Research

You can also find my published work on my Google Scholar profile.

Online Hate and Counterspeech

Examines how online hate emerges and spreads, and how social responses, including counterspeech, may help deter online hate speech.

Yang, Y., Lange, R., Zhang, Y., & Walther, J. B. (2025). How social responses to online hate messages affect hatefulness. New Media & Society. DOI
Zhang, Y. (under review). Mapping methods in online hate research: A review, comparison, and future directions. Paper submitted to Annals of the International Communication Association.
Zhang, Y. (in progress). Strategy over source: How AI disclosure shapes perceptions of counterspeech.
Zhang, Y., Scott, C., & Walther, J. (in progress). Anonymity in online hate: A scoping review.
Walther, J. B., Li, Z., & Zhang, Y. (in progress). Assessing the hatefulness of social media posts: A continuous measure of hate using generative AI.
Walther, J. B., Zhang, Y., Garcia, E., & Rosen, Z. (in progress). Counterspeech effectiveness: A field experiment.
Walther, J. B., Zhang, Y., & Garcia, E. (in progress). Literature review on counterspeech to deter online hate.
Zhang, Y. (in progress). Attention or attraction? Exploring the effectiveness of humorous counterspeech to deter haters.

Examines how cues and affordances in mediated contexts shape self-presentation, impression formation, and perceptions of online information.

Zhang, Y., & Van Der Heide, B. (2026). How observing interactions online affects attitudes and behavioral intention toward online social support: A vicarious interactions perspective. Communication Research Reports. DOI
Pham, D., Van Der Heide, B., Zhang, Y., Earle, K., Rathjens, B., Ulusoy, E., Mason, A. J., & Bredland, A. (2025). Testing the effects of providing feedback on perceiving selective self-presentations in computer-mediated communication. Media Psychology. DOI
Rathjens, B., Van Der Heide, B., Earle, K., Ulusoy, E., Pham, D., Mason, A. J., Zhang, Y., & Bredland, A. (2022). Negative online reviews and manager response: Applying expectancy disconfirmation theory in a CMC context. Communication Reports. DOI
Zhang, Y. (in progress). Can editable sources affect people’s trust in online information? Exploring editability affordance on social media.
Zhang, Y., & Wang, L. H. (in progress). Number of friends or mutual friends? Testing effects of different types of system generated cues on impression formation on SNS. (shared first authorship)

Holmstrom, A., Shebib, S., Hu, J., Lim, J., Zhang, Y., Bredland, A., Mazur, A., Mason, A., Allard, A., Boumis, J., Schulte, H., Ha, J., Wolfe, B., Szczypka, M., Wu, P., Zhang, Y., Cui, X., & Zhang, L. (2026). Theoretical distinctions between emotional and esteem-support messages: Examining effects and mediating mechanisms. Communication Research. DOI

Zhang, Y. (in progress). Lost in identities: A computational approach to refine identities in online communities.

Yik, B. J., Zhang, Y., Nylund-Gibson, K., Ing, M., Krawiec, L., Houck, J. D., & Nacsa, E. D. (2026). Exploring heterogeneity in chemistry education research: Comparing cluster analysis and latent profile analysis. Chemistry Education Research and Practice. DOI
Schmälzle, R., Liu, H., Delle, F., Lewin, K., Jahn, N., Zhang, Y., Yoon, H., & Long, J. (2024). Moment-by-moment tracking of audience brain responses to an engaging public speech: Replicating the reverse-message engineering approach. Communication Monographs. DOI
Li, Z., Qin, J., Nan, Y., Zhang, Y., Baum, M. A., Subramanian, S. V., & Viswanath, K. (under review). How does health misinformation shape vaccination outcomes? A meta-analysis. Paper submitted to Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Wang, M., Zhang, Y., & Wang, L. H. (in progress). Advancing the use of latent transition analysis (LTA) in communication scholarship: An application to map shifts in privacy protection motivation.