Dr LIU, Jindong
劉錦東 博士
Assistant Professor
Academy for Educational Development and Innovation
Contact
ORCiD
0000-0002-5456-0148
Phone
(852) 2948 6461
Email
ljindong@eduhk.hk
Address
10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong
Scopus ID
57778984300
Research Interests
  • Human-machine communication
  • Critical and cultural studies,
  • Mediated intimacy
  • AI companions
  • VR/AR/Metaverse
  • Asian pop culture
Teaching Interests
  • New media theory
  • Qualitative methods
  • Human-machine communication
  • Cultural studies of media
  • New media ethics
Personal Profile

  • BA in Digital Culture, King's College London
  • MPhil in Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • PhD in Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Visiting PhD in Media Studies, University of Amsterdam


Dr. Jindong Liu (Publication name: Jindong Leo-Liu) is an assistant professor, within New Media and Social Media Domain - Academy for Educational Development and Innovation (AEDI), at Education University of Hong Kong. His research interests include human-machine communication, critical and cultural studies, mediated intimacy, AI companions, VR/AR/Metaverse, and Asian pop culture. His work can be found in peer-reviewed journals, including New Media Society, Computers in Human Behavior, Education and Information Technologies, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Social Media + Society, Human-Machine Communication, Media Culture & Society, and so forth. He also often reports in key international conferences in the field of communication, including ICA (International Communication Association), AEJMC (The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication), IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research), and CIRC (Chinese Internet Research Conference). He received the best student paper award from CIRC 2023.


For his academic service, Dr. Jindong Liu works as a journal reviewer for many SSCI journals, such as New Media & Society, Information, Communication & Society, Social Media + Society, Telematics and Informatics, International Journal of Cultural Studies, International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, Education and Information Technologies and so forth.








Research Interests

  • Human-machine communication
  • Critical and cultural studies,
  • Mediated intimacy
  • AI companions
  • VR/AR/Metaverse
  • Asian pop culture
Teaching Interests

  • New media theory
  • Qualitative methods
  • Human-machine communication
  • Cultural studies of media
  • New media ethics
Research Outputs
Scholarly Books, Monographs and Chapters
Jindong Leo-Liu (2026). Do Asians Respect AI More? Toward the “Social Exchange Agents Principle” and “Human-Machine Harmony” for Communicative AI Ethics. Zizi Papacharissi, Connective AI: Social (Ro)Bots, Play, Democracy (183-198). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003477587
Fu, H., Fung, A., & Leo-Liu, J. (2024). Women as dancing wanghong on Douyin: Affective affordances and gender performativity. Jamie J. ZHAO, Hongwei BAO, Routledge handbook of Chinese gender & sexuality (307-320). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003273943-25
Fung, A., & Leo-Liu, J. (2023). Netflix and Korean drama: Cultural resonance, affect and consumption in Asia. Youna KIM, Introducing Korean popular culture (118-125). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003292593-14

Journal Publications
Jindong Leo-Liu (2025). The ambivalences of virtual love: Conversational, embodied, and hyperreal intimacy in the social VR platform VRChat. International Journal of Communication, 19, 3244-3263. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/24059published version
Leo-Liu J., Wu-Ouyang, B.* (2025). The Good, Bad, and Ugly in Social Virtual Reality: The Alternative Global Village for Identity Negotiations in VRChat. Social Media + Society, online first, online first. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251340854
SDGs infomation: 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
Leo-Liu, J., Fung, A., & Fu, H. (2024). Cooptation, hijacking, or normalization? The discursive concession of body politics on Douyin. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 27(5), 585-604. https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779241239681
SDGs infomation: 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Leo-Liu J., Wu-Ouyang, B. (2024). A “soul” emerges when AI, AR, and Anime converge: A case study on users of the new anime-stylized hologram social robot “Hupo”. New Media and Society, 26(7), 3810-3832. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221106030
SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
Wu, B.& Liu, J. (2024). How language usage affects sojourners’ psychological well-being in a trilingual society: Linguistic acculturation of Mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 45(6), 2214-2232. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2045299
Etzrodt, K., Kim, J., van der Goot, M. J., Prahl, A., Choi, M., Craig, M. J., ... Leo-Liu., J. ... & Edwards, C. (2024). What HMC teaches us about authenticity. Human-Machine Communication, 8, 227-251. https://doi.org/10.30658/hmc.8.11
SDGs infomation: 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Leo-Liu, J. (2023). Loving a “defiant” AI companion? The gender performance and ethics of social exchange robots in simulated intimate interactions. Computers in Human Behavior, 141, Article 107620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107620
SDGs infomation: 5 - Gender Equality, 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 10 - Reduced Inequality, 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Wang, J., Qu, J. G., & Leo-Liu, J. (2023). An algorithmically woven community: Disclosing mental illness and connecting with similar others on an algorithm-mediated platform in China. Social Media + Society, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231205596
SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Tintiangko, J., Fung, A. Y. H., & Leo-Liu, J. (2023). Compelled TikTok creators? The ambivalent affordances of the short video app for Filipino musicians. Media, Culture & Society, 45(8), 1600-1615. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437231174356
SDGs infomation: 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Wei, R., Fan, J., & Leo-Liu, J. (2023). Mobile communication research in 15 top-tier journals, 2006–2020: An updated review of trends, advances, and characteristics. Mobile Media & Communication, 11(3), 341-366. https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579221110324
SDGs infomation: 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Liu J., Wu, B. (2022). Chinese adolescents’ struggle in online compulsory education during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Foucauldian perspective. Education and Information Technologies, 27, 1705-1723. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10688-9
Liu, J. (2021). Social robots as the bride? Understanding the construction of gender in a Japanese social robot product. Human-Machine Communication, 2, 105-120. https://doi.org/10.30658/hmc.2.5
SDGs infomation: 5 - Gender Equality, 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 10 - Reduced Inequality, 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Conference Papers
Leo-Liu J.; Yang, Y.; & Gu, Q. (2026, June). A Different AI Dream: An Expert Interview Study on Chinese Alternative AI Imaginations beyond Silicon Valley. International Communication Association Annual Conference, Cape Town, South Africa.
Pan, H., Yang, T., Leo-Liu, J. (2026, June). Tolerating an Offensive Social Bot? How Users Creatively Respond to AI Communicative Failures Personally and Collectively. International Commuication Association Conference, Cape Town, South Africa.
Leo-Liu, J. (2026, April). The Vibrancy of Social VR Community: A Study on Fantasized Anime Avatars in VRChat. CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Workshop on Social Augmentation in XR), Barcelona, Spain.

All Other Outputs
Liu, J., Cao, L., Pan, S., Lin. B., & Lin, A. (2026). Teaching youth to navigate AI companionship. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202606/03/WS6a1f5a47a310d6866eb4c162.html
SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education
Liu, J., Cao, L., Pan, S., Lin. B., & Lin, A. (2026). 人機對比四象限:人類是否終被AI取代?. Hong Kong https://edu.hkej.com/php/article.detail.php?aid=64381
SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education
Jindong Liu (2026). Labor pains and AI gains not the only option. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202604/30/WS69f2b873a310d6866eb466ae.html
Lin, A. M. Y., Liu, J., & Cao, L. (2025). AI情人的情緒風險. https:// https://edu.hkej.com/php/article.detail.php?aid=62431
SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education

Career Overview

The Education University of Hong Kong
Assistant Professor
Date :09/2024- Present
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
PhD
Date :09/2021-08/2024
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Mphil
Date :08/2019-07/2021
King's College London
BA
Date :09/2015-07/2018