Education, Science, Technology, Innovation and Life
Open Access
Sign In
  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. Media and Communication Research
  4. Vol 4, Issue 8, 2023

The use of emojis on social media platforms in facilitating inter-cultural communication

Download as PDF

DOI: 10.23977/mediacr.2023.040803 | Downloads: 45 | Views: 410

Author(s)

Jiaqi Chen 1

Affiliation(s)

1 Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang Selangor, 43400, Malaysia

Corresponding Author

Jiaqi Chen

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research is to explore the use of emojis on social media platforms in facilitating inter-cultural communications. Upon analysis, it is found out that emojis can be comprehended differently in different cultural contexts. Moreover, in some countries or minor cultural groups, emojis are even banned to be used in daily communication processes as they may trigger defence. The use of emojis, is appropriately, can help reduce cultural misunderstandings as emojis can help express nuanced emotional states of message senders. From the perspective of receivers, understanding emojis' meanings well and in consistent with different cultural contexts, can help them understand personality traits and attitudes held by message senders. Lastly, using emojis can increasing inter-cultural communication intention and efficiency, as emojis can attract online users to communicate with one another more frequently.

KEYWORDS

Emojis use; intercultural communication processes; message senders; message receivers; cultural misunderstandings

CITE THIS PAPER

Jiaqi Chen, The use of emojis on social media platforms in facilitating inter-cultural communication. Media and Communication Research (2023) Vol. 4: 18-25. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/mediacr.2023.040803.

REFERENCES

[1] Arya V., Sethi D. & Verma H. Are emojis fascinating brand value more than textual language? Mediating role of brand communication to SNS and brand attachment. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 2018, 23(4), 648-670. 
[2] Abdalrahman K. K., Abdullah C. A. The misuse of emojis in social media: the case of Kurdish Facebook users. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 2022, 9(3), 1-20. 
[3] Arafah B., & Muhammad M. The language of emoji in social media. KnE Social Science, 2019, 2(3), 494-504. 
[4] Baek T. H., Kim S., Yoon S., Choi D., Bang H. Emojis and assertive environment messages in social media campaigns. Internet Research, 2022, 3(2), 988-1002. 
[5] Baugh B. S., Stolzer A. J. Language-related communications challenges in general aviation operations and pilot training. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 2018, 5(4), 1-16. 
[6] Buarqoub I. A. S. Language barriers to effective communication. Utopta Y Praxis Latinoamericana, 2019, 24(6), 63-77. 
[7] Bennett M. J. (1998). Intercultural communication: a current perspective. In Milton J. Bennett (Ed.), Basic concepts of intercultural communication: selected readings. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press. 
[8] Bai Q. Y., Dan Q., Mu Z., Yang M. K. A systematic review of emoji: current research and future perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology, 2019, 10(2221), 1-10. 
[9] Cheshin A., Rafaeli A., & Bos N. Anger and happiness in virtual teams: Emotional influences of text and behavior on others' affect in the absence of non-verbal cues. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2011, 116(1), 2–16. 
[10] Cao H. Y. Analysis of the differences of emoticons in intercultural online communication. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Language, Communication and Culture Studies, 2021, 58(8), 1-6. 
[11] Das G., Wiener H. J. D., & Kareklas I. To emoji or not to emoji? Examining the influence of emoji on consumer reactions to advertising. Journal of Business Research, 2019, 96 (2), 147-156. 
[12] Drury C. G., Ma J. (2002). Language error analysis report on literature of aviation language errors and analysis of error databases. Retrieved 4th September 2023, from: https://www. researchgate.net/publication/ 277283009_And_ Analysis _of_Error_Databases
[13] Dresner E., & Herring S. C. Functions of the nonverbal in CMC: emoticons and illocutionary force. Communication Theory, 2010, 20(3), 249-268. 
[14] Ge J., Gretzel U. Emoji rhetoric: a social media influencer perspective. Journal of Marketing Management, 2018, 3(4), 1272-1295. 
[15] Ganster T., Eimler S. C., & Krämer N. C. Same same but different!? The differential influence of Smilies and emoticons on person perception. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 2012, 15(4), 226–230. 
[16] Kim M., Knotts T. L., Albers N. D., James, K. E. Emojis use as a catalyst for relationship building and sustaining attention in online classes: an empirical study. Educational Science, 2022, 12(12), 870-874. 
[17] Kejriwal M., Wang Q., Li H. Y., Wang L. An empirical study of emoji usage on Twitter in linguistic and national contexts. Online Social Networks and Media, 2021, 2(4), 1-14. DOI: https://doi. org/10. 1016/j. osnem. 2021. 100149
[18] Kecskes I. Intracultural communication and intercultural communication: are they different? International Review of Pragmatics, 2015, 7(2015), 171-194. 
[19] Lohmann K., Pyka S. S., & Zanger C. The effects of smileys on receivers' emotions. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 2017, 34(6), 489–495. 
[20] Luangrath A. W., Peck J., Barger V. A. Textual paralanguage and its implications for marketing communications. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2017, 27(1), 98-107. 
[21] Mladenovic D., Kostial K., Ljepava N., Castek O. Emojis to conversion on social media. International IJC, 2022, 47(1), 1-10. 
[22] McShane L., Pancer E., Poole M., & Deng Q. Emoji, playfulness, and brand engagement on Twitter. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2021, 53 (2), 96-110. 
[23] Maryam F., Mushtag F., & Shahzadi H. Culturally ostracized emoji: a semiotic analysis of emojis and emoticons. Review of Education, Administration & LAW, 2020, 3(3), 457-469. 
[24] Neuliep J. W. Editorial welcome. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 2006, 35(1), 1-2. 
[25] OxfordLanguages. (2015). World of the Year 2015. Retrieved 4th September 2023, from: https://languages. oup. com/ word-of-the-year/2015/
[26] Talukdar A. J. (2021). Analyzing emoji used in social media as signs on the basis of peirce theory of semiotics. Retrieved 4th September 2023, from https://www. xajzkjdx. cn/gallery/18-jan2021. pdf
[27] Tian Y., Galery T., Dulcinati G., Molimpakis, E. (2017). Facebook sentiment: reactions and emojis. Proceedings of the fifth international workshop on natural language processing for social media. DOI:10. 18653/v1/W17-1102
[28] Ting-Todmey S. (1999). Communication across cultures. New York: The Guilford Press. 
[29] Unicode. (2021). Emoji Counts, v14. 0. Retrieved 3rd September 2023, from: https://unicode. org/emoji/charts/ emoji-counts. Html

All published work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2016 - 2031 Clausius Scientific Press Inc. All Rights Reserved.