Céline Yunya Song

Associate Head and Professor, Division of Emerging Interdisciplinary Areas, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

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(852) 3469 3296

yunyasong@ust.hk

Prof. Céline Yunya Song’s research cuts across global communication, digital media, social media analytics, cyber-psychology and behavior. With an extensive track record in pursuing interdisciplinary research, her scholarship has straddled English, French and Chinese cultures and media. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Fulbright award. Her research has been awarded a series of internal and external grants, including from the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme, General Research Fund, Quality Education Fund, and Public Policy Research Fund, as well as external grants from Ryerson University, Canada, L’Université Paris Nanterre, France, FMSH, France and the CONVERGE COVID-19 Working Group Award, USA. She received the HKBU President’s Award for Outstanding Young Researchers in 2017 and the HKBU President’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Scholarly Work in 2023. She was a visiting associate professor at Cornell University from 2019 to 2020.

Having studied at Nanjing University, Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille, Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies, and University of California at Berkeley on a Fulbright scholarship, she obtained her Ph.D. from the City University of Hong Kong. Before pursuing her Ph.D. studies, she had taught at Nanjing University and reported on various domestic and international issues for several national media organizations including the China Daily and China Central Television.

She is the editor of Communication & Society (TSSCI) and serves as the associate editor for Computers in Human Behavior (SSCI) and Mass Communication and Society (SSCI). She is also the Award Chair of the International Chinese Communication Association (國際中華傳播學會). Prior to joining HKUST, she was a professor and associate dean at the School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, where she also served as the director of the AI and Media Research Lab.

Research Interest

Digital Media

Global Communication

Social Media Analytics

Cyberpsychology and Behavior

Computational Social Science

Selected Publication

Selected Articles

Ku, K.L., Li, J., Luo, Y., Song, Y*. (2025) Correction approaches and hashtag framing in addressing Mpox misinformation on Instagram. Health Education Research, 40(2). (corresponding author) (SSCI)

Song, Y., Schuldt, J.P., Zhang, Y., Wang, Z., Yuan, Y.C., Zou, S., Li, J. (2025). Bridging ideologies: analyzing the use of moral language and framing in social media discourse on climate change by U.S. congress members through computational approaches. Climatic Change, 178(56).

Song, Y., Lu, Y., Tsang, S. J., Zhang, J., & Ku, K. Y. (2025). When Corrections Fail: Effects of Misinformation Targets, Repeated Exposure, and Partisanship on Misinformation Beliefs. International Journal of Communication, 19, 25. (SSCI)

Zhang, C., Yuan, C. Y., Wei, L., Jung, J. Y., Qiu, J. L., Hwang, S., & Song, C. Y. (2025). Self-Enhancement Mentality or Cognitive Preferences? Unpacking Different Approaches to Understanding Cultural Variations in Attribution Patterns. Cross-Cultural Research, 10693971241309964.

Alipour, F., Dokshin, F., Maleki, Z., Song, Y., & Ramazi, P. (2024). Enough But Not Too Many: A Bi-threshold Model for Behavioral Diffusion. PNAS nexus, 3(10), pgae428.

Song, Y., Li, J., & Zou, S. (2024). Women on China’s Internet: Consumption, Contestation, and Challenges for Empowerment. Communication and the Public, 9(4), 392-400. (SSCI)

Song, Y., Xu, R., Huang, Y. H. C., Ni, S., & Fan, Y. (2024). Assessing the Interplay Between Public Attention and Government Responsiveness With Digital Trace Data: Navigating Leadership and Followership in China’s COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign. Social Science Computer Review, 08944393241258217.

Li, B., Song, Y.*, Shi, Y., & Chen, H. T. (2024). Unpacking the complexity of online incivility: an analysis of characteristics and impact of uncivil behavior during the Hong Kong protests. Internet research. (corresponding author) (SSCI)

Song, Y., Wang, X., & Li, G. (2024). Can Social Media Combat Gender Inequalities in Academia? Measuring the Prevalence of the Matilda Effect in Communication. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 29(1), zmad050. (SSCI).

Lan, L., Huang, T., Li, Y., & Song, Y. (2023). A Survey of Cross-Lingual Text Classification and Its Applications on Fake News Detection. World Scientific Annual Review of Artificial Intelligence, 1, 2350003.

Zhai, W., Yu, H., & Song, Y. (2023). Disaster Misinformation and Its Corrections on Social Media: Spatiotemporal Proximity, Social Network, and Sentiment Contagion. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, doi: 10.1080/24694452.2023.2271549. (SSCI)

Liu, Y. L., Yan, W., Hu, B., Lin, Z., & Song, Y.*(2023). Chatbots or Humans? Effects of Agent Identity and Information Sensitivity on Users’ Privacy Management and Behavioral Intentions: A Comparative Experimental Study between China and the United States. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1-16. (corresponding author) (SSCI)

Li, Y., He, H., Wang, S., Lau, F. C., & Song, Y. (2023). Improved Target-specific Stance Detection on Social Media Platforms by Delving into Conversation Threads. IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, doi: 10.1109/TCSS.2023.3320723.

Wang, X., Song, Y.*, & Su, Y. (2023). Less Fragmented but Highly Centralized: A Bibliometric Analysis of Research in Computational Social Science. Social Science Computer Review, 41(3), 946-966. (corresponding author) (SSCI)

Song, Y., Wang, S., & Xu, Q. (2022). Fighting Misinformation on Social Media: Effects of Evidence Type and Presentation Mode. Health Education Research, 37(3), 185-198. (SSCI)

Ng, Y.-L., Song, Y.*, & Huang, Y. (2022). Supportive and Uncivil Expressions in Discussions on Out-groups by In-group Members in Anonymous Computer-mediated Communication. Telematics and Informatics, 69, 101785. (corresponding author) (SSCI)

Song, Y., Lin, Q., Kwon, K. H., Choy, C.H.Y, & Xu, R. (2022). Contagion of Offensive Speech Online: An Interactional Analysis of Political Swearing. Computers in Human Behavior,127,107046. (SSCI)

Song, Y., Huang, Z., Schuldt, J. P., & Yuan, Y. C. (2021). National Prisms of a Global Phenomenon: A Comparative Study of Press Coverage of Climate Change in the US, UK and China. Journalism,23(10), 2208-2229. (SSCI)

Song, Y., Kwon, K. H., Lu, Y., Fan, Y., & Li, B. (2021). The "Parallel Pandemic" in the Context of China: The Spread of Rumors and Rumor-corrections during COVID-19 in Chinese Social Media. American Behavioral Scientist, 65(14), 2014-2036. (SSCI)

Song, Y., Kwon, K. H., Xu, J., Huang, X., & Li, S. (2021). Curbing Profanity Online: A Network-Based Diffusion Analysis of Profane Speech on Chinese Social Media. New Media & Society, 23 (5), 982-1003. (SSCI) (Best Faculty Article Award, CCA)

Song, Y., Lee, C. C., & Huang, Z. (2021). The News Prism of Nationalism Versus Globalism: How Does the US, UK and Chinese Elite Press Cover 'China's Rise?. Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, 22 (8), 2071-2090. (SSCI)

Xu, Q., Song, Y., Yu, N., & Chen, S. (2021). Are You Passing Along Something True or False? The Dissemination of Social Media Messages about Genetically Modified Organisms. Public Understanding of Science, 30(3), 285-301. (SSCI)

Chen, S., Zhou, L., Song, Y.,..& Janies, D. (2020). Comparison of Viral COVID-19 Sina Weibo and Twitter Contents: A Novel Feature Extraction and Analytical Workflow. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(1). (SSCI)

Wang, X. & Song, Y.* (2020) Viral Misinformation and Echo Chambers: The Diffusion of Rumors about Genetically Modified Organisms on Social Media. Internet Research, 30(5), 1547-1564. (SSCI) (corresponding author) (Outstanding Paper Award of Internet Research Emerald Literati Awards for Excellence)

Li, Y. T., & Song, Y.* (2020). Taiwan as Ghost Island? Ambivalent Articulation of Marginalized Identities in Computer-Mediated Discourses. Discourse & Society, 31(3), 285-306. (SSCI) (corresponding author)

Ng, Y. L., Song, Y.*, Kwon, K. H., & Huang, Y. (2019). A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis of the Antecedents and Consequences of Online Incivility. Telematics and Informatics, 101323. (SSCI) (corresponding author)

Schuldt, J. P., Yuan, Y. C., Song, Y., & Liu, K. (2019). Beliefs about Whose Beliefs? Second-Order Beliefs and Support for China's Coal-to-Gas Policy. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 66, 101367. (SSCI)

Ku, K. Y. L., Kong, S. Q., Song, Y., Deng, L. P., Kang, Y., & Hu, A. (2019). What Predicts Adolescents' Critical Thinking about Real-life News? The Roles of Social Media News Consumption and News Media Literacy. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 33, 100570. (SSCI)

Song, Y., & Xu, R. (2019). Affective Ties That Bind: Investigating the Affordances of Social Networking Sites fo Commemoration of Traumatic Events. Social Science Computer Review, 37(3), 333-354. (SSCI)

Liu, L., Huang, X., Xu, J., & Song, Y. (2019). Oasis: Online Analytic System for Incivility Detection and Sentiment Classification. In 2019 International Conference on Data Mining Workshops (ICDMW), 1098-1101, IEEE.

Song, Y., & Lee, C.-C. (2019). "Collective Memories" of Global Media Events: Anniversary Journalism of the Berlin Wall and Tiananmen Crackdown in the Anglo-American Elite Press, 1990-2014. Journalism. 20 (11), 1460-1479. (SSCI)

Xu, Q., Yu, N., & Song, Y. (2018). User Engagement in Public Discourse on Genetically Modified Organisms: The Role of Opinion Leaders on Social Media. Science Communication, 40(6), 691-717. (SSCI)

Zeng, Y., & Song, Y. (2018). The Social Foreign Correspondent: Reconfiguring Journalistic Branding Research in the Age of Social Media, Popular Communication, 16(4), 293-308. (SSCI)

Huang, X., Jiang, J., Choi, B., Xu, J., Zhang, Z., & Song, Y. (2018). Pp-dblp: Modeling and Generating Attributed Public-private Networks with dblp. In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Data Mining Workshops (ICDMW), 986-989, IEEE.

Song, Y., & Chang, T. K. (2017). Managing Impressions Online: Microblogs and the State Media's Adaptation of Online Logics in China. Journalism, 18(8), 1064-1081. (SSCI)

Song, Y., Dai, X.-Y., & Wang, J. (2016). Not All Emotions are Created Equal: Expressive Behavior of the Networked Public on China's Social Media Site. Computers in Human Behavior, 60, 525-533. (SSCI)

Hu, G. N., Dai, X. Y., Song, Y., Huang, S. J., & Chen, J. J. (2016). A Synthetic Approach for Recommendation: Combining Ratings, Social Relations, and Reviews. In Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 1756–1762.

Song, Y., & Lee, C.-C. (2016). Perceiving Different Chinas: Paradigm Change in the "Personalized Journalism" of Elite U.S. Journalists, 1976-1989. International Journal of Communication, 10, 4460-4479. (SSCI)

Song, Y., & Lee, C.-C. (2015). The Strategic Ritual of Irony: Post-Tiananmen China as seen through "Personalized Journalism" of Elite U.S. Correspondents. Media, Culture & Society, 37(8), 1176-1192. (SSCI)

Bao, Q., Cheung, W. K., Liu, J., & Song, Y. (2015). Inferring latent co-activation patterns for information diffusion. In 2015 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology (WI-IAT), Vol. 1, 485-492, IEEE.

Song, Y., & Chang, T. K. (2014). A New World of Spectacle in the Post-cold War Era: China's Central Television and Its Significant Other, 1992-2006. Public Relations Review, 42(3), 465-475. (SSCI)

Song, Y., & Chang, T. K. (2013). The News and Local Production of the Global: Regional Press Revisited in Post-WTO China. International Communication Gazette, 75(7), 619-635. (SSCI)

Song, Y., & Chang, T. K. (2012). Legitimizing Ruptures of Development Trajectories: Party Press Discourse on Rural Society in Transitional China (1997-2006). International Journal of Press/Politics, 17, 316-340. (SSCI)

Song, Y. (2012). Shifting Journalistic Paradigms of American Correspondents on Contemporary China: The Case of Orville Schell. Public Relations Review, 38(5), 796-798. (SSCI)

Song, Y., & Chang, T. K. (2011), Selecting Daily Newspapers for Content Analysis in China. Journalism Studies, 13, 356-369. (SSCI)

Selected Books

Song, Y., Thussu, D., & Margolin, D. (Eds.) (Accepted). Checking the Fact-checkers: A Global Perspective. London: Routledge.

Huang, Y. & Song, Y. (Eds.) (2018). The Evolving Landscapes of Media and Communications in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press.

Xiao, X., Huang, Y. H. C., & Song, Y. (Eds.) (2016). Communication & Society in Perspective. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. (in Chinese)

Song, Y., & Wang, L. (2010). Media in American Politics: Contents and Consequences, 2nd Edition (Translation). By David Paletz. Nanjing: Nanjing University Press.

Selected Grants

PROCORE- France/HK Joint Research Scheme, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong: "Revisiting China-France Digital Public Diplomacy in a Post-pandemic World: Challenges and Innovations" (Role: Principal Investigator)

Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme (HSSPFS), Research Grants Council of Hong Kong: "Networked Framing in the Age of Hybrid Media" (Role: Principal Investigator)

Policy Research Funding Scheme (PPR), HKSAR Policy Innovation and Coordination Office: "Building Resilience to Information Disorder in Hong Kong: An Investigation of Rumor Exposure and Dissemination in Times of Public Crisis" (Role: Principal Investigator)

General Research Fund (GRF), Research Grants Council of Hong Kong: "Mapping the Status of Political Incivility in Hong Kong's Digital Space" (Role: Principal Investigator)

General Research Fund (GRF), Research Grants Council of Hong Kong: "AI Application and Privacy Concerns: Comparing Users’ Perceptions of AI Chatbots and Human Agents" (Role: Co-Investigator)

Fulbright Senior Scholar Programme, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong: "Tracking Online Public Views of Climate Change in China and the U.S." (Role: Principal Investigator)

General Research Fund (GRF), Research Grants Council of Hong Kong: "Empowering University Students to Debunk Misinformation: Effectiveness of Fact-based VS Logic-based Correction Intervention on Corrective Actions and Misconception Reduction" (Role: Co-Investigator)

Quality Education Fund (QEF), Education Bureau: "Promoting Smart and Positive News Engagement: News Literacy Education in the Digital Age" (Role: Co-Investigator)

General Research Fund (GRF), Research Grants Council of Hong Kong: "Gauging Public Sentiment and Mutual Misperception through Online Discussion Forums" (Role: Principal Investigator)

Policy Research Funding Scheme (PPR), HKSAR Policy Innovation and Coordination Office: "Investigating Hong Kong Students' Critical News Literacy in the Age of Social Media" (Role: Co-Investigator)

General Research Fund (GRF), Research Grants Council of Hong Kong: "Framing the Rise of China: How States, Markets, and Globalization Shape Foreign News in the U.S., French and British Press" (Role: Principal Investigator)