Qualitative Analysis, Finding the story
Discovering a secret language: How emoji are repurposed to form bonds through digital communication
What
Emoji is often seen asa new digital language, but is it? Just because each pictograph has a name and description does not mean that the semantics behind each are set. Can emoji be used for other purposes than they’re intended?
Why
Emoji sentiment analysis is used by organisations to understand the sentiment of their customers. But such analysis assumes that a smiley face is just a smiley face. But more anecdotal evidence suggests that emoji are used in more “secret” ways, amounting to a new language.
Action
I became aware of a phenomenon of emoji being repurposed and used for things you wouldn’t expect - specifcally between small groups of people. Realising this behaviour was not yet studied I designed a survey and conducted a convenience snowball sampling method to collect data about emoji repurposing. After applying a thematic analysis to the resultant data I created a new theory of emoji repurposing.
Impact
A previously unstudied phenomena within digital communications was recorded and published. This has had wide ranging impacts on research communities and has informed the way that companies conduct sentiment analysis, highlighting the need for deeper engagement with the data to avoid incorrect and opposite conclusions.