Biography

Dr. Xialing Lin is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication at the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida. Her research interests lie at the intersections of risk, crisis communication, and communication technology. Her work aims to inform the better use of communication media for effective risk prevention and interventions as well as to build community resilience. She is the author and co-author of over thirty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and the recipient of multiple Top Paper awards from the National Communication Association, Central State Communication Association, and Eastern Communication Association.

Dr. Lin dedicates herself to being a strategic resource for the professional and educational communities. With over nine years of instructional experience, she specializes in providing courses and training in strategic communication. Meanwhile, Dr. Lin is the Communication & Social Robotics Laboratory faculty fellow at Western Michigan University. She also serves as the secretary and incoming chair of the Communication and Technology Interest Group at the Central States Communication Association and on the editorial boards of two peer-reviewed journals (i.e., Communication Studies and Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research).

Courses Delivered at UCF

• PUR 4400 – Crisis Communication (3 credits)
• PUR 4000H – Honors Public Relations (3 credits)
• PUR 6005 – Theories of Public Relations (3 credits)

Recent Publications

Spence, P. R., Lachlan, K. A., Kaufmann, R., Lin, X., & Spates, S. A. (Accepted). Examining perceptions and outcomes of AI versus human course assistant discussions in the online classroom. Communication Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2024.2308832

Spence, P. R., & Lin, X. (2024). Social media and crisis research. In M. M. Skoric & N. Pang (Eds.), Research handbook on social media and society (pp. 84-97). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Spence, P. R., Kaufman, R., Lachlan, K. A., Lin, X., & Spates, S. A. (2023). Extending the understanding of online discussions: A replication of online students’ perceptions of identity and helper heuristics. Communication Education, 72(4), 367-381. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2023.2169315

Lin, X., Kaufmann, R., Spates, S. A., Lachlan, K. A., & Spence, P. R. (2022). Exploring students’ perceptions of identity and helper heuristics in the online classroom discussion board. Communication Education, 71(2), 108-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2021.1957138

Lin, X., Lachlan, K. A., & Spence, P. R. (2022). “I thought about it and I may follow what you said”: Three studies examining the effects of elaboration and source credibility on risk behavior intentions. Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research, 5(1), 9-28. https://doi.org/10.30658/jicrcr.5.1.2

Spates, S. A., Kaufmann, R., Lin, X., Lachlan, K. A., & Spence, P. R. (2020). I don’t care about who you are, but what you are doing for me? Examining perceptions of helpful comments and identity in user-generated content. Southern Communication Journal, 85(3), 155-165. https://doi.org/10.1080/1041794X.2020.1770319

Spence, P. R., Lin, X., Lachlan, K. A., & Hutter, E. (2020). Listen up, I’ve done this before: The impact of self-disclosure on source credibility and risk message responses. Progress in Disaster Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdisas.2020.100108

Recent Awards

2021     Five-Year Service Award, Penn State Scranton.

2020     Dr. Richard J. & Sally Matthews Award for Scholarly Activity, Penn State Scranton.

2017     Faculty Endowed Research Award, Penn State University Alumni Association.