Yan Jin selected for membership in the Arthur W. Page Society

Yan Jin, an associate professor of public relations at Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, has joined the ranks of world-class senior public relations and corporate communications executives and educators as a member of the prestigious Arthur W. Page Society.

"It is a huge honor to join such a premier group,” said Jin, who is also associate director of the UGA Center for Health & Risk Communication. “As an academic member, I look forward to contributing research insights for corporate communications practice and to the mission of training future leaders in our field."

Membership in the Page Society consists primarily of chief communication officers of Fortune 500 companies and leading nonprofit organizations, as well as CEOs of top agencies. Only a small percentage of educators are extended an invitation for membership; yet Grady College now boasts two members, as Jin joins Bryan H. Reber, who was inducted in 2015.

“This is a top honor reserved for top educators in the field,” said Tom Reichert, head of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations. “Dr. Jin is very deserving of this recognition, and we are proud of the collaboration and work she will do in this role alongside Dr. Reber and other Page Society members.”

Jin teaches undergraduate public relations courses in research, management, and campaigns, as well as a graduate communication theory course. Her research includes studies of public relations, crisis communication, corporate conflict management, social media, and strategic health and risk communication, with a strong focus on how emotions influence organizational decision making processes as well as stakeholders’ information seeking behaviors and communicative responses. 

*Author: Stephanie Moreno

Focus on research: AdPR professor studies the prevalence of depression on social media

Associate Professor Yan
Jin studies the intersection
between depression and
social media

As part of a new initiative, the Advertising and Public Relations department will highlight research led by our own faculty and staff. In this article, Associate Professor Yan Jin studies the prevalence of depression-related posts on popular social media platforms.

Jeanine Guidry, Uuan Zhang, Yan Jin, Candace Parrish. Portrayals of depression on Pinterest and why public relations practitioners should care. Science Direct.

 

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. Small wonder that the disease is beginning to gain a substantial foothold in the rapidly growing landscape of social media. A new study featured in Science Direct looked at a sampling of depression-related postings on the popular Pinterest application. According to its findings, users posting about depression make frequent references to the seriousness or severity of the disease. The general nature of the postings – which tend to be more about expressing feelings and seeking support – implies that many posters are themselves suffering from some form of depression.

There’s cause for concern in the findings as well: Of the 40 percent of posters who mention coping mechanisms, more than half cite dysfunctional mechanisms such as behavioral disengagement, self-blame or denial – and 10 percent of all postings refer to suicide. The lesson, according to co-author Yan Jin, associate professor of public relations at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, is that an opportunity exists for public relations practitioners to help, particularly those in the health care field.

To view the full article, click here.
Written by Tripp Cagle.

AdPR's Yan Jin receives several awards

Yan Jin, associate professor of public relations in the Advertising and Public Relations Department and associate director of Center for Health & Risk Communication at The University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, recently received several awards on recent papers.

Jin won the Best Faculty Paper Award in the Public Relations Division at the International Communication Association's 65th Annual Conference in May.

She was also awarded the Boston University Award for the Top Paper about Public Relations and the Social and Emerging Media at the 18th Annual Public Relations Research Conference in March. The International Public Relations Research Conference also awarded her the Institute for Public Relations Top Three Papers of Practical Significance Award.