The Social Semiotics Construction of Emoticons Discourse

Emoticons, as the “spokesmen” of the Internet communication among young people, quickly become popular around the world. This sub-cultural phenomenon dissolves the mainstream culture, resists the cultural hegemony, and constructs its own discourse system and social space. This thesis analyzes the discourse of the emoticons of “the expedition and battle of Liyi Bar to Hong Kong Events on Facebook”, demonstrates from the field, toner and mode of discourse, and uses Halliday's social semiotics theory to deconstruct discourse rights and construct the group identity of emoticons discourse. Keywords—emoticons; discourse; representation; sub-culture; social semiotics