PhD defence Q. (Qiong) Gong

The explosive growth of this element of diversity or heterogeneity in the information propagated online raises questions about how young adults perceive the information they obtain from the media in general, both traditional and social. How is young adults’ daily media consumption related to their trust in media and to their online activities? To get an in-depth understanding of how these people perceive the credibility of various media outlets in country’s rapidly changing mediatized environment, I studied media usage by selecting a sample of participants in the 18–40 age group and by focusing on topics of politics, culture, and health. The present dissertation is the result of this attempt to understand the workings of and interconnections between credibility, trust, media use, and online activities among young adults in contemporary Chinese culture and society; and one should bear in mind that research on such matters in non-Western democracies and political regimes is scarce. Drawing on data collected online in China, this dissertation consists of four studies that deal – from different angles – with relationships between media use and repertoires, traditional and social media credibility, and online engagement in politics, culture, and health among young adults. In a nutshell, I investigated how much young adults trust the various media outlets at their disposal and how this affects behaviors and forms of engagement vis-à-vis topical issues in the fields of politics, culture and health in the country’s contemporary media environment.

The public defence will take place at the Senatehall, 1st floor of the Erasmus Building, Campus Woudestein. The ceremony will begin exactly at 13.30 hrs. In light of the solemn nature of the ceremony, we recommend that you do not take children under the age of 6 to the first part of the ceremony.