Dr Andy Zhao

I am a sociologist interested in studying and researching digital media, transnational mobility, family, young people, as well as their various intersections. I hold degrees in English Language and Literature (Renmin University of China, 2015) and Sociology (Deakin University, 2020). My doctoral project was an ethnographic study of how Chinese young migrants in Australia understand and use social media in and across the spheres of everyday life. Foregrounding the young migrants’ plural and changing identities in a foreign context, the thesis unpacked their situated practices of crossing, negotiating, and reconstructing boundaries across spatial settings and social relations.

Since PhD, I have actively expanded my research by developing and being involved in a number of interdisciplinary and collaborative projects that cover a variety of social contexts. I was Associate Research Fellow and Project Officer on the ARC Discovery Project “Youth Mobilities, Aspirations and Pathways”, based in the Alfred Deakin Institute at Deakin University. I was also involved in a Curtin University-based research project, which examined young people’s COVID-19 messaging on TikTok. I have a strongly emerging publication track record in Chinese digital diaspora, youth, migration, and digital parenting studies. My work has been featured in major Australian news outlets, including the ABC News, Nine News, and Herald Sun.

As a Research Fellow of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child at Deakin University, I am particularly keen to expand our knowledge of cultural and platform diversity in Australian families and digital childhoods. Through my work in the Centre, I hope to support migrant families and children to better engage with digital technologies in a safe, ethical, and inclusive environment.