Liang Ge (they/them)
@liangge11.bsky.social
Lecturer in Sociology @morgancentre.bsky.social University of Manchester Sociology Department | Digital Media & Tech, Digital Methods, Gender & Sexuality, ESEA Creative Industries and Popular Cultures | they/them
Hooray! Check out our new article on materialising intimacy and otome gamers' everyday intimate practices! :D
@zishanlai.bsky.social · 2w ago✨ New article co-authored with @liangge11.bsky.social and Dr. Tingting Hu! Want to know more about how Chinese otome players take digital intimacy beyond the screen? Open Access 🔗: doi.org/10.1177/1469... #otome #cosplay#cottondoll #digitalintimacy #embodiment @cnmnus.bsky.social
🏆 The Sociological Review Foundation Public Sociology Awards 2026 – winners revealed! 🏆 Last night in London, we celebrated outstanding projects across four categories, recognising innovative work that demonstrates the relevance of sociology in everyday life. buff.ly/3oMJKGN #PublicSociology
In case you've missed it, the recording of Dr Liang Ge's @liangge11.bsky.social talk at UPWomxn on Young Women, Ambivalent Desiring subjects and their theorisation of post-(socialist-)feminist-sensibilities, is now online! youtu.be/K6ID9zc22y4?...
[Ge Liang] Ambivalent Desiring Subjects
YouTube video by United Proud Womxn
youtu.be
Sympoietic creativity and the boundaries of qing: digital romance writers negotiating generative AI - AI & SOCIETY This study investigates how writers of high-velocity Chinese digital romance fiction negotiate the arrival of generative AI at the desk. Drawing on a 4-year multi-sited digital...
Sympoietic creativity and the boundaries of qing: digital romance writers negotiating generative AI - AI & SOCIETY
This study investigates how writers of high-velocity Chinese digital romance fiction negotiate the arrival of generative AI at the desk. Drawing on a 4-year multi-sited digital ethnography (2021–2025) and interviews with 34 writers on Jinjiang Literature City alongside sustained forum observation and platform-discourse analysis, this article tracks how authors of serial romance work under the time discipline of the daily-update treadmill in the presence of large language models (LLMs). I argue that what is emerging is sympoietic creativity: a distributed practice of “making-with” the machine that is fraught, ambivalent and strategic rather than collaborative or replacement-driven. Four modes of negotiation co-exist across the cohort. In strategic collaboration, writers delegate world-building, naming and structural error-checking to the LLM. In cyborg authorship, they curate machine-generated prose under acute platform pressure, at the cost of what they themselves call the work’s “aura.” In conditional refusal, they hold the line at the inter-subjective texture of feeling they consider, on present evidence, beyond the model’s competence. In narrative incorporation, they thematize algorithmic logic in the fiction itself, casting the algorithmic system as villain and human emotion as the route to victory. Throughout, I reserve qing—the inter-subjective, somatic bond from which affect, desire, and embodiment become legible to the reader—as a precise analytical term distinct from generic English-language emotion or affect. The human zone these writers preserve is not a permanent or guaranteed space, but an unstable equilibrium sustained by reader vigilance, platform metrics, and writer self-discipline—any of which could withdraw.
link.springer.com
6/ So the question is not whether humans are becoming 'too attached' to AI. It is who designs these intimate relationships, whose interests they serve, and which forms of human connectivity and intimate practices they reshape or displace.
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 2mo agoChina is trying to regulate how people fall in love with AI. I spoke to @newscientist.com about the new rules, and about why regulating individual usage may be the least effective place to intervene. www.newscientist.com/article/2580...
5/ These apps are built to be hard to put down. That is not a side effect of the design. It is the design. Regulating the user, rather than the incentive, leaves the engine running.
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 2mo agoChina is trying to regulate how people fall in love with AI. I spoke to @newscientist.com about the new rules, and about why regulating individual usage may be the least effective place to intervene. www.newscientist.com/article/2580...
4/ Effective governance has to look past particular interactions to what produces them: commercial incentives, design choices, data practices, and the social conditions that make synthetic intimate practices so compelling in the first place.
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 2mo agoChina is trying to regulate how people fall in love with AI. I spoke to @newscientist.com about the new rules, and about why regulating individual usage may be the least effective place to intervene. www.newscientist.com/article/2580...
3/But rules aimed at individual usage will only go so far. Users move to specialist services such as Xingye, Maoxiang. They reach foreign LLM platforms through VPNs. They run models locally. The relationship outlives the regulation.
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 2mo agoChina is trying to regulate how people fall in love with AI. I spoke to @newscientist.com about the new rules, and about why regulating individual usage may be the least effective place to intervene. www.newscientist.com/article/2580...
2/ The rules matter for one reason above all: China has recognised and treated AI companions as more than technological products. These apps are becoming essential part of people's emotional and social lives, raising real questions about dependency, intimacy, childhood, and platform responsibility.
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 2mo agoChina is trying to regulate how people fall in love with AI. I spoke to @newscientist.com about the new rules, and about why regulating individual usage may be the least effective place to intervene. www.newscientist.com/article/2580...
China is trying to regulate how people fall in love with AI. I spoke to @newscientist.com about the new rules, and about why regulating individual usage may be the least effective place to intervene. www.newscientist.com/article/2580...
China is trying to regulate relationships with AI – can it work? | New Scientist
China is the first country to enact substantial legislation on AI relationships in an effort to protect people from the worst aspects of digital companions
newscientist.com
🆕New Article our by Liang Ge: “In the Name of Pro-Women”: Intra-Women Surveillance and Internalized Misogyny in Digital East Asia | Article | Media and Communication www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcomm...
“In the Name of Pro-Women”: Intra-Women Surveillance and Internalized Misogyny in Digital East Asia | Article | Media and Communication
Liang Ge
cogitatiopress.com
🏆 Staff Category Winner @liangge11.bsky.social – Queer Asia as Method Six years of work connecting queer Asian research with LGBTQ+ communities across Asia, Britain and the diaspora through film, festivals, workshops, collaborations, and accessible community resources.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Sociology Impact and Engagement Prize, recognising outstanding work that shares sociological research far beyond academia. www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/w... @uomsociology.bsky.social @manchester.ac.uk
@bookshop.bsky.social was interviewed (alongside the brilliant @liangge11.bsky.social!) for this piece on an EU commissioner RPF ship (Attalourné 😘) that's blowing up in Chinese fan spaces right now. Fascinating transcultural fandom dynamics!
Lucie Ronfaut@lucieronfaut.com · 5mo agoSuper article de ma chère @elisabraun.bsky.social sur ces internautes chinoises qui se passionnent pour Gabriel Attal et Stéphane Séjourné, et les enjeux politiques que ça soulève (avec du @fansplaining.bsky.social dedans, joie !) www.euractiv.com/news/the-unl...
2nd one in the same day! MENTAL HEALTH AND LGBTQ+ LIVES IN ASIA: CINEMA AND CONVERSATIONS ⏰ Time: 18.00 onwards, 7 May 2026 📍 In person: Bush House (SE) 1.05 Register here: ti.to/queereast/me...
ti.to
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 5mo agoDear folks! I am sending the invitation and warmly invite you join us on 7 May 2026 for two events!!! 🥳 🥳 🥳 QUEER ASIA AS METHOD LAUNCH EVENT ⏰ Time: 13:00–15:00, 7 May 2026 📍 In person: Bush House (SE) 1.05 / Online: Microsoft Teams Register here: www.tickettailor.com/events/queer...
Dear folks! I am sending the invitation and warmly invite you join us on 7 May 2026 for two events!!! 🥳 🥳 🥳 QUEER ASIA AS METHOD LAUNCH EVENT ⏰ Time: 13:00–15:00, 7 May 2026 📍 In person: Bush House (SE) 1.05 / Online: Microsoft Teams Register here: www.tickettailor.com/events/queer...
🚨 New in Big Data & Society 🚨 "Spectral imaginings and sympoietic creativity: AI hallucinations and the ethics of posthuman creativity” by Liang Ge. 🔓: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... #AIhallucination #datacolonialism #posthumanhermeneutics
Very happy to share that I’ve joined the Editorial Board of The Sociological Review!Over the next five years, I look forward to supporting more globally engaged sociological research, particularly in the areas of intimacies, media culture and technologies, the Global South, and gender& sexuality!😊
The Sociological Review Foundation@thesociologicalreview.org · 7mo ago⭐ WELCOME to the 20 scholars who have joined The Sociological Review journal’s Editorial Board this month Read more about these appointments: buff.ly/Jvu5XS0
🔹 The Fluency Trade-off: I analyze why models like DeepSeek-R1 (with a higher hallucination rate) differ from factual optimizers like ChatGPT-o1. The paper examines how "Chain-of-Thought" reasoning enhances creativity but inherently amplifies "spectral" outputs.
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 9mo agoWe often dismiss AI hallucinations as mere technical failures or epistemic risks. In this article,I propose a different perspective: these generative anomalies act as hermeneutic knots: sites where algorithmic noise and human agency entangle to produce new modes of meaning-making
🔹I argue for sympoietic creativity:a collaborative practice where humans curate machine stochasticity rather than simply commanding a tool This work challenges us to harness AI's disruptive potential for posthuman futures while maintaining strict ethical vigilance.
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 9mo agoWe often dismiss AI hallucinations as mere technical failures or epistemic risks. In this article,I propose a different perspective: these generative anomalies act as hermeneutic knots: sites where algorithmic noise and human agency entangle to produce new modes of meaning-making
We often dismiss AI hallucinations as mere technical failures or epistemic risks. In this article,I propose a different perspective: these generative anomalies act as hermeneutic knots: sites where algorithmic noise and human agency entangle to produce new modes of meaning-making
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 9mo ago🆕Publication Arrived!!! Are AI hallucinations bugs to be fixed, or the start of a new kind of creativity? My new paper, "Spectral imaginings and sympoietic creativity," explores how we might move beyond binary framings of AI errors. Check it out here: doi.org/10.1177/2053...
🆕Publication Arrived!!! Are AI hallucinations bugs to be fixed, or the start of a new kind of creativity? My new paper, "Spectral imaginings and sympoietic creativity," explores how we might move beyond binary framings of AI errors. Check it out here: doi.org/10.1177/2053...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
doi.org
This paper examines a rapidly expanding human–nonhuman digital intimacy. We explore how women players form deep affective attachments with virtual male characters in women-oriented otome games in their everyday life💫 A core contribution is our proposal of the concept “digital intimacy literacies.”
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 10mo ago✨Thrilled to share our new article published in Information, Communication & Society: “Digital literacies of intimacy: women’s engagement and learning in otome video games”！！！ 🥳 💥 🎉 Open access link: doi.org/10.1080/1369...
We use the term “digital intimacy literacies” to describe the set of socio-technical, affective, sensory, and narrative competencies through which women players learn to interpret, negotiate, and cultivate intimate relationships in digital environments.
Liang Ge (they/them)@liangge11.bsky.social · 10mo ago✨Thrilled to share our new article published in Information, Communication & Society: “Digital literacies of intimacy: women’s engagement and learning in otome video games”！！！ 🥳 💥 🎉 Open access link: doi.org/10.1080/1369...
✨Thrilled to share our new article published in Information, Communication & Society: “Digital literacies of intimacy: women’s engagement and learning in otome video games”！！！ 🥳 💥 🎉 Open access link: doi.org/10.1080/1369...
Digital literacies of intimacy: women’s engagement and learning in otome video games
This article explores the concept of ‘digital intimacy literacies’ by analyzing how Chinese women gamers form deep emotional connections with virtual male characters in otome games. The study exami...
doi.org
💌 Join and Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on upcoming events, collaborations, and opportunities: 👉 www.liangge.blog/transdi-subs... Let’s explore together how intimacy, technology, and culture intersect in today’s digital world.
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How is intimacy changing in our hyper-connected world? The Transcultural Digital Intimacies Research Network brings together global researchers to explore diverse experiences of connection, affect, an...
liangge.blog
INAUGURAL LECTURE: 🗣️ Start or end of life? Advancing the Sociology of Life, Death & Bereavement - Kate Reed 📅4-5pm Tues 29 Oct 2025 📌In person (University of Manchester) or online 🎟️Free, register via Eventbrite www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/start-or-e...
Start or end of life? Advancing the Sociology of Life, Death & Bereavement
The inaugural lecture of Professor Kate Reed, Department of Sociology.
eventbrite.co.uk
Folks, please check out Liang's new mini documentary with the ARD German Media: In Love with An AI youtu.be/tIgXRkEPlZ8?...
China: Verliebt in eine KI (China: In Love with an AI)
YouTube video by Ryou L Ge
youtu.be
It’s a very pleasant experience to work with Marie von Mallinckrodt and her team from ARD Germany on this mini-documentary project: In love with an AI 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳! Plz check it out here: www.ardmediathek.de/video/weltsp...
Weltspiegel: China: Verliebt in eine KI - hier anschauen
Millionen Chinesinnen spielen sogenannte „Dating Games“: Sie verlieben sich in eine virtuelle Figur auf einer spielerischen Ebene. Sehr viel ernster: Manche unterhalten sich so intensiv mit dem Chatbo...
ardmediathek.de
Yay! Another output from our Posthuman digital intimacies project!!! This is our Women and Video Games block! Plz do check it out!
Transcultural Digital Intimacy Research Network@transdi.bsky.social · last yr.Check out Tingting and Liang's New Pub from their Posthuman Digital Intimacies project! This time, it's about otome games and the datafication of digital intimacies: Datafication of Digital Intimacy: The Dual Logic of Empowerment and Commodification. Games and Culture. doi.org/10.1177/1555...