Name:Bolin Cao
Associate Professor (Tenured since January 2021)
Headof Department of Internet and New media
School of Media and Communication, Shenzhen University
Phone: (86) 18902849762
Email: caobolin@szu.edu.cn; loniceralin@gmail.com
Biosketch
Dr. Bolin Cao is an associate professor in the School of Media and Communication at Shenzhen University. She has led the Department of Internet and New Media since 2020 and previously directed the professional master’s program in health communication from 2019 to 2023. In 2024, she served as a visiting associate professor at Cornell University.
She received her PhD from the City University of Hong Kong in 2016 and completed her postdoctoral research at the University of North Carolina – Project China. She has published more than50 peer-reviewed articlesin top SSCI/SCI journals, includingInformation, Communication and Society,Health Communication,Telematics and Informatics,Computers in Human Behavior,Information Processing & Management,Journal of Medical Internet Research,AIDS & Behavior, andChinese Journal of Communication. She has also led numerous projects related to new media and health communication, includingtwo funded by the National Social Science Fund of China(2018 and 2022).She has received various teaching and research awards and recognitions, such as the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS), Second Prize in the Guangdong ProvinceTeaching Innovation Competition, theOutstanding Academic Performance Awardfrom the City University of Hong Kong, Excellent Conference Paper Award at the International Communication Association (ICA) Regional Conference, the Youth Talents Project of Shenzhen University, and Excellent Paper Award in New Media Studies.
EDUCATION
oPostdoc in Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Project – China (2016.03-2017.03)
oPh.D. in Media & Communication, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (2016)
oM.A. with Honors in Communication, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China (2012)
oB.A. with Honors in Journalism, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (2010)
oExchange student in Literature, Shandong University, Jinan, China (2008.2-2008.8)
RESEARCH INTERESTS
oNew Media and Health Communication:Exploring the intersection of new media technologies and health communication, with a focus on AI chatbots and mental health support, the role of social media in HIV/AIDS preventionandcontrol
oThe Social Impact of New Media Technologies:Human-machine communication (HMC), computer-mediated communication (CMC), social change, structural impact
COURSESTAUGHT
Undergraduate Courses:Cyberpsychology, Digital Health Communication
Graduate Courses:Human-machine Communication, Frontiers in Health Communication, English for Academic Purposes in Communication
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
1.*Cao, B.,Wen,C. (2025). Does Greater Chatbot Usage Improve Affective Attitudes Toward AI? A Moderated Mediation Model of Relational Capacity, Competence, and Privacy Concerns in a Two-Wave Panel Study.Telematics and Informatics, 10.1016/j.tele.2025.102263
2.*Cao, B.,Dai, S., & Liu, C. (2024). Old friend, new beginning: re-domesticating the outdated ICTs for biographical reconstruction among PLH in China.Information, Communication & Society,27(5), 915-934.
3.*Cao, B.,Li, Z., & Jiang, L. C. (2024). When chatbots make errors: Cognitive and affective pathways to understanding forgiveness of chatbot errors.Telematics and Informatics,102189.
4.*Cao, B.,& Wang, L. (2024). When epidemic outbreaks meet social media: Collective illness narratives on WeChat during COVID-19 omicron infection in China.Health Communication,39(11), 2211-2224.
5.*Cao, B.,Huang, S., & Tang, W. (2024). AI triage or manual triage? Exploring medical staffs’ preference for AI triage in China.Patient Education and Counseling,119, 108076.
6.*Cao, B.,Zhi B. Self-Communication: Understanding Human-Machine Interaction from a Complementary Perspective—An Empirical Exploratory Study [J].Modern Publishing, 2024 (CSSCI Indexed, in Chinese)
7.*Cao, B.,& Smith, K. (2023). Gay dating apps in China: Do they alleviate or exacerbate loneliness? The serial mediation effect of perceived and internalized sexuality stigma.Journal of Homosexuality,70(2), 347-363.
8.*Cao,B.,Huang S. The Dynamic Relationship Between Self-Disclosure and Privacy Calculations in Human-Machine Interaction [J].Global Communication Journal, 2023, 10(03): 22-46. (CSSCI Indexed, in Chinese)
9.*Cao, B.,Huang, W., Chao, N., Yang, G., & Luo, N. (2022). Patient Activeness During Online Medical Consultation in China: Multilevel Analysis.Journal of Medical Internet Research,24(5), e35557.
10.*Cao B.,Wang D., Wang Y. & Hall BJ. (2022) Patient Expectation in China: Exploring Patient Satisfaction in Online and Offline Patient–Provider Communication.Frontiers in Psychology.doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.888657
11.*Cao B.,Dai W. Understanding Online Doctor-Patient Communication: A Triadic Perspective of "Doctor-Patient-Technology" as a Communication Behavior [J].Journalism University, 2022(11): 54-66+118-119. (CSSCI Indexed,Reprinted by Renmin University's "Journalism and Communication",in Chinese)
12.Cao Bolin. "The Silent Protagonists": The Logic of Elderly Pandemic Prevention Behavior and Risk Coping Strategies During COVID-19 [J]. Academic Research, 2022(2): 59-66. (CSSCI Indexed,in Chinese)
13.Huang W., *Cao B., Yang G., Luo N., Chao N (2021). Turn to the Internet First? Using Online Medical Behavioral Data to Forecast COVID-19 Epidemic Trend.Information Processing & Management58 (3), 102486(Co-first author)
14.Zhang, Y.#, *Cao, B#.,Wang, Y., Peng, T. Q., & Wang, X. (2020). When Public Health Research Meets Social Media: Knowledge Mapping From 2000 to 2018.Journal of Medical Internet Research,22(8), e17582.(Co-first author & Corresponding author)
15.*Cao, B.,Bao, H., Oppong, E., Feng, S., Smith, K. M., Tucker, J. D., & Tang, W. (2020). Digital health for sexually transmitted infection and HIV services: a global scoping review.Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases,33(1), 44-50.
16.Li, X., & *Cao, B.#(2019). Media variants, situation awareness, and protective public-health behaviors.Chinese Journal of Communication,12(4), 467-483.(Corresponding author)
17.*Cao, B.,Saffer, A. J., Yang, C., Chen, H., Peng, K., Pan, S. W., ... & Tang, W. (2019). MSM behavior disclosure networks and HIV testing: An egocentric network analysis among MSM in China.AIDS and Behavior,23(5), 1368-1374.
18.*Cao, B.,Saha, P. T., Leuba, S. I., Lu, H., Tang, W., Wu, D., ... & Tucker, J. D. (2019). Recalling, sharing and participating in a social media intervention promoting HIV testing: a longitudinal analysis of HIV testing among MSM in China.AIDS and Behavior,23(5), 1240-1249.
19.*Cao, B.,Zhao, P., Bien-Gund, C., Tang, W., Ong, J. J., Fitzpatrick, T., ... & Luo, Z. (2018). The web-based physician is ready to see you: A nationwide cross-sectional survey of physicians using a mobile medical app to evaluate patients with sexually transmitted diseases in China.JMIR mHealth and uHealth,6(10), e10531.
20.*Cao B., Zhao P, Bien C, Pan S, Tang W, Watson J, Mi G, Luo Z, Tucker J. (2018). Linking young men who have sex with men (YMSM) to STI physicians: a nationwide cross-sectional survey in China.BMC Infectious Disease.18(2), 228.
21.*Cao B.,Gupta S., Wang J., Hightow-Weidman L., Muessig K. Tang W., Pan S., Pendse R., & Tucker J. (2017).Social media interventions to promote HIV testing, linkage, adherence, & retention: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of Medical Internet Research,19 (11).
22.*Cao B.,Liu C., Durvasula M., Tang W., Pan S., Saffer AJ., Wei C., Tucker JD. Social Media Engagement and HIV Testing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey.Journal of Medical Internet Research.2017;19(7): e251.
23.*Cao, B.& Lin, W.-Y. (2017). Revisiting the contact hypothesis: Effects of different modes of computer-mediated communication on intergroup relationships.International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 58, 23-30.
24.*Cao, B.,Liu, C., Stein, G., Tang, W., Zhang, Y., Best, J., Wei, C., & Tucker, J. (2017). Faster and riskier? Online context of sex seeking among men who have sex with men in China.Sexually Transmitted Disease,44(4), 239-244.
25.*Cao, B.,& Lin, W.-Y. (2015). How do victims react to cyberbullying on social networking sites? The influence of previous cyberbullying victimization experiences.Computers in Human Behavior, 52, 458-465.
GRANTS
1.National Social Science Fund of China, "The Effectiveness of AIchatbotInteraction in Promoting Mental Health" (No. 22CXW012), July 2022–December 31, 2026,Principal Investigator,ongoing.
2.National Social Science Fund of China, "Online Physician-Patient Communication: Health Communication Effectiveness and Risk Assessment" (No. 18CXW017), July 2018–December 31, 2021,Principal Investigator,completed.
3.Guangdong Provincial Department of Education Youth Innovation Talent Project, "'Internet + Public Health': The Health Promotion Function of Social Media and Its Implementation Path," January 2018–December 2019,Principal Investigator,completed.
4.Shenzhen Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project, "Health Communication Strategies for Public Health Emergencies in Shenzhen," August 2020–July 2021,Principal Investigator,completed.
5.Shenzhen University High-Level Research Output Cultivation Project, "Research on Human-Machine Communication and Mental Health Effectiveness: Core Concepts, Mechanisms, and Cross-National Differences," January 2024–December 2024,Principal Investigator,completed.
6.Shenzhen University Humanities Support Project, "AI-Enhanced Healthcare: Research on Chatbots' Interventions in Mental Health," January 2021–January 2026,Principal Investigator,ongoing.
7.Shenzhen University Humanities Support Project,"The Use and Impact of Apps among the LGBTQ Community," March 2018–March 2020,Principal Investigator,completed.
