Emoji

In connection with the development of mobile devices and more frequent computer-mediated communication, most often in the form of text messages, there is a need to simply communicate the emotions associated with the communicated messages. Therefore, text messages are enriched with more information, most often in the form of emoticons, emojis or stickers. Research on emojis has been gaining popularity in the last five years. Four emojis expressing different emotions were chosen for the quantitative research presented here: joy, anger, fear, and surprise. The aim of this paper is to compare the ability to estimate emotions in a sentence and assign the correct emoji to an emotionally colored sentence in representatives of generations Y and Z in the Czech and Slovak Republics (N = 863). According to data from the conducted questionnaire, both generations are similarly successful in interpreting and using emojis in a number of situations. Yet it can be said that representatives of Generation Y were significantly more successful in recognizing joy in an emotionally colored sentence. On the other hand, representatives of Generation Z were better at connecting the correct emoji with an emotionally colored text message. There can also be found differences in the use of emojis based on gender. Women use the emoji 'joy' more often than men. In an aggregated view of the success of men and women, it can be concluded that men were better able to recognize anger in an emotionally colored sentence and use this emoji correctly. On the other hand, women were better in other cases (joy, fear, and surprise). The results also indicate that the use of some types of emojis is more multifarious because emojis can be used as an additional emotional charge (information) which may not be exactly in line with the accompanying text message.

Emoji are an ever-growing feature in computer-mediated communication. They function as paralinguistic devices which help convey messages in the absence of features such as intonation, facial expressions, body language and gestures. However, misinterpretation and miscommunication among emoji users is very much apparent. This study concerns whether or not facial emoji follow conventions in computer-mediated communication and ultimately function in a comparable manner to contemporary punctuation and textual markers. This study explores: (1) whether emoji sentimental interpretation is agreed upon by all users; (2) whether emoji semantic interpretation is agreed upon by all users; (3) whether users' frequency of facial emoji use affects interpretation pragmatically; and (4) whether connotative and denotative interpretation of facial emoji are affected by users' frequency of use. An online survey solicited responses from 44 participants. Questions focussed on the sentimental, semantic and pragmatic interpretations of the ten most frequently used facial emoji. Distances between the most negative and most positive ratings for facial emoji, in textual context and individually, as well as the number of unique descriptions given per emoji were calculated. The findings revealed that the average sentiment distance of individual emoji, and the average sentiment distance for utterances featuring an emoji, typically increased with user frequency of use. However, the average sentiment distance for all frequencies of users combined decreased majoritively when an utterance featured an emoji. Semantic responses produced a range of unique descriptions. Participants who rarely used emoji interpreted them more denotatively than higher frequency groups, who made more connotative interpretations. Emoji which increased sentiment distance were typically those with larger denotative interpretations, in contrast to those with connotative interpretations, where sentiment distanced generally decreased. Overall, albeit still prone to misinterpretation, smiling face with heart eyes¸ ' demonstrated the greatest agreement across all users and could be considered the most conventional facial emoji.

Emoji have become a prominent part of interactive digital communication. Here, we ask the questions: does a grammatical system govern the way people use emoji; and how do emoji interact with the grammar of written text? We conducted two experiments that asked participants to have a digital conversation with each other using only emoji (Experiment 1) or to substitute at least one emoji for a word in the sentences (Experiment 2). First, we found that the emoji-only utterances of participants remained at simplistic levels of patterning, primarily appearing as one-unit utterances (as formulaic expressions or responsive emotions) or as linear sequencing (for example, repeating the same emoji or providing an unordered list of semantically related emoji). Emoji playing grammatical roles (i.e., 'parts-of-speech') were minimal, and showed little consistency in 'word order'. Second, emoji were substituted more for nouns and adjectives than verbs, while also typically conveying nonredundant information to the sentences. These findings suggest that, while emoji may follow tendencies in their interactions with grammatical structure in multimodal text-emoji productions, they lack grammatical structure on their own.

I bring together two research strands that rarely interact and might even seem incom-mensurable, namely sociolinguistic approaches to linguistic fluidity and multi-competence on the one hand, and structural approaches to linguistic coherence and grammatical systems on the other hand. I show that we can reconcile insights from these two strands in a linguistic architecture that takes communicative situations as the core of linguistic systematicity, and integrates them into lexical representations. Under this view, communicative situations are the basis for linguistic coherence and grammatical systems, while languages can emerge as optional sociolinguistic indices.

Digital images of faces such as emoji in virtual communication have become increasingly popular, but current research findings are inconsistent regarding their emotional effects on perceptions of text. Similarly, emoji effects on reading behaviours are largely unknown and require further examination. The present study (N 1⁄4 41) investigated how the position and emotional valence of emoji in neutral narrative sentences influenced eye movements during reading and perceptions of sentence valence. Participants read neutral narrative sentences containing smiling or frowning emoji in sentence-initial or sentence-final positions and rated the perceived emotional valence of the sentence. Results from linear mixed-effects models demonstrated significantly longer fixations on sentence-final emoji and longer sentence reading times when emoji were in sentence-final positions. These findings are comparable to sentence ‘wrap-up’ effects witnessed in the processing of lexical units during sentence reading, providing new evidence towards the way readers integrate emoji into contextual processing. However, no impact of emoji valence or position on first-pass target word processing or sentence-valence ratings were found. This would refute previous suggestions that digital faces influence text valence, raising questions about reader preference for emoji or sentence sentiment, the influence of sentence formatting, and delivery/ display mechanism on these effects.

My paper looks at what is hailed by experts as the emergence of a new digital language, that
of the emojis. I intend to examine how, and more importantly why, communication on mainly
Facebook and Instagram has evolved from a stultified Internet English to an even more
simplified way of getting one's meaning across. At the same time, I assert that emojis are a
natural progression of the visual culture we are living and generating content in.

One of the striking features of communicating via new media technologies such as instant messaging (IM), is its capacity to provide individuals with innovative means to simulate emotional expression while interacting in a real time online setting. Static and animated, graphic-based emoticons are often added to achieve these communicative functions in development of personal friendships, relationships, and even the therapeutic alliance within counselling relationships. However, little research has investigated the role of these graphical emoticons in IM communication. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to provide a needed empirical investigation into how these emoticons influenced participants’ interpretation of instant message statements. Specifically, this thesis involved an exploration of how different types of emoticons influenced, (a) participants’ ability to accurately interpret the emotion conveyed by instant message statements and (b) participants’ level of certainty about their message interpretations, across “clear” or “unclear” conditions of emotional valence clarity. Furthermore, this study also explored whether an interaction was present between emoticon exposure and the emotional valence clarity. The sample consisted of 121 adult male and female participants from Canada and the United States. Overall, the presence of an emoticon led to more accurate performance scores in message interpretation regardless of the emotional valence clarity, compared to the absence of emoticons. Clear, affectively valenced messages resulted in more accurate performance than unclear (neutral or ambiguous) messages. A significant interaction effect revealed that emoticons have the greatest effect on accurate message interpretation when the message itself is unclear. Simple and complex emoticons were virtually identical in their ability to facilitate accurate interpretations, in any valence condition. Despite near equivalence in terms of accuracy, complex emoticons were inferior to simple emoticons in facilitating participants’ certainty about their interpretations. The presence of simple emoticons alone resulted in significant, high levels of certainty compared to their absence. Interestingly, emotional valence did not impact participant certainty. Interaction effects in the context of certainty were also nonexistent. Possible reasons for the differing pattern of results and findings are explained. Finally, implications of these patterns and explanations for IM friendships, relationships and clinical practice are discussed.

Nowadays visuality is increasing. One of the remarkable developments in 2015 was that the emoji ' ', the smiley with tears of happiness-was chosen the "word of the year" although it was just a pictogram, not even a word. This situation clearly shows that there is an increasing demand for new visual forms of writing. Emo-jis allow people from different language and culture backgrounds to communicate more effectively and initiate interactions when it is needed. It is believed that emoji codes might function like a universal language that is likely to solve potential misunderstandings experienced in intercultural communication. In one way it might be considered a sort of development in technology, or the other it is just a temporary crazy novelty brought by the Internet. This study mainly aims to explain the dimensions and importance of the emojis' usage. This qualitative study uses semi-structured in-depth interview technique. People tend to employ a sort of expressive use through "emotion laborer" emojis while presenting themselves. Emojis are traces of the transition from instrumentalism to expressionism.

Emojis are used frequently in social media. A widely assumed view is that emo-jis express the emotional state of the user, which has led to research focusing on the expressiveness of emojis independent from the linguistic context. We argue that emojis and the linguistic texts can modify the meaning of each other. The overall communicated meaning is not a simple sum of the two channels. In order to study the meaning interplay, we need data indicating the overall sentiment of the entire message as well as the sentiment of the emojis stand-alone. We propose that Facebook Reactions are a good data source for such a purpose. FB reactions (e.g. " Love " and " Angry ") indicate the readers' overall sentiment, against which we can investigate the types of emojis used the comments under different reaction profiles.

We investigate emoji as graphic discourse markers in German WhatsApp® messages. As comparably novel devices in the rapidly evolving domain of digital messenging, emoji provide an interesting example to observe change in progress. We present a corpus study and an experimental study. Main results are (i) an overall salience of subjective and intersubjective discourse meanings for emoji, with (ii) a general advantage for the former, especially for emoji that iconically include more active elements, while (iii) dominance relations can be modulated by left-vs. right-peripheral positions in favor of subjective vs. intersubjective meanings, respectively. By approaching emoji as discourse markers, the studies contribute to our understanding of their pragmatic contribution and provide novel evidence on positional-functional associations for pragmatic markers.

Although codes have been readily scrutinized in their literary and visual contexts standing on their own, it is worth examining the recent reappearance of the image as text. As was vital to language systems such as hieroglyphs, as well as in the import of images upon the written word in emblematic literature of the Renaissance, images have become the means by which emotions are conveyed in otherwise sparse text messages and social media posts. In comparing the modern usage of emoji – sometimes referred to as “smiley faces” in contemporary communication systems to Saussure’s conceptions of “langue” and “parole,” the quotidian system of signification of emoji will be considered as a new system of language in the advent of the technology age.

Mémoire de Master 2 Médias et Numérique - CELSA

Les émoticônes sont apparues avec Internet et avec les pratiques d’écritures dans les communications médiatisées par ordinateur. Utilisées pour donner une dimension plus humaine aux conversations, ces formes représentant des expressions du visage, ont ensuite été industrialisées et encodées dans les systèmes de traitement de texte. Les utilisateurs ont alors découvert le clavier « emoji », dont les formes sont aujourd’hui omniprésentes dans les conversations numériques mais également
désormais dans la culture.

Au fil du temps les pratiques se diversifient, des détournements apparaissent face à des tentatives d’encadrement des industries culturelles du texte. Des glissements de sens s’opèrent au sein même des formes, car des émoticônes sont arrivés des emoji, des pratiques, des codes partagés, des modes de communications, des sources de monétisation, des moyens de véhiculer des valeurs.

Partant du principe que les espaces d’écriture sont des espaces d’enjeux de pouvoir, ce travail tente de comprendre les diverses mutations des émoticônes vers les emoji et de mettre en lumière les enjeux derrière l’industrialisation d’une pratique.

Emojis have become a prominent part of human communication, gaining in popularity ever since the first emoticon appeared in the 1980s. People merrily add smiley faces and icons to their messages, and in 2015, the Oxford Dictionary chose an emoji as its Word of the Year. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a massive increase in our use of emojis, as online communication has become an ever-greater part of our everyday lives. But what do emojis do, and why are we so enamoured with them?

The use of emoticons and emoji is increasingly popular across a variety of new platforms of online communication. They have also become popular as stimulus materials in scientific research. However, the assumption that emoji/emoticon users’ interpretations always correspond to the developers’/researchers’ intended meanings might be misleading. This article presents subjective norms of emoji and emoticons provided by everyday users. The Lisbon Emoji and Emoticon Database (LEED) comprises 238 stimuli: 85 emoticons and 153 emoji (collected from iOS, Android, Facebook, and Emojipedia). The sample included 505 Portuguese participants recruited online. Each participant evaluated a random subset of 20 stimuli for seven dimensions: aesthetic appeal, familiarity, visual complexity, concreteness, valence, arousal, and meaningfulness. Participants were additionally asked to attribute a meaning to each stimulus. The norms obtained include quantitative descriptive results (means, standard deviations, and confidence intervals) and a meaning analysis for each stimulus. We also examined the correlations between the dimensions and tested for differences between emoticons and emoji, as well as between the two major operating systems—Android and iOS. The LEED constitutes a readily available normative database (available at www.osf.io/nua4x) with potential applications to different research domains.

In this revised and extended version of the lecture I presented at the 64th RAI in Innsbruck 2018, I aim to apply modern invention theory to the early history of the alphabet. The modern theory illuminates, as we will see below, a few long-standing problems in the early life of the alphabet.

提 要: 本研究从认知语言学中的力动态意象图式理论出发，分析 5 例在线对话中的“笑哭”表情符号，以期对该表情符号的语用机制做出合理的认知阐释。结果表明，“笑哭”表情符号可以表达心理上的“缓和”意义及语篇层面上的“论证”意义; 力动态意象图式是“笑哭”表情符号语用意义形成和识解的重要认知机制，并通过该表情符号得到表征。此外，本研究在论证层面还提出“同方向加强”的力动态模型。本研究既是力动态意象图式理论的一次应用，也是该理论的一种发展，以非言语资源为认知语言学的阐释力提供例证，同时也为计算机媒介交流领域的表情符号研究提供新的理论视角。

A Force-dynamic Study of the Pragmatic Meanings of the Emoji“Face with Tears of Joy”

The force-dynamic framework of cognitive linguistics is adopted to analyze the use of the emoji“Face with Tears of Joy”in five typical online dialogues in the hope for a cognitive account of the construction and construal of the emoji's pragmatic meanings．The result shows that the emoji functions pragmatically to mitigate what could otherwise be read as a face-threatening speech act or a self-pitying list of complaints，and to convey argumentational meaning and that force-dynamic image schema is an underlying mechanism facilitating the construction and construal of the emoji and can be represented by it．Besides, the study also proposes a new force-dynamic model — Strengthening ModelThe paper takes the initiative to combine the force-dynamic image schema and emoji study．It not only applies but also develops the Force-dynamic Theory，and thus practically verifies the explanatory power of cognitive linguistics through non-verbal resource in communication context and provides a new theoretical approach for the study of emojis
in the fields of Computer-mediated Communication

This thematic volume of sociolinguistic research focuses on identity and community construction at the interface of the local and the global, examining these phenomena using varied research methods and through the lenses of diverse analytical and theoretical perspectives. The papers highlight the intricacies inherent in identity and community construction in digitized contexts through the exploration of linguistic and semiotic resources, languages, and understudied cultural contexts as varied as the use of emojis to defy bias against female gamers online, initiation of repair on expert-authored blogs on weight loss, negotiation of language ideologies on Ukrainian Twitter, and the construction of political dissent on Arabic Syrian Facebook. The volume
satisfies four additional aims: It (a) considers the local and global to be
interconnected and mutually influencing, (b) conceptualizes and examines language as one of numerous semiotic resources, (c) explores online interaction as linked to interaction offline, and (d) acknowledges human agency and creativity. Collectively, the studies add to the ongoing quest for new ways to use and investigate language in society by examining the ways society manifests itself creatively in various languages and across globalized mediums

Electronic Mediated Communication (EMC) has become highly prevalent in our daily lives. Many of the communication formats used in EMC are text-based (e.g., instant messaging), and users often include visual paralinguistic cues in their messages. In the current study, we examined the usage of two such cues – emoji and emoticons. Specifically, we compared self-reported frequency of use, as well as attitudes (6 bipolar items, e.g., " fun " vs. " boring ") and motives for their usage (9 motives, e.g., " express how I feel to others "). We also examined these indicators according to age and gender. Overall, participants (N = 474, 72.6% women; M age = 30.71, SD = 12.58) reported using emoji (vs. emoticons) more often, revealed more positive attitudes toward emoji usage, and identified more with motives to use them. Moreover, all the ratings were higher among younger (vs. older) participants. Results also showed that women reported to use emoji (but not emoti-cons) more often and expressed more positive attitudes toward their usage than men. However, these gender differences were particularly evident for younger participants. No gender differences were found for emoticons usage. These findings add to the emerging body of literature by showing the relevance of considering age and gender, and their interplay, when examining patterns of emoji and emoticons use.

İletişim kültürün ve toplumun ortaya çıkışında belirleyici unsurlardandır. Sözlü, yazılı ve görsel kültürler farklı toplumsal koşullarda var olmuş ve farklı toplumsal süreçler ortaya çıkmasına yol açmışlardır. Her değişim süreci umutlarla beraber krizlerin de habercisidir. Gelişen kitle iletişim araçlarının çeşitlenerek yaygınlaşması ve ortaya çıkan Enformasyon Devrimi de birtakım umutları beslediği kadar krizler de üretmektedir. İletişim alanında egemen olan dijitalizmin dil, kültür ve toplum boyutunda nelerin habercisi olduğu hala tartışılmaktadır.

In a modern world, as the Internet is becoming more and more popular means of communication it is hard to come up with a convenient way to express emotions using such a limited medium. Whether it is texting via SMS or Facebook and even sending an E-Mail the possibility to properly read our interlocutors intentions is strictly limited to the text we get from them. Narrow range of vocabulary or simple over-interpretation, Computer Mediated Communication shows that some limits imposed by the medium cannot be simply bypassed by written language. Thus, the written language on its own might not necessarily be enough to clear ambiguities that arise in CMC. The aim of this research is to show how proper use of visual inputs (such as emoticons and emoji) can enhance verbal expressions in conversations and that they should be incorporated into everyday CMC. The research hypothesis of the study shows that emoticons are no longer a gimmick in a conversation, but should be incorporated into conversations not only on casual level. The graphical interpretations of emotions are universal for every Internet user. Despite the fact that the emoticons users' base is enormous, we can predict which emoji means what based on a simple algorithm. This phenomenon can be observed on pages like Instagram, where usage of internet slang is on an all-time low, with emojis taking over. An emoticon depicting a smiley face has many semantic meanings which are mutual for every user no matter of their country of origin. My project paper tries to prove that if we take all of the above mentioned features of emoji and emoticons and contrast them with the data, it can be safe to assume that graphical mood and emotions indicators should be incorporated to majority of conversation in CMC. Data and the method My study is based on the data taken from the reddit.com message board which is one of the biggest image boards in the internet. Since its origins in 2005 this forum has grown to such extents that the wide number of users allows to look for examples from a very diversified community. The second source will be the webpage Instagram. This site is hosting pictures from people from all around the world, and everyone can comment on them. What is

This article first presents facts and figures about emoji use, which, as is pointed out, is by no means restricted to private everyday communication (Section 1). Next, two studies are discussed, shedding light on the following questions: on the one hand, whether emojis are indeed preferred by younger people and, on the other, which impression the use of specific emojis with positive or negative connotations leaves with the addressee of text messages (Section 2). The heart of this essay follows in Section 3. It focuses on emoji use during the COVID19 crisis (which, at the time of writing, is still ongoing). Here, observations concerning new forms of emoji use on Facebook and in types of video chat (such as Zoom and Skype) are collected. Among these, two are discussed in more detail: firstly, the possibility to react to Facebook posts with a hugging face, which is supposed to help users take a symbolical stance "against loneliness." Secondly, the fact that in video chats, emojis can now be sent as socalled real time reactions. This way, it is possible, for example, to send a thumbs down sign emoji while another person is speaking. In Section 4, an outlook is given, raising the question of how emoji use can be described at a linguistic level now that, given this new development in video chats, emojis are used also in oral communication and thereby cease to be mere complements to or substitutes for writing.

This book offers a unique model for understanding the cognitive underpinnings, interactions and discursive effects of our evolving use of smartphones in everyday app-mediated communication, from text messages and gifs to images, video and social media apps.

Adopting a cyberpragmatics framework, grounded in cognitive pragmatics and relevance theory, it gives attention to how both the particular interfaces of different apps and users’ personal attributes influence the contexts and uses of smartphone communication. The communication of emotions – in addition to primarily linguistic content – is foregrounded as an essential element of the kinds of ever-present paralinguistic and phatic communication that characterizes our exchange of memes, gifs, "likes", and image- and video-based content. Insights from related disciplines such as media studies and sociology are incorporated as the author unpacks the timeliest questions of our digitally mediated age.

Aimed primarily at scholars and graduate students of communication, linguistics, pragmatics, media studies, and sociology of mass media, Smartphone Communication traffics in topics that will likewise engage upper-level undergraduate students.

The question of causality in the invention of the alphabet has long eluded the theories of media scholars and linguists alike. In spite of the attention to the effects of the alphabet and literacy within the tradition of media ecology, not much work exists tracing the effects back to the causes and explaining why the alphabet emerged in the first place. By applying the principles of McLuhan's understanding of Aristotle's notion of formal cause, the author approaches the invention of the alphabet as a grammatical step in the evolution of written language. Most simply, this article proposes that the development of alphabetic writing was required as an unintended consequence of writing via inscription on clay and stone tablets (as opposed to writing via application on paper, papyrus or bamboo). The author then situates this claim within the broader context of the evolution of grammar and punctuation, demonstrating that the figure of writing and grammar has shifted and evolved notably with every transition of a new medium on which words are fixed, even up through the electric and digital ages. Finally, this article situates the evolution of emoji within the context of grammatical evolution, and not, as some have asserted, as the return to pictographic language.

This article develops a case for emoji as a 'language' of cuteness, by building a framework for the relationship between their communication design and use in computer-mediated communication. In view of the technical standardisation and cross-cultural reception of emoji, the article also examines the structure and play of these pictograms in and out of messaging platforms. It further argues these movements parallel the contentions that are intrinsic to the aesthetic of cuteness. This approach supports the notion of emoji as a systematised form of cuteness that circumvents the complexity of inter-subjective differences.

Who invented the emoticon? If you Google “emoticon” and “inventor,” the search engine will
probably produce the same results as it did for me: a collection of varying articles, blogs, etc.
naming Scott Fahlman—the year of invention: 1982. It’s a “fact” fortified and propagated by a
number of respected media organizations. Despite the appearance of an irrefutable consensus, the
emoticon has undergone a paternity dispute to rival the most melodramatic, convoluted, and
vexed daytime-talk television show. This historical analysis aims to examine and document the
evolution of the emoticon—a highly contested linguistic, cultural, communications, and
technological phenomenon rife with mythos. It will offer a historical review and a clear
description of emoticons as a communications technology, and an analysis of the emoticon’s
significance for us today—an elucidation that will call forth the tradition of communication
historiography. My secondary purpose, through the curation, contextualization, and comparative
analysis of disparate and divergent histories—found in articles, manuscripts, magazines, blogs,
books, etc.—is “to consider the development of human behavior [sic] and social experience as,
in part, a response to the uses and consequences of communication media in the wider context of
human history” (Crowley & Heyer, 2011, p. xiii).

Keywords: emoticons, smileys, emoji, history, Scott Fahlman, inventor, creator,
communication historiography, computer-mediated communication.

The Mandarin Chinese term biaoqing, or ‘expression’, categorizes genres of visual content ranging from emoticons and emoji to stickers and custom images. This article is grounded on ethnographic research and approaches biaoqing in terms of their circulation across Chinese digital media platforms. By formulating a comprehensive typology of biaoqing genres, I foreground the situated socio-technical specificities of their circulation: the creative play with typographical compositions, the affective repurposing of graphical emoticons, the platformed monetization of proprietary stickers, and the user-driven proliferation of custom images. Drawing on this typology, I argue for the need to recognize the circulation of biaoqing as an emergent and malleable category of semiotic resources profoundly shaped by two decades of development of the Internet in China.

Governments across the world are trying to move closer to their citizens for better smart city monitoring and governance. Twitter Sentiment Analysis is opening new opportunities to achieve it. In this paper, a methodological framework to collect, pre-process, analyse and map citizen sentiment from Twitter in helping the Governments monitor their citizens' moods is proposed based on the prior works. Multinomial Naïve Bayes classifier is used to build a sentiment classifier, which employs a variety of features including a specific microblogging feature – emoji. Our proposed sentiment model outperforms the top system in the task of Sentiment Analysis in Twitter in SemEval-2013 in terms of averaged F scores. The novel feature emoji has proved to be useful for Sentiment Analysis in Twitter data in this work. We also apply our model to real-world tweets and present how Government agencies can track the fluctuation of citizens' moods using mapping techniques.

“Content” is one of the central protagonists of Web 2.0 and its media ecologies. In media and communication studies, the vernacular content resulting from the creative practices of digital media users has been chiefly interpreted in terms of viral contagion and memetic diffusion. This paper draws on ethnographically grounded insights into the making of vernacular content on Chinese social media platforms to argue against the prevailing viral and memetic metaphors. Through a dialogic engagement with the social and semiotic practices of sharing, interpretation and modification sustaining the genre repertoires of biaoqing images, the author argues for a move from diffusionist to circulationist understandings of vernacular content.

Emoji have been studied in different disciplines, and much attention has been given to their function in conveying affect and promoting connectedness, but how this connectedness is achieved intertextually is not well-understood. How do emoji users emotionally align with or diverge from others? What patterns of use emerge as they do this? This paper argues that emoji are not just expressions of one's own feelings but, crucially, are expressions of the intersubjective connection with others. We draw on insights from Conversation Analysis and sociocultural linguistics to show how stylistic practices associated with emoji form part of the intersubjective and dialogic enactment of stance. We draw data from Kaskus, the largest online community in Indonesia, and conduct a qualitative analysis of emoji use in 1,000 posts from two discussion forums consisting of approximately 107,000 words in total. We analyse five stylistic practices showing emoji being used to create dialogic resonance: in contexts of indicating tacit agreement, explicit agreement, intensity of emotion, expressing admonishment, and defending one's position. We demonstrate that the nuances of emoji are not merely specific to individual users and their subjective expressions of affect, but rather emerge through interaction between users. This can be seen in the dialogic resonances produced by use of emoji in posts that repeat, enhance or contrast with the emoji of others through processes of intersubjective alignment. Finally, while others have noted that emoji can disambiguate online messages with respect to affect, we show that emoji can also be ambiguous with regard to other aspects of a message, and argue that ambiguity can be useful for mitigating uncomfortable situations. Our study contributes to contemporary stylistics by offering a novel approach for analysing text and by showing how nonverbal signs contribute to the dynamics of social life.

The article responds to the idea of a digitalized world and acknowledges the communication crisis created by a lack of nonverbal cues and a lowered sense of emotional understanding within computer-mediated communication. As a response, the article presents emoji as a viable source of nonverbal cues in computer-mediated conversation with the claim that emoji have the ability to return a deeper level of emotional understanding to conversation in the modern format. In doing so, the article acknowledges the negative implications and constraints of emoji as nonverbal cues while maintaining their usefulness as a communication tool.

We present an eye-tracking experiment examining moment-to-moment processes underlying the comprehension of emoticons. Younger (18–30) and older (65+) participants had their eye movements recorded while reading scenarios containing comments that were ambiguous between literal or sarcastic interpretations (e.g., But you’re so quick though). Comments were accompanied by wink emoticons or full stops. Results showed that participants read earlier parts of the wink scenarios faster than those with full stops, but then spent more time reading the text surrounding the emoticon. Thus, readers moved more quickly to the end of the text when there was a device that may aid interpretation but then spent more time processing the conflict between the superficially positive nature of the comment and the tone implied by the emoticon. Interestingly, the wink increased the likelihood of a sarcastic interpretation in younger adults only, suggesting that perceiver-related factors play an important role in emoticon interpretation.