopted in the Anti-Sexual Harassment Movement in China
This study was aimed to contribute to understanding how networked yet fragmented online actors create meaning in digital media–enabled movements like #MeToo. By drawing upon a multidimensional framing analysis, this study investigated how personal action frames, collective action frames, and issue-specific frames were adopted in #MeToo movement in China, and it also shed light on how different groups of social actors respond to sexual harassment …
The Role of Online Media in Mobilizing Large-Scale Collective Action
This study investigates the role of online media in mobilizing large-scale collective action. Adopting the theoretical framework of collective action space, we formulated the organizing process of collective action into a model with two dimensions-hierarchy and closure-and analyzed how they influence mobilization. The model was tested against Twitter data collected during the 2020 Hong Kong protest, including a total of 54,365 tweets posted by 14…
When national identity meets conspiracies: The contagion of national identity language in public engagement and discourse about Covid-19 conspiracy theories
There are growing concerns about the role of identity narratives in spreading misinformation on social media, which threatens informed citizenship. Drawing on the social identity model of deindividualization effects (SIDE) and social identity theory, we investigate how the use of national identity language is associated with the diffusion and discourse of COVID-19 conspiracy theories on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China. Our results…
Pandemic Nationalism: Use of Government Social Media for Political Information and Belief in Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories in China
The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a torrent of conspiracy theories across different social media platforms. Parallel to this conspiracy wave was a heightened sense of nationalism, which manifested through both in-group solidarity and perceived out-group threats. In this study, we examine how individuals’ use of government social media to gather political information correlated with nation-related conspiracy beliefs during the pandemic. Data were co…
Changing Social Representations and Agenda Interactions of Gene Editing After Crises: A Network Agenda-Setting Study on Chinese Social Media
By incorporating social representation theory with science communication and by using a critical milestone scientific crisis (i.e., the scandal of Chinese gene-edited human babies in 2018) as a dividing point, this study adopted a network agenda-setting approach to explore how various actors (i.e., scientists, the media, laypeople, and the government) engaged in the construction of social representations of the controversial issue of gene editing…
Unveiling the Making of Trending Topics on a Digital Platform: A Research Note on Chinese Sina Weibo
Understanding the dynamics and duration of trending topics on digital platforms has been deemed a crucial issue of research in computer-mediated communication. Employing event history analysis (EHA), this study attempts to examine the antecedents of the lifespan and evolution of trending topics on Sina Weibo, one of the most prevalent social media platforms in China. Based on a collection of 2,386 Sina Weibo trending topics that emerged between J…
AI Privacy in Context: A Comparative Study of Public and Institutional Discourse on Conversational AI Privacy in the US and Chinese Social Media
The proliferation of conversational artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as chatbots, has sparked widespread privacy concerns. Previous research suggests that privacy perceptions and practices vary across sociocultural contexts. This study examines public and institutional discourses on conversational AI privacy in the United States and China. Semantic network and discourse analyses of privacy-related discussions on Twitter and Weibo reveal…
The Expression of Cultural Identities in Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement: A Semantic Network Analysis of Tweets
Building upon the theories of nested identity and optimal distinctiveness, this study examines the identity structure of Hong Kong Twitter users as reflected in their tweets and how their structure changed over time during the Anti-Extradition Movement. By employing semantic network analysis and discursive historical analysis, we found that the identity structure expressed by Hong Kong Twitter users manifested a composite mesh of a sense of victi…
Why do replies appear? A multi-level event history analysis of online policy discussions
Participation takes time in both synchronous and asynchronous communication. To encourage participation, most scholars suggested strategies to change participants’ motivation to adjust the way how they distribute their time resources. We, instead, view time as an evolving environment with specific temporal norms. This study employed a multi-level event history model to explore what factors affect response behaviors in an online policy discussion …
MeToo as a Connective Movement: Examining the Frames Adopted in the Anti-Sexual Harassment Movement in China
This study was aimed to contribute to understanding how networked yet fragmented online actors create meaning in digital media–enabled movements like #MeToo. By drawing upon a multidimensional framing analysis, this study investigated how personal action frames, collective action frames, and issue-specific frames were adopted in #MeToo movement in China, and it also shed light on how different groups of social actors respond to sexual harassment …
Exploring public perceptions of the Covid-19 vaccine online from a cultural perspective: Semantic network analysis of two social media platforms in the United States and China
Before and after the Chinese gene-edited human babies: Multiple discourses of gene editing on social media
This study examines discourses in Chinese online discussions of gene editing by multiple social actors on Weibo before and after a significant scientific crisis, the 2018 scandal of Chinese gene-edited human babies. A content analysis of 2074 posts was done to identify frames, emotions, and metaphors. Findings reveal that Chinese social media have opened up new spaces for multiple social actors to generate multiple discourses. This has resulted i…
The Expression of Cultural Identities in Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement: A Semantic Network Analysis of Tweets
Building upon the theories of nested identity and optimal distinctiveness, this study examines the identity structure of Hong Kong Twitter users as reflected in their tweets and how their structure changed over time during the Anti-Extradition Movement. By employing semantic network analysis and discursive historical analysis, we found that the identity structure expressed by Hong Kong Twitter users manifested a composite mesh of a sense of victi…
Changing Social Representations and Agenda Interactions of Gene Editing After Crises: A Network Agenda-Setting Study on Chinese Social Media
By incorporating social representation theory with science communication and by using a critical milestone scientific crisis (i.e., the scandal of Chinese gene-edited human babies in 2018) as a dividing point, this study adopted a network agenda-setting approach to explore how various actors (i.e., scientists, the media, laypeople, and the government) engaged in the construction of social representations of the controversial issue of gene editing…
The Role of Online Media in Mobilizing Large-Scale Collective Action
This study investigates the role of online media in mobilizing large-scale collective action. Adopting the theoretical framework of collective action space, we formulated the organizing process of collective action into a model with two dimensions-hierarchy and closure-and analyzed how they influence mobilization. The model was tested against Twitter data collected during the 2020 Hong Kong protest, including a total of 54,365 tweets posted by 14…
Excavating the social representations and perceived barriers of organ donation in China over the past decade: A hybrid text analysis approach
Background: Organ donation has been claimed as a prosocial behavior to prolong the recipient's life and deliver great love. However, the supply-demand ratio of organs in China is highly unbalanced. Being entangled with multiple factors derived from individual and supra-individual levels, organ donation in China is important but sensitive. Previous scholars usually depended on obtrusive approaches to explore the facilitators and hindrances of orga…
Rethinking the knowledge-attitudes model and introducing belief in human evolution: Examining antecedents of public acceptability of human gene editing
In the science communication literature, we can easily notice the persistence of the knowledge-attitudes model (or the deficit model) that attributes the lack of public support to a lack of scientific knowledge. However, there has also been a continuing debate over the roles of scientific knowledge in explaining public attitudes towards specific controversial science and technologies. Using the data from an American nationwide survey, this study …
When national identity meets conspiracies: The contagion of national identity language in public engagement and discourse about Covid-19 conspiracy theories
There are growing concerns about the role of identity narratives in spreading misinformation on social media, which threatens informed citizenship. Drawing on the social identity model of deindividualization effects (SIDE) and social identity theory, we investigate how the use of national identity language is associated with the diffusion and discourse of COVID-19 conspiracy theories on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China. Our results…
The bright and dark sides of social media use during Covid-19 lockdown: Contrasting social media effects through social liability vs. social support
Pandemic Nationalism: Use of Government Social Media for Political Information and Belief in Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories in China
The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a torrent of conspiracy theories across different social media platforms. Parallel to this conspiracy wave was a heightened sense of nationalism, which manifested through both in-group solidarity and perceived out-group threats. In this study, we examine how individuals’ use of government social media to gather political information correlated with nation-related conspiracy beliefs during the pandemic. Data were co…
The Sagan Effect and Scientists’ Public Outreach Participation in China: Multilayered Roles of Social Norms and Rewards
In this study, we investigate public outreach participation among Chinese scientists through a multiple mediation model. Factors related to the Sagan effect—negative experiences and negative personal norms—are examined as potential predictors and/or mediators. Based on a national survey of 8,533 scientists, we validate the Sagan effect triggered by their negative experiences, which indirectly inhibit their outreach participation intentions throug…
Nostalgia, Social Media, and Subjective Wellbeing: The Dualistic and Conditional Effects of Nostalgia During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Drastic lifestyle changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic have caused many people to undergo nostalgic longing for the past. Drawing on the regulatory model of nostalgia, we built a research model to examine the dualistic effects of nostalgia on subjective wellbeing, using self-continuity as a mediator and social media use as a moderator. The findings from an online survey (N = 373) indicated that when nostalgia is associated with an enhanced sense …
Chinese scientists’ mediated participation in public outreach: Multiple direct and personal norm-mediated predictors
The rise of new media technologies has reshaped the landscape of science communication. There is little research on scientists’ outreach participation and its possible predictors in different media contexts. Based on a national survey of 8,533 scientists in China, this study examined multiple direct and personal norm-mediated predictors of scientists’ intentions to participate in public outreach via legacy media versus social media. Our findings …
AI Privacy in Context: A Comparative Study of Public and Institutional Discourse on Conversational AI Privacy in the US and Chinese Social Media
The proliferation of conversational artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as chatbots, has sparked widespread privacy concerns. Previous research suggests that privacy perceptions and practices vary across sociocultural contexts. This study examines public and institutional discourses on conversational AI privacy in the United States and China. Semantic network and discourse analyses of privacy-related discussions on Twitter and Weibo reveal…
When knowledge fades but loyalty persists: Examining the contextual dynamics of media effects on vaccination intentions in China
Introduction Media exposure shapes health behaviors directly and via cognitive and affective/attitudinal mediators. However, how different types of mediating route’s function and how evolving environments affect these mediators remains understudied. Methods Drawing on three national survey waves fielded at distinct stages of China’s COVID-19 response (April 2021 vaccine rollout; April 2022 zero-COVID debate; January 2023 post-lockdown), this stud…
Authenticity perceived, authenticity performed: How inconsistency between self-generated and other-generated location-based information influences user engagement on Weibo
Inconsistency between self- and other-generated information impacts user engagement. • The effect of SGI-OGI inconsistency on user engagement depends on audience size. • The effect is negative for bloggers with fewer followers. • The effect is positive for microcelebrities due to self-presentation strategies. • Newly attracted audiences could also explain the increase among microcelebrities. Unanticipated other-generated information has posed cha…
Unveiling the Making of Trending Topics on a Digital Platform: A Research Note on Chinese Sina Weibo
Understanding the dynamics and duration of trending topics on digital platforms has been deemed a crucial issue of research in computer-mediated communication. Employing event history analysis (EHA), this study attempts to examine the antecedents of the lifespan and evolution of trending topics on Sina Weibo, one of the most prevalent social media platforms in China. Based on a collection of 2,386 Sina Weibo trending topics that emerged between J…
Buzz Across Borders: Analyzing the Global and Local Dynamics Shaping the ChatGPT Media Hype in China
ChatGPT ignited a global AI media hype. Surprisingly, China ranks as the leading country in online searches for “ChatGPT,” despite the platform’s limited accessibility there. In this study, we explore how the ChatGPT media hype was produced within a framework of international information flow and the localization of a global issue. We employ computational methods to investigate the inter-media and intra-media dynamics shaping the ChatGPT media hy…
Beyond risk-benefit perceptions: Social influence pathways in public attitudes toward genetic modification in China
Public support for genetic modification (GM) remains contested, shaped not only by individual risk-benefit evaluations but also by social contexts. Drawing on social influence theory, this study analyzes national survey data from China to examine how perceived majority opinion affects GM support directly and indirectly via perceived risks and benefits, and how these pathways are moderated by perceived important others’ opinion and government cont…
Political science (16 works) · Psychology (13 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Social media (11 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Law (10 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · China (8 works) · Misinformation and Its Impacts (8 works) · Politics (8 works)