Analysis of Emoji Usage : Differences in Preference and Function Across Genders

Sammanfattning: How do people make use of emojis in their daily computer-mediated communication? In order to obtain data, a sampling methodology was implemented in which data from 15 female and 15 male participants was used to provide reports on the differences in preference and functions of emoji usage across genders. The study found that in variety and in total, males tend to select a greater amount of emojis, in comparison to females. The participants’ reasons for using emojis in instant messages varied across the two gender groups, females focused on illustrating a state of emotion while the males focused on emphasizing a message. This partially corresponded with previous studies. The study also found that the males replace words with emojis because it is easy, fun or quick, and in order to illustrate a state of emotion, while females do not prefer to replace words with emojis. In accordance with previous findings, this study shows that in general, people prefer using emojis to complement rather than to replace words. All of the males in this study tend to make use of emojis in order to complement words, while there was a low amount of females who do not use emojis for the purpose of complementing.