Wednesday, December 16, 2020 - Shanghai, China // Several scholars and academia in Media and Communication came together to share research insights on various topics of their expertise under the conference theme: Media Convergence and Digital Communication. The online event was hosted on Zoom meeting by Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Media and Communication in collaboration with other major universities in France including Gustave Eiffel University, Grenoble Alpes University, University of Paris II Panthéon Assas and University of Sorbonne.

The event featured 11 speakers who presented on theme-related topics ranging from mobile shopping addiction, digitalization of diplomacy, QR code in media convergence, cyberbullying, Big data among others. Speakers included Dr. Zhao Alexandre, Xifei Wang, Nie Xinyan, Putri RImbawati, Farzana Sharmin, Xixi Yang among other distinguished speakers.

The first presenter from Gustave Eiffel University - Dr. Zhao Alexandre HUANG - shared deep insights on Digitalization of China’s Panda Diplomacy as a strategy for soft power. He accentuated on the relevance of digital media in enhancing China’s soft power and how the panda’s image is strategically integrated in the digital sphere of international communication and diplomacy.

Another presenter - Yuwen Zhang from University of Sorbonne whose topic was “Understanding the gesture of «scanning the QR code » in the context of media convergence” - demonstrated how various gestures can be interpreted and understood when observing individuals use social media apps such as WeChat in the Chinese context. She said,”By looking at my hands, you can be able to tell what I’m doing when using WeChat,based on the position of my hands and the observing my gestures.”

Presenting on Mobile Shopping Addiction was Noah Namwamba from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research contextualised on college students in China, where he shared research fndings on how major online shopping events among other factors influence mobile shopping behaviors of individuals. He perceived mobile shopping addiction as a critical form of addiction that equally requires scholarly attention.

The event host was Dr. Tao Tingting from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Media and Communication.

(Written by Noah Namwamba. Edited by Lutong Zhang)