Emojis imply information about the sender

What is it about?

Those who use instant messaging applications like WhatsApp know how much an emoji can impact the meaning of a message. Forgoing emojis can make a message rather factual, but disclosing an emoji makes it more personal and enhances implicit meanings. Such meanings address the information senders reveal about themselves, their relationship with the recipient, or hidden appeals. We tested if emojis influence how messages are interpreted. Emojis promoted interpretation as sender information compared to sole text messages. Additionally, recipient’s emotional intelligence indicated how tuned in on emotional cues they are, but only when emojis are present. We conclude that emojis imply information about the sender, while emotional intelligence leads recipients to seek out such information.

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Photo by LinkedIn Sales Navigator on Unsplash

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Navigator on Unsplash

Why is it important?

All communication involves explicit (e.g., via spoken word or text) and implicit meanings (via nonverbal signals). However, is instant messaging less rich in nonverbal signals because it is solely based on text? In fact, emojis are nonverbal cues that recipients interpret as senders’ self-revelation, disclosing information about the senders feelings and attitudes.