“Online promotion holds immense power” – a member of our CCL research centre studying computational inequalities

His journey to CCL started with a publication by Orsolya Vásárhelyi: Yajie was attracted by the way of thinking of the assistant professor who was researching at CCL. He noticed that the institute was bringing together young researchers from different research backgrounds and offering them a platform to develop.  

The researcher, who obtained his doctorate at the Dalian University of Technology and spent two years studying at the University of Copenhagen, wanted to remain in a European academic environment. He says the community and collaboration at CCL greatly support his work. They hold regular meetings where they can share their latest research findings or how they have benefited from a workshop, providing each other with new perspectives.  

He became interested in social media as a professional interest when he noticed how many academics were posting tweets about the latest developments in their current research. This led him to wonder whether social media truly enhances the dissemination of science and who actually benefits from these posts.   

The most surprising thing was that although women participate in promotion less frequently than men, there is no significant difference in online visibility. When we investigated how their tweets propagate, we found that some are diffused according to a “broadcast” network, and others achieve a “chain-like” or viral diffusion.

Currently, the biggest challenge is collecting data in this area. Before Elon Musk bought Twitter, it was easy to access all kinds of data, but it has since been encrypted, so now he has to work from existing databases. After the acquisition of Twitter, Bluesky emerged as a potential alternative, and he now sees it as a platform worth transitioning to.   

Although he has only recently stepped into these shoes, his advice to aspiring researchers is to attend as many conferences and workshops as possible and to build a broad professional network. He also recognizes the power of online promotion in academic research and believes it is essential to leverage the opportunities provided by social media.