Qian Xu

Professor of Strategic Communications and AJ Fletcher Professor

Long, Office 103B 2850 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244

Brief Biography

Qian Xu is A. J. Fletcher Professor and Professor of Strategic Communications in the School of Communications at Elon University. She received her Ph.D. from the College of Communications at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests focus on the social and psychological effects of online technology, especially as they pertain to perception, information seeking, and cognition in the context of both computer-mediated communication and human-computer interaction. Her research has been published in Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Mass Communication and Society, Media Psychology, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, International Journal of Communication, Human-Computer Interaction, Computers in Human Behavior, among others. She has authored and co-authored multiple book chapters. Her teaching expertise includes interactive media and social media strategy, media analytics, media effects, and user experience.

News & Notes

Education

Ph.D. in Mass Communications (Penn State University)

M.A. in Journalism (Nanjing University)

B.A. in Journalism (Nanjing University)

Graduate Certificate in International Studies (Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese & American Studies)

Employment History

8/2024 - present: A.J. Fletcher Professor, Elon University

8/2022 - present: Professor of Strategic Communications, School of Communications, Elon University

8/2017 - 5/2023: Associate Director of Undergraduate Research Program, Elon University

8/2016 - 8/2022: Associate Professor, School of Communications, Elon University

8/2010 - 8/2016: Assistant Professor, School of Communications, Elon University

1/2009-5/2009: Instructor, College of Communications, Penn State University

Courses Taught

IME 6950 Interactive Media Capstone

IME 6720/COM 4701 Social Media, Analytics & SEO

IME 6060 Interactive Media Strategies

MEA 4600 Measuring Media Impact

MEA 3590 Strategies for Emerging Media

MEA 2800 Data-Driven Strategies for Digital Media

COM 4970 Great Ideas: Issues & Research

COM 1000 Communications in a Global Age

COM 360 Interactive Media

GST 245 Barbados: Culture, Sport, and Media

Grants Awarded

External Grant

Comparing the Transmission Dynamics of Real News vs. Fake News: A Network Analysis of Zika Epidemic on Twitter, 2018-2019. Page and Johnson Legacy Scholar Grant ($3100, Grant #2018FN003). The Arthur W. Page Center.

Recent Internal Grants

Research Projects

Tweeting Health Crisis: Investigating the Role of CDC and Public Engagement during the 2016 Zika Epidemic, Spring 2019. Half-Year Full-Pay Sabbatical. Elon University.

Effects of Infographic Syllabus on Cognitive Processing and Course Perceptions: An Eye Tracking Experiment, Fall 2017. Faculty Research and Development Reassigned-Time Fellowship & Financial Assistance. Elon University.

Debating the Myth of Genetically Modified Foods in Chinese Social Media: The Effect of Influential Sources on Their Followers, Fall 2016. Faculty Research and Development Reassigned-Time Fellowship. Elon University.

Teaching Projects

Using Twitonomy to Teach Social Media Strategy in COM359. 2016-2017. Academic Technology and Computing Committee Standard Grant. Elon University.

Publications

Recent Journal Articles:

Xu, Q., & Jiang, K. (2025). UX design vs. UI design: Understanding U.S. employers’ expectations through semantic analysis of job descriptions. Communication Design Quarterly, 13(1), 15-30. https://cdq.sigdoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CDQ-Volume-13-Issue-1.pdf

Jiang, K., & Xu, Q., (2023). Analyzing the dynamics of social media texts using coherency network analysis: A case study of the tweets with the co-hashtags of #BlackLivesMatter and #StopAsianHate. Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics, 8, 1239726. https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2023.1239726

Song, Y., Yu, N., & Xu, Q. (2023). Public discourse of GMOs in China: An investigation of commenting and reposting behaviors on social media. Emerging Media: Technology, Industry and Society, 1(1), 70-92. https://doi.org/10.1177/27523543231196341

Xie, T., Ge, Y, Xu, Q., Chen, S. (2023). Public awareness and sentiment analysis of COVID-related discussions using BERT-based infoveillance. AI, 4(1), 333-347. https://doi.org/10.3390/ai4010016

Jiang, K., Xu, Q., Afromsky, A. (2023). What do employs expect for jobs requiring media analytics? A semantic network analysis of job descriptions of in-person and remote positions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 78(1), 5-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776958221135969

Song, Y., Wang, S., & Xu, Q. (2022). Fighting misinformation on social media: Effects of evidence type and presentation mode. Health Education Research, 37(3), 185-198. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyac011

Shaw Jr, G., Nadkarni, D., Phann, E., Sielaty, R., Ledenyi, M., Abnowf, R., Xu, Q., Arredondo, P., & Chen, S. (2022). Separating features from functionality: A computational analysis of vaccination apps. JMIR Formative Research, 6(10), e36818. https://doi.org/10.2196/36818

Cui, X., & Xu, Q. (2021). Television vs. social media: Examining the effects of media platforms on audience’s emotion and sense of social solidarity during a media event. Western Journal of Communication, 85(5), 632-653. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2021.1970216

Xu, Q., Chen, S., & Safarnejad, L. (2021). Effects of information veracity and message frames on information dissemination: A case study of 2016 Zika epidemic discussion on Twitter. Health Communication, 36(12), 1560-1570. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1773705

Safarnejad, L., Xu, Q., Ge, Y., & Chen, S. (2021). A multiple feature category data mining and machine learning approach to characterize and detect health misinformation on social media. IEEE Internet Computing, 25(5), 43-51. https://doi.org/10.1109/MIC.2021.3063257

Rui, J., Cui, X., Xu, Q., & Yu, N. (2021). How public interactions via WeChat Moments predict the emotional well-being of Chinese seniors and emerging seniors: The moderating roles of perceived self-network discrepancy and age. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 15(3), Article 2. https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/13785/12253

Xu, Q., Song, Y., Yu, N., & Chen, S. (2021). Are you passing along something true or false? The dissemination of GMO messages on social media. Public Understanding of Science, 30(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662520966745

Chen, S., Zhou, L., Song, Y., Xu, Q., Wang, P., Wang, K., Ge, Y., & Janies, D. (2021). A Novel Machine Learning Framework for Comparison of Viral COVID-19-Related Sina Weibo and Twitter Posts: Workflow Development and Content Analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(1): e24889. https://doi.org/10.2196/24889

Overman, A., Xu, Q., & Little, D. (2020). What do students actually pay attention to and remember from a syllabus?: An eye tracking study of visually-rich and text-based syllabi. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 6(4), 285–300. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000157

Safarnejad, L., Xu, Q., Ge, Y., Krishnan, S., Bagarvathi, A., & Chen, S. (2020) Contrasting health misinformation and relevant information on social media during a health emergency: A dynamic information dissemination perspective. American Journal of Public Health, 110 (S3): S340-S347. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305854

Safarnejad, L., Xu, Q., Ge, Y., Bagavathi, A., Krishnan, S., & Chen, S. (2020). Identifying influential factors on discussion dynamics of emerging health issues on social media: A computational study. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 6(3): e17175 https://doi.org/10.2196/17175

Cui, X., & Xu, Q. (2020). The roles of identity and emotion in media events’ social integration mechanism: A case study of the 2017 U.S. Presidential Inauguration. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 28(2), 138-152. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2019.1613406

Yu, F., Ruel, L., Tyler, R., Xu, Q., Cui, H., Karanasios, S., Keilbach, A., Nguyen, B. X., & Mostafa, J. (2020). Innovative UX methods for information access based on interdisciplinary approaches: Practical lessons from academia and industry data and information management. Data and Information Management, 4(1), 74-80. https://doi.org/10.2478/dim-2020-0004

Rui, J. R., Yu, N., Xu, Q., & Cui, X. (2019). Getting connected while aging: The effects of Wechat network characteristics on the well-being of mature Chinese adults. Chinese Journal of Communication, 12(1), 25-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2018.1530270

Xu, Q., Yu, N., & Song, Y. (2018). User engagement in public discourse on genetically modified organisms: The role of opinion leaders on social media. Science Communication, 40(6), 691-717. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547018806526

Chen, S., Xu, Q., Buchenberger, J., Bagavathi, A., Fair., G., Shaikh, S., & Krishnan, S. (2018). Dynamics of health agency response and public engagement during public health emergency: A case study of CDC tweeting pattern during 2016 Zika epidemic. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 4(4): e10827. https://doi.org/10.2196/10827

Xu, Q., & Sundar, S. S. (2016). Interactivity and memory: Information processing of interactive versus non-interactive content. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 620-629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.046

Miller, B., Xu, Q., & Barnett, B. (2016). Commenter anonymity affects reader perceptions. Newspaper Research Journal, 37(2), 138-152. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532916648959

Recent Book Chapters:

Chen, C., & Xu, Q. (2025). AI anxiety and higher education: A perspective of college educators. In Y. Cheng & D. Vercic (Eds.) AI and strategic communication: Navigating the future (pp. 83-103). Wiley-Blackwell.

Xu, Q. (2024). Inclusive digital and social media strategies. In L. Bush., & K. Lindsey (Eds.), Diversity, equity, and inclusion in strategic communications: Becoming culturally proficient communicators (pp. 65-78). Routledge.

Xu, Q. (2023). User interface design. In V. Costello. Multimedia foundations: Core concepts for digital design (3rd ed., pp. 409-451). Routledge.

Anderson, B., & Xu, Q. (2020). Winning over fans: How sports teams use live-tweeting to maximize engagement. In D. A. Grady, A. Hollifield, & A. Sturgill (Eds.). The golden age of data: Media analytics in study and practices (pp. 182-193). Routledge.

Yu, N., & Xu, Q. (2016). Public discourse on genetically modified foods in mobile sphere: Framing risks, opportunities, and responsibilities on mobile social media in China. In R. Wei (ed.), Mobile media, political participation, and civic activism in Asia: Private chat to public sphere (pp.81-102). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0917-8_5

Encyclopedia Entry:

Xu, Q. (2017). Dual process models of persuasion (ELM/Heuristic-Systematic Model). In P. Roessler (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of media effects. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0074

Recent Refereed Conference Proceedings:

LaMont, L, Fuller, G., Paranthaman, P. K., Poteat, T., Toprani, D., Xu, Q., & Bajaj, N. (2023). Towards prototyping single-modal and multimodal interactions in mixed reality games. In Yang X. S., Sherratt, R. S., Dey N., Joshi, A. (Eds.), Proceedings of Eighth International Congress on Information and Communication Technology. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, Vol. 694, 655-666. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3091-3_54

Ke, J., & Xu, Q. (2021). Building images of “President Trump”: Comparing co-evolutions of the Trade War discourse between influencers and regular users on Twitter. Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/70974

Blog Post:

Hall, E. E., Xu, Q. & Hamel, J. (2024, November 19). Integrating research into undergraduate courses: A review of two essential books. Center for Engaged Learning, Elon University. https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/integrating-research-into-undergraduate-courses-a-review-of-two-essential-books/

Presentations

Xu, Q., & Chen, C. (2025, August). From discourse to perceptions: How AI conversational style and anticipated AI roles influence user interaction with AI. Paper presented at the 108th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Francisco, CA.

Xu, Q., & Jiang, K. (2024, August). UX design vs. UI design: Understanding employers’ expectations through semantic analysis of job descriptions. Paper presented at the 107th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Philadelphia, PA.

LaMont, L., Fuller, G., Paranthaman, P., Poteat, T., Toprani, D., Xu, Q., Bajaj, N. (2023, February). Towards prototyping single-modal and multimodal interactions in mixed reality games. Paper presented at the 8th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology, London, United Kingdom.

Xu, Q., & Gelman, L. (2022, August). Persuasion strategies in building campaign discourse on social media: A comparison of Donald J. Trump’s and Joe Biden’s Facebook campaign ads. Paper presented at the 105th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Detroit, Michigan.

Jiang, K., & Xu, Q. (2022, August). Co-evolution of discourse between influencers and regular users: A case study of tweets using the co-hashtags of #StopAsianHate and #BlackLivesMatter. Paper presented at the 105th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Detroit, Michigan.

Jiang, K., Afromsky A., & Xu, Q. (2022, August). What do employers expect for jobs requiring media analytics? A comparison between in-person and remote positions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Paper presented at the 105th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Detroit, Michigan. [One of the three top papers in the Internship and Careers Interest Group]

Song, Y., Wang, S., Liu, J., & Xu, Q. (2021, August). Fighting misinformation on social media: The roles of evidence type and presentation mode. Paper presented at the 104th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication [Virtual Conference].

Xu, Q., Song, Y., Yu, N., & Chen, S. (2020, August). Are you passing along something true or false? Dissemination of GMO messages on social media. Paper presented at the 103rd annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication [Virtual Conference].

Xu, Q., Chen, S., & Safarnejad, L. (2020, August). Effects of information veracity and message frames on information dissemination: Examining Zika epidemic on Twitter. Paper presented at the 103rd annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication [Virtual Conference].

Xu, Q., & Allison, M. (2020, June). Using a mobile event app for organizing a campus-wide undergraduate research forum. Council on Undergraduate Research Virtual Biennial Conference.

Allison, M., & Xu, Q. (2020, June). Encouraging and tracking attendance at a campus-wide undergraduate research forum. Council on Undergraduate Research Virtual Biennial Conference.

Cui, X., & Xu, Q. (2019, August). Audience’s emotion and sense of social solidarity during a media event: Examining the effects of two media platforms. Paper presented at the 102nd annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Toronto, Canada.

Song, Y., Yu, N., & Xu, Q. (2019, May). Reception of and responses to discussion of genetically modified organism on social media: The context of China. Paper presented at the 69th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Washington, DC.

Xu, Q., & Chen, S. (2019, May). Comparing the transmission dynamics of fake news vs. real news: A network analysis of Zika epidemic on Twitter. Paper presented at the 69th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Washington, DC.

Kim, K., Xu, Q., & Yoon, S. (2019, February). Zoom-in, zoom-out: The congruence effect between dynamic distance and geographic distance on consumer digital complexity. Paper to be presented at the 2019 American Marketing Association Winter Academic Conference, Austin, TX.

Rui, J., Cui, X., Xu, Q., & Yu, N. (2018, November). The more the less? How diversified online social network undermines subjective well-being of mature adults. Paper to be presented at the 104th annual conference of the National Communication Association, Salt Lake City, UI.

Xu, Q., Yu, N., & Song, Y. (2018, August). User engagement in public discourse of genetically modified organisms: The role of opinion leaders on social media. Paper presented at the 101st annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Washington, DC.

Kim, K., Xu, Q., & Yoon, S. (2018, July). Zoom-in, zoom-out: The congruence effect between dynamic distance and geographic distance on travel destination recommendations. Paper presented at the 2018 Global Marketing Conference, Tokyo, Japan.

Anderson*, B., & Xu, Q. (2018, April). Winning over fans: How sports teams use live-tweeting to maximize engagement. Paper presented at the Research Symposium: The Golden Age of Data: Big Data and Media Analytics of the annual conference of the Broadcast Education Association, Las Vegas, NV.

Cui, X., & Xu, Q. (2017, August). Television, emotion, and social integration: Testing the effect of media event with the 2017 US Presidential Inauguration. Paper presented at the 100th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, IL.

Kim, H.-S., Xu, Q., & Kim, K. (2017, May). How do people process information in location check-ins? A study of cues on Facebook. Paper presented at the 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association.

Rui, J., Yu, N., Xu, Q., & Cui, X. (2017, May). Get connected while aging: The impact of WeChat network characteristics on Chinese aging population’s well-being. Paper presented at the 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association.

Yu, N., & Xu, Q. (2016, June). The myth of genetically modified foods: Public debates over risks, opportunities, and responsible parties on Chinese social media. Paper presented at the 66th annual conference of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka, Japan.

Kim, H.-S., Xu, Q., & Kim, K. (2016, June). Effects of heuristic cues on user perceptions via location check-ins: An approach to the interplay of dual processing and persuasion knowledge models. Paper presented at the 66th annual conference of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka, Japan.

Service Activities

University Committees:

Mentoring in Meaningful Relationships Coordination Team (co-chair) 2025-present

Graduate Council 2016-2017, 2023-present

API & MENA Implementation Team 2023-2024

Course-Embedded Undergraduate Research Working Group Spring 2023

Undergraduate Research Advisory Committee 2017-2023

Experiential Education Advisory Committee 2017-2022

API & MENA Task Force (co-chair) 2021-2022

Institutional Review Board 2015-2022

Reimagining the "Imagine the Internet" Center Working Group Fall 2021

Strategic Planning Committee 2018-2019

Distinguished Scholar Award Committee 2018

Phillips-Perry Black Excellence ELR Awards Selection Committee 2017

Honors Program Advisory Committee 2014-2017

School Committees:

Interactive Media Master Program Admission Committee 2011-2023

Teacher-Scholar Committee 2012-2014 (Chair 2012-2013) & 2015-2017, 2019-2020

Search Committee for Media Analytics Position 2013(Chair), 2018

Library Committee 2017-2019

Editor-in-Chief

Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring, Elon University 2017-2023

Awards

2022 Excellence in Service and Dedication to the Elon AAPI Community, Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education, Elon University

2021 Excellence in Teaching Award, School of Communications, Elon University

2016 President’s Report of Elon University - one of the eight faculty members featured in the report, highlighting scholarship across campus

2016 Excellence in Scholarship Award, School of Communications, Elon University