Keyu Zhou

Keyu was born in Wuhan, China, moved to Beijing at 12, and lived there until 18. He pursued bachelor’s degree at University of Washington in Seattle, and master’s degree at University of Chicago. Keyu was trained in both sociology and psychology with an extensive interest in intimate relations and demography. While in Chicago, he shifted his interest toward social media research regarding online content and cultural patterns.

After the master’s program, Keyu moved back to Beijing for a position of lecturing and tutoring at ViaX Education. He offered academic writing courses and hold revision sessions for undergraduate students. With help from Keyu, students survived their first papers or even first publications.

As a member of the CCC program, Keyu is broadly interested in social media, cultural sociology, and LGBTQ studies. He is looking for developing better tools for understanding social media content, especially the comment section as a new landscape of the public sphere. He will seek theoretical frameworks that summarize the comment in terms of culture as well as reliable methodologies dedicated to understanding the implicit rules behind the comments. While at the same time, Keyu also would like to discover the presentation and interactions of transgender influencers on social media.

Beyond working hours, Keyu is an amateur bass-baritone vocalist with more song covers than followers as well as an unverified Michelin home chef capable of making braised short ribs in either Chinese or French style.