Yini Zhang
Yini Zhang (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University at Buffalo. She uses computational approaches to study how social media and AI shape media ecologies and political discourse.
Dr. Zhang uses computational methods to examine the processes and outcomes of primarily political communication within and beyond different corners of the evolving media landscape. Her research has been supported by funders like the National Science Foundation and the Knight Foundation and received media coverage from news outlets like the New York Times, BBC, and USA TODAY.
Selected Publications
Zhang, Y., Lukito, J., Suk, J., & McGrady, R. (2024). Trump, Twitter, and Truth Social: how Trump used both mainstream and alt-tech social media to drive news media attention. Journal of Information Technology & Politics. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2024.2328156
Zhang, Y., Chen, F., Suk, J., & Yue. Z. (2023). WordPPR: A Researcher-Driven Computational Keyword Selection Method for Text Data Retrieval from Digital Media. Communication Methods and Measures. https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2023.2278177
Zhang, Y., Chen, F., & Rohe, K. (2022). Social Media Public Opinion as Flocks in a Murmuration: Conceptualizing and Measuring Opinion Expression on Social Media. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmab021
Zhang, Y., Lukito J., Su, M.H., Suk, J., Xia, Y., Kim, S.J., Doroshenko, L., & Wells, C. (2021). Assembling the Networks and Audiences of Disinformation: How Successful Russian IRA Twitter Accounts Built Their Followings, 2015–2017. Journal of Communication, 71(2), 305-331. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqaa042
Zhang, Y., Wells, C., Wang, S., & Rohe, K. (2018). Attention and amplification in the hybrid media system: The composition and activity of Donald Trump’s Twitter following during the 2016 presidential election. New Media & Society, 20(9), 3161-3182. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1461444817744390.