Emoji Culture on the WeChat Platform

Abstract

Emojis are being used more and more frequently in social media communication, and they are appearing in more and more styles in contemporary society. Emojis transcend other visual and graphic languages and are popular across the boundaries of languages, races, cultures, etc. However, the reason for the increasing use of Emojis has not been given much attention. This study attempts to analyze and investigate the reasons why Emojis are actively used on social media. This study refers to research materials in psychology and communication and focuses on WeChat, the most frequently used social media platform in China. This study argues that Emojis have become a way for people to express their emotions quickly and accurately. Beyond textual expression, Emojis can arouse people's empathy. The use of Emojis makes emotions and feelings visible, which plays a role in indenting social distance.