How to do words with emojis: Visual replacement or emphasis of terms on WhatsApp

Authors

  • Agnese Sampietro , Universitat Jaume I de Castellón

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24197/redd.2.2019.1-33

Keywords:

Emojis, WhatsApp, Computer-Mediated Communication, Visual Communication, Pictograms

Abstract

This paper studies a very particular use of emojis on WhatsApp: the substitution or reproduction of a term by means of its visual representation. Using a qualitative approach, a corpus of WhatsApp messages is analyzed, identifying regularities in the use of emojis to replace or emphasize words, and the possible mechanisms of visual transposition. Emojis can supplant or visually repeat nouns, verbs, adjectives, interjections and more complex expressions. When lacking a specific emoji, users employ metonymy to offer a rough visual representation of the term sought or make reference to social imaginary. The paper also shows that emojis may reproduce stereotypes and biases of our society.

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Published

2019-12-11

Issue

No. 2 (2019)

Section

Artículos

License

The articles published at REDD will have a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

The journal allows the authors to retain publishing rights. Authors may reprint their articles in other media without having to request authorization, provided they indicate that the article was originally published in REDD.

How to Cite

How to do words with emojis: Visual replacement or emphasis of terms on WhatsApp. (2019). Revista De Estudios Del Discurso Digital (REDD), 2, 1-33. https://doi.org/10.24197/redd.2.2019.1-33