Mapping Emoji Usage Among Youth

Emoji is now a popular inclusion in technology-mediated communication and a part of everyday expression of users. Yet, there is a dearth of scientifically designed research studies focussing on the human implications of the use of emojis. Limited systematic inquiry in this area is restricted to technical studies focussing on algorithm analysis of humongous quantitative data ignoring the people who are posting these emojis. Therefore, in the present study, an attempt is made to study the use of emojis from an individual’s behavioural perspective borrowing from the classic ‘contagion theory’ and the ‘information-signal theory’. A mixed research approach was adopted to study young university student’s emoji usage behaviour. Focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted on 11 participants with an average age of 22.5 years. The discussion was transcribed and thematic analysis was then conducted from which a survey instrument was developed which was administered to 250 university students. These survey data were then analysed using exploratory factor analysis. Results show that social media platforms, linguistic pattern, social relationships, emotional connect and level of formality and gender emerged as important factors that drive emoji usage. The findings of the study indicate the psychological implications and socio-behavioural impact of emoji usage which can be used for creating regulations and norms. What appears to be casual pictorial supplement of textual messages holds the power to be developed as a stand-alone language which could impact the usage of language-dependent communication.