About me

I am a Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor) in Digital Cultures at the University of Sydney’s Discipline of Media and Communications and a member of the Chinese Studies Centre. I am also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Journalism and Communication. Previously, I was the George Gerbner Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. I earned my Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism.

My research explores the connections between digital platforms, gender and sexuality, and culture using mixed methods. I currently focus on two connected areas: global dating app cultures and the use of social media by LGBTQ communities. To learn more about my work, email me at liksam.chan@sydney.edu.au or follow me on Bluesky @liksamchan. My full CV is available here.

I am the co-chair of the LGBTQ Studies Division of International Communication Association and serve as Associate Editor for both the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and Personal Relationships.

My first book, The Politics of Dating Apps: Gender, Sexuality, and Emergent Publics in Urban China (2021) examines dating app culture in China across user demographics—straight women, straight men, queer women, and queer men. An abridged translation in Japanese, titled マッチングアプリ文化におけるネットワーク化された性的公衆の出現 was published by Japanese Journal of International Society for Gender Studies in2022. Its Chinese translation, 虛擬親密：約會軟件中的性別及酷兒政治, came out in 2025.