The Impacts of Emoticons on Message Interpretation in Computer-Mediated Communication

TLDR

Emoticons are graphic facial expressions widely used in e‑mail to substitute missing nonverbal cues, yet their empirical effects on communication remain largely undocumented. The study aimed to determine how three common emoticons influence message interpretation. The authors performed an experiment using these emoticons to evaluate their impact on how messages are interpreted. Results show that emoticons had little effect compared to verbal content, but a negativity effect emerged where any negative element—verbal or graphic—shifts interpretation toward negativity.

Abstract

Emoticons are graphic representations of facial expressions that many e-mail users embed in their messages. These symbols are widely known and commonly recognized among computer-mediated communication (CMC) users, and they are described by most observers as substituting for the nonverbal cues that are missing from CMC in comparison to face-to-face communication. Their empirical impacts, however, are undocumented. An experiment sought to determine the effects of three common emoticons on message interpretations. Hypotheses drawn from literature on nonverbal communication reflect several plausible relationships between emoticons and verbal messages. The results indicate that emoticons’ contributions were outweighed by verbal content, but a negativity effect appeared such that any negative message aspect—verbal or graphic—shifts message interpretation in the direction of the negative element.