A longitudinal study of emoticon use in text messaging from smartphones
Computers in Human BehaviorPublished 12 December 2011
Chad C. Tossell, Philip Kortum, Clayton Shepard, Laura H. Barg‐Walkow, Ahmad Rahmati, Lin Zhong
Citations214
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score2.92
SNIP3.35
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TL;DR
To understand how emoticons are used in text messaging and, in particular, how genders differed in the frequency and variety of emoticons used via this medium, data is collected from individuals' smartphones over a 6-month period.
Abstract
Our goal in the present study was to understand how emoticons are used in text messaging and, in particular, how genders differed in the frequency and variety of emoticons used via this medium. Previous research has found small and sundry differences in emotive expression online suggesting that technology has closed the gender gap. However, the data collected in these studies were public. In this study, we collected real portions of private communications data from individuals’ smartphones over a 6-month period. SMS messages, in general, were not used very much overall, with only 4% of all messages containing at least one emoticon. Still, differences between genders manifested in the amount and variety of emoticons used. Females sent more messages with emoticons; however, surprisingly, males used a more diverse range of emoticons.
Keywords
Computer ScienceSocial Sciences
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