Zicheng Cheng

University of Arizona | UA · School of Journalism

According to lifestyle politics theory, social media platforms introduce new ways for people to engage in civic life. Based on the communication mediation model, prior scholarship laid out theoretical and empirical foundations for how media exposure to the news positively influences people’s political participatory behavior through supplemental com...

Prior literature on political filter bubbles suggests an overall positive association between social media use and political networks diversification. Sometimes, this might not be the case. This study argues that the News Finds Me perception (NFM) or the belief that “one” can be well-informed about public affairs without actively seeking informatio...

Afforded by the unprecedented interactivity of social media, social media influencers (SMI) can build strong and trusting relationships with their followers. Such connections carry great potential and may be a powerful asset for political campaigns. Drawing on the existing literature on parasocial relationships (PSR) and political persuasion, we ex...

TikTok-the world's most downloaded app since 2020, has become a place for more than silly dancing and lip-syncing. TikTok users are increasingly turning to TikTok for news content. Meanwhile, news publishers are embracing TikTok to reach a younger audience. We aim to examine the content strategy adopted by the most-followed news publishers on TikTo...

In the media convergence landscape, consumption of traditional, well-established media is increasingly combined with newer digital and online platforms such as blogs, podcasts, and social media, which has changed the way news users engage with media content. This study examines the relationship between hybrid media use-specifically, second screenin...

This study adopts a relational empowerment approach to view the company as a change agent in corporate political advocacy. The study examines the public's commitment to a company after assessing its cause advocacy initiatives driven by a public-serving motive. Using a two-wave longitudinal survey and the case of Lyft's opposition stance on the Texa...

Research revolving social media and democracy has exploded. For almost two decades, scholarship has offered new theories, revisited some old ones, and provided empirical evidence that helped cast a strong light on social media effects over people’s social life, and democracy at large. Thanks to social media, citizens consume news, express their pol...

A significant body of literature within political communication revolves around the constructive political virtues and blighting social and democratic consequences of political anger. For the most part, studies have focused on identifying the primary causes and antecedents of political anger. However, within the context of social media, fewer effor...

Examining research patterns across scientific fields constitutes a growing research enterprise to understand how global knowledge production unfolds. However, scattered empirical evidence has casted light on how the publication diversity of the most productive scholars differ across disciplines, considering their gender and geographical representat...

Research revolving social media and democracy has exploded. For almost two decades, scholarship has offered new theories, revisited some old ones, and provided empirical evidence that helped cast a strong light on social media effects over people’s social life, and democracy at large. Thanks to social media, citizens consume news, express their pol...

Resumen La investigación en torno a las redes sociales y la democracia se ha disparado. Durante casi dos décadas, la investigación ha ofrecido nuevas teorías, revisado algunas teorías antiguas y proporcionado evidencia empírica que ha ayudado a arrojar luz sobre los efectos de las redes sociales en la vida social de las personas y la democracia en...