Joy Hannah Panaligan is a PhD student at USC Annenberg. Her research interest broadly concerns online language teaching, emerging digital technologies, and decentralized gaming platforms. She aims to analyze how labor evolves within and across digital platforms. Joy's research has been presented at the International Communication Association conference and published in the Journal of Sociolinguistics, Language & Communication, and a chapter in an edited volume published by Routledge.

Before joining Annenberg, Joy was an HR manager in a start-up (mobile and blockchain) gaming company based in Singapore and the Philippines. This exposed her to the realities of digital and platform laborers in Asia working within an industry heavily relying on emerging media. She began her career in research and teaching at De La Salle University Manila and De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde. She received her MA in Communication Major in Applied Media Studies from De La Salle University and an MA in Media Arts Cultures from the Erasmus Mundus Program, a joint master's degree from Aalborg University, University for Continuing Education Krems, and University of Lodz.