Do I mean what I say and say what I mean? A cross cultural ap-proach to the use of emoticons & emojis in CMC messages

Abstract

The use of emoticons and emojis among online messaging users has achieved a globalized level. This article aims at examining how certain emojis and emoticons are chosen by message senders to regular the intensity of emotions in their messages. Or, by means of using them, message senders wish to blur textual rigidity and show interaction empathy during the communication process. This study analyzes the use of these symbols and graphic elements in message exchange through CMC and SNS, where users from different culture background convey their feeling. For it, two empirical studies of a methodological design were carried out: One pilot study was intended for the research instrument validation. The second was a survey study. By testing online messaging habit, this study enabled the researchers to observe whether the senders inclined to linguistic text use only, or they preferred including an additional emoticon or emoji in their message to communicate their feelings. Results of this research show that, at a certain extent, massage senders’ different culture background could influence on their emotional expressivity level.

Keywords

• CMC
• emojis
• emoticonos
• SNS
• TICs
• variabilidad cultural