Published: 2024-09-01

The International Communication Association Annual Conference is widely recognised as the field’s premier venue for presenting new research. One of the largest contingents of research students at this June’s event in Gold Coast, Australia, came from Hong Kong Baptist University’s School of Communication. Of the 73 HKBU-affiliated accepted papers and posters, 34 were authored or co-authored by the School’s research postgraduate students.

For PhD students, especially those nearing the completion of their studies, the conference was an important opportunity to share their dissertation work and other ongoing research with a global audience.

Leanne Chang, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and the new Director of Research Postgraduate Programme expounded on the school’s commitment to nurturing the research activities of its students. “Our school recognizes the importance of overseas research experience and is committed to supporting our research postgraduate (RPg) students in this endeavour”, Chang says. “We offer a conference subsidy for RPg students to present their work at international academic conferences. This support is an integral part of our students’ educational journey and provides them with valuable opportunities to connect with fellow researchers and academics across the globe”.

Fan Xiao, a year 5 PhD candidate, presented a part of her dissertation titled ‘A Representative for All Girls? The Soft Masculinity of Male E-Commerce Streamers in the Case of Li Jiaqi’ in the Popular Media and Culture Division of ICA. E-commerce live streaming has become one of the lucrative ways of selling products virtually to a large audience in real-time. Online celebrities and digital content creators often use live streaming to showcase and sample products to get their viewers and followers to purchase the products, sometimes at discounted rates. Xiao’s study examines the role that gender plays in the effectiveness of this digital business venture, termed Wanghong in Chinese, within the context of China e-commerce. She focuses on a popular Chinese male e-commerce live streamer, Li Jiaqi who sells cosmetics. Through a multimodal discourse analysis of Li Jiaqi’s e-commerce contents, Xiao seeks to analyse the intricacies of gender representation to understand how a male Wanghong attracts a large female viewership and patronage. The findings of this study will provide a comprehensive understanding of the complexities surrounding heteronormativity, gender roles, and cultural preferences in Chinese e-commerce environment.

Fan Xiao presenting her paper at ICA

Yue Huang, also in her 5th year of study, presented part of her PhD dissertation titled ‘Communal Identity on Gay Dating Apps in China’ in the Mobile Communication Division of ICA. The study seeks to examine how dating apps are used by gay people in China to negotiate their identities and to establish their sexuality. The research also aims to discover the cultural values, norms, and social practices that are reflected in the communication contents on the dating apps. To understand this phenomenon, Huang conducted semi-structured interviews with gay users of dating apps in four Chinese cities; Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuxi, and Taiyuan. Preliminary findings revealed that dating apps were often used by Chinese gay people as tools to develop their self-image, to present their personal identities, and to imbibe communal identities through the reinforcement of communal norms and beliefs.

Baiqi Li, who is in her 4th year of study presented a part of her dissertation titled ‘Perceptions of Incivility in Public Online Discussions: A Qualitative Analysis of the Influence of Message and Context Characteristics’ in the Language & Social Interaction Division of ICA. It is not uncommon for people on social media platforms to convey disaffection and dissatisfaction about issues, events, or phenomenon using uncivil and discourteous expressions. These social media incivilities tend to have different impacts on people’s attitudes and reactions. Li’s research, therefore, captures how people’s perceptions of online incivility are influenced by two factors, message-related factors and context-related factors. Through an in-depth interview with several users on three Cantonese-speaking online discussion forums, the LIHKG, Discuss HK, and Hong Kong Golden Forum, Li observed that the way uncivil expressions are worded and presented influenced how they are perceived. For instance, uncivil speech masked by humourous images were perceived less negatively that those that were presented only in strong languages.

“International conferences like ICA and AEJMC provide a platform to share my research findings with leading scholars and practitioners, receive critical feedback, and stay updated on the latest trends and advancements in the field of communication. Engaging with a global network of experts and research students is a great help for me to build collaborative relationships, which can lead to joint research projects, publication opportunities, and future career prospects”, says Li. “Additionally, presenting at these conferences enhances my academic profile and strengthens my credentials as an interdisciplinary researcher committed to contributing to the global discourse in communication”.

Baiqi Li presenting her paper at ICA

Year 3 PhD student, Ziwei Wang’s research titled ‘Visual and Moral Framing of Climate Change on YouTube: A Comparative Study of Environmental Videos in the US and the UK’ was presented in the Computational Methods Division of ICA. The mass media play a crucial role in the way climate change information are understood and interpreted by the public. The presentation and portrayal of climate issues in the media have the potential to influence the way individuals and the society takes necessary actions to stem climate change. The aim of Wang’s research is to explore the rhetorical devices used by the YouTube channels of environmental agencies in the United States and United Kingdom to portray climate issues. Using computer-aided image analysis and computer-assisted quantitative linguistic analysis to compare YouTube videos in both US and the UK, Wang found that climate videos by UK agencies place greater emphasis on the impact of climate change than climate change videos by US agencies.

Ziwei Wang presenting her paper at ICA

Other RPg students in the School of Communication who presented their papers across various divisions at this year’s ICA include Aurelia Ayi-Bonte, Arjun Chatterjee, Hanjing Wang, Zuquan Xiong, Tianlun Zhou, Xu Miao, Zhihuai Lin, Jingyi Zhang, Yajing Lu, Dongni Li, Jiangling Huang, Zuquan Xiong, Yijun Luo, Zixi Li, Yitong Gu, Yushi Luo, Yujie Hou, Yuexin Lyu, Qingyuan Zhao, Yiyuan Zhang, Yan Wang, and Yuhao Zhang.

Besides benefiting from the helpful feedback on their research as well as gaining new insights and knowledge from other scholars, the ICA conference affords the students opportunity to network and connect with peers, top scholars, and renowned professionals in different areas of communication research. These interactions have the potential of spawning into future research collaborations and professional development that will be useful in helping the students to successfully navigate the job market. Hence, the School of Communication remains committed to investing the professional growth of its RPg students through grants that support cutting-edge research and by supporting its the students to participate in international conferences.