Bin Chen

Hi! I am an Assistant Professor at the Journalism and Media Studies Centre, Faculty of Social Science, the University of Hong Kong. My research interests include digital media and politics, computational social science, social and political implications of emerging technologies, and comparative media studies. Before joining HKU, I received my Ph.D. in Journalism and Media and M.S. in Statistics and Data Science from the University of Texas at Austin.

My research is primarily driven by quantitative and computational methods. My current research projects are categorized into three primary areas:

• Cross-Platform Information Flow and Influence: In this strand, I focus on the dynamics of information within the hybrid media system—including news media and social media. I explore how information flows from one platform to another and the strategic use of various digital platforms by activists, politicians, and media organizations.
• Computational Social Science: My research is often driven by cutting-edge computational tools, including multimodal data analysis (image-as-data, radio-as-data). I am also working on inferential network analysis to explore dynamics in organizational behaviors, such as OSINT collaboration, mobilization, and information governance networks.
• Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and Media Studies: I investigate the social and political implications of recent generative AI in journalism and media studies. I am particularly interested in how different generative AI technologies play distinct roles and their effects on users’ perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors.

Selected Publications

Public Writings

• The State of Digital Media Data Research 2024 by Brown, M. A., Lukito, J., Greenfield, J., Chen, B., Graham, S., Shugars, S., Pruden, M. MDDC, 2024.
• The State of Digital Media Data Research 2023 by Lukito, J., Brown, M., Dahlke, R., Suk J., Yang, Y., Zhang, Y., Chen, B., Kim, S. J., Soorholtz, K. MDDC, 2023.
• Op-Ed: Social Media Platforms’ Struggles with Misinformation and Racism: Challenges and Paths Forward by Lukito, J., Murthy, D, Chen, B., Kazanas, K., Kolluri, A., Venkatesh, P. Bridging Barriers, November 11, 2022.
• Policy Brief: Designing Responsible AI Technologies to Curb Disinformation Project by Lukito, J., Kazanas, K., Chen, B.. October 26, 2022.

Teaching

• JMSC6113 Data Journalism
• JMSC1003 Fundamentals of Data Journalism

Service

• 2022 Digital Data Conference (Panel Chair), April 14-15, 2022
• Digital Data Collection Workshop (Co-host), Feb 28, 2022; May 26, 2022 [repo]
• Intro to R and Tidyverse Workshop (Host), Sept 30, 2022 [repo]

Contact

• Address: EH207, Eliot Hall, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong
• Tel: +852 3917 4119
• Email: chenb(at)hku.hk

Last update: Nov 10, 2024