W. J. Zhang 张皖疆

Research Assistant Professor·The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Wanjiang
Jacob Zhang

I study how digital technologies reshape human life — the rhythms they impose on our days, the interactions their designs invite, and the lifestyles they quietly re-pattern.

Email Google Scholar GitHub Curriculum Vitae

Department of Language Science and Technology, Faculty of Humanities
Previously postdoctoral fellow & PhD, School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK

Portrait of Wanjiang Jacob Zhang
01 Research

My work sits at the intersection of computational social science and computer-mediated communication, and centres on a single question: how do digital technologies shape human life?

Ⅰ

Technology & social time

The temporal patterns — the rhythms — of digital media use: how they are formed, and with what consequences for individuals and societies.

Ⅱ

Platform design & engagement

How the design features of platforms steer users’ interactions — from engagement bait to geolocation cues that polarise group behaviour.

Ⅲ

Technology & lifestyle

How emerging technologies — most recently generative AI — re-pattern the textures of everyday life.

Methodologically I work with large-scale digital trace data, natural experiments, causal inference, and large language models. My research has appeared in Computers in Human Behavior, Social Media + Society, Telematics and Informatics, Public Relations Review, Environmental Communication, Journal of Health Communication, and Journalism, among others.

Education

  • 2024PhD in Communication — The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • 2019MA in Communication — Wuhan University
  • 2016BA in Communication — Anhui University
02 Selected publications

Peer-reviewed journal articles · * corresponding author

2025
2023

From grains to a tower: Residents’ self-organized actions in the early stage of COVID-19 — An analysis of organizational communication in a Wuhan residential WeChat group

Yan, Y., Shi, Y. H., Shu, C., Zhang, J. W., & Zhang, W. J.

Journalism & Communication, 30(6), 67–85

閆岩、時元皓、舒暢、張婧瑋、張皖疆（2023）。聚沙成塔：新冠疫情早期的居民自組織行動——武漢某小區業主微信群的組織傳播分析。《新聞與傳播研究》，30(6)，67–85。

2022

Emotional expressions in the online memory of the “Karamay Fire” on Baidu Tieba (2006–2018)

Yan, Y., & Zhang, W. J.

Journalism Research, (3), 100–116

閆岩、張皖疆（2022）。百度貼吧中「克拉瑪依大火」記憶的情感表達（2006–2018）。《新聞大學》，(3)，100–116。

2020

The duality of memory writing: The change of memory structure regarding the “Karamay Fire” on Baidu Tieba

Yan, Y., & Zhang, W. J.

Journalism & Communication, 27(5), 73–93

閆岩、張皖疆（2020）。數字化記憶的雙重書寫：百度貼吧中「克拉瑪依大火」的記憶結構之變遷。《新聞與傳播研究》，27(5)，73–93。

03 Projects

ChatDMDI

An integrated AI platform I designed, built, and maintain for the School of Journalism and Communication at CUHK — letting faculty and students work with multiple large language models side by side for research and learning.

Work in progress

  • It matters where you are: Geolocation-based social identity salience polarizes group interactions on social media platforms

    with A. Chen, H. Mu, Q. Zhang, M. M. Zhang, S. Lu & H. Liang · under review

  • Unpacking “media literacy” in the digital era: A computational analysis of academic and journalistic discourses

    with D. Chu · revise & resubmit

  • When AI meets corporate social responsibility: A comparative study of AI-related content on Chinese and Korean companies’ Facebook accounts

    with S. Kim · in preparation

  • The impact of meme usage in images on political participation in Hong Kong’s Facebook news accounts: A multimodal analysis using large language models

    with A. Z. X. Koo · in preparation

04 Teaching

I teach where computation meets communication — and care about making technical methods feel within reach.

Teaching areas

  • Computational communication research methods
  • Statistics and causal inference
  • Large language models and human–computer interaction
  • AI programming and application development
  • AI agent development and applications
  • Quantitative research methods

Guest lectures

  • Recent applications of large language models in communication research — School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK
  • Everything social media AI marketing accounts didn’t tell you — School of Journalism and Communication, Shenzhen University

At CUHK

  • Methodology training series on causal inference, computational social science, and LLMs (DMDI)
  • Teaching assistant for three undergraduate courses — each awarded Best Teaching Assistant
05 Recognition
  • 2022

    Top Three Student Paper — Public Relations Division

    72nd Annual Conference of the International Communication Association

  • 2021

    First Place, Markham Student Competition — International Communication Division

    AEJMC Annual Conference

  • 2020

    Top Student Paper Award — Environmental Communication Division

    70th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association

  • 2020–22

    Best Teaching Assistant Award (three times) & Best Research Assistant Award

    School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK

06 Contact

For research, collaboration, or teaching enquiries —

jacobwanjiang.zhang@polyu.edu.hk

Office

HHB815a, Hung Hom Bay Campus
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong SAR