Meng Liang (Teaching Fellow)
Meng Liang (Teaching Fellow)
Background:
Meng Liang is an interdisciplinary researcher with a specialization in digital media. Her scholarly inquiry explores the nuances of the attention economy, particularly focusing on its business models and the intricate cultural norms that both influence and are reshaped by these economic mechanisms. A significant aspect of her research is centred on the digital media platforms of East Asia, exploring the social and cultural influences since the 1990s. Presently, she is engaged in research that scrutinizes the patterns of emotional dependency and recognition among underage and senior users of algorithmic media, specifically in the context of TikTok. This study is a part of her broader inquiry into algorithmic media, aiming to understand how these platforms impact and interact with various user demographics on an cultural and emotional level.
She earned her Ph.D. in Media and Film Studies from University College London, supported by the Oversea Research Scholarship (ORS-UCL). Her doctoral work concentrated on the development of participatory media and its attention economy models within the Chinese context since 1995. Additionally, she enriched her academic experience by participating in an exchange program at the Global Media Technology and Cultural (GMTaC) Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during 2019-2020.
Research Topic:
Digital Media Economy and Politics, Digital Media Culture, Algorithmic Media, Media Technology, Attention Economy.
Selected Publications
Journal Essays and Book Chapters:
- Meng Liang, 2022, 鈥淭he End of Social Media? How Data Attraction Model in the Algorithmic Media Reshapes the Attention Economy鈥�, Media, Culture and Society. doi:10.1177/01634437221077168
- Meng Liang, Song Sun, Oct 2022, 鈥淪hort Video as Streaming Media: A Symbolic Expression of Chinese Compressed Modernity鈥�, Streaming and Screen Culture in Asia-Pacific, edited by Louisa Mitchell and Michael Samuel, Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-09374-6_5
- Meng Liang, Keith Wagner, 2018, 鈥淟ove and Producer and its Asianized Transmediality: A Virtual Character Economy Emerging from China and Penetrating Japan and South Korea鈥� Transmedia Storytelling in Asia and Pacific Region, edited by Dr. Filippo Gilardi and Dr. Celia Lam, Palgrave Macmillan
Other writings:
- Meng Liang, March 2020, 鈥淟ove and Producer: Otome games history and future in the East Asia鈥�, Blog Post on MIT GMTaC,
- Meng Liang and Han Su, Dec 2019, 鈥溾�楶lanting Grass鈥� and RED: How E-commerce in China is Interweaved with Social Media鈥�, Blog Post on MIT GMTaC, http://globalmedia.mit.edu/2019/12/01/2058/
Talks and Presentations:
- Nov 2023, MIT Worlding 2023: Story + Space + Climate, presenting documentary, 鈥淔rom Factories to Algorithms: Food Deliver Riders in Hangzhou鈥�.
- March, 2023 Visiting Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, 鈥淎ttention Economy and Data Attraction Model on Tiktok鈥�
- July 2020, MIT CMS seminar, 鈥淭iktok, Short Video and Social-Commerce Practice: A Changing Advertisement Practice and Narratives鈥�
- April 2020, MIT CMS seminar, 鈥淏ook Review: The Other Digital China: Nonconfrontational Activism on the Social Web by Wang Jing鈥�
- Sep 2019, 鈥淐hinese Mobile Leapfrogging and Its Social Media Development鈥� at MIT GMTaC bi-weekly seminar.
- March 2019 DIGSUM鈥檚 Critical Digital and Social Media Research Conference, Umea University. 鈥淚nternet Social Network Development in China: Liberalizing the telecommunications industry, Internet, and Tencent鈥�
- Nov 2019, Infrastructures and Inequalities: Media industries, Digital Cultures and Politics, University of Helsinki. 鈥淭he History of Tencent in the Dynamic Liberalising Context鈥�
Modules Taught
IM901 Cultures of the Digital Economy
