アメリカ人および日本人によるオンラインコミュニケーションの対照分析 ―人気日記ブログにおけるUMCの機能と用法を中心に―

Tohoku University上原聡課

Relationships between emoticon usage and recipient groups in students’ text messages

Emoticons are pictographic representations of facial expressions that are used to convey emotions in text messages and other similar methods of communication. Most research on emoticons has examined how they are used in public forums rather than in private messaging. Using a sample of undergraduate students (n=106; male 52.83%; mean age 20.26 years, SD 1.93), this study examines the use of emoticons in private text communication. Results reveal that emoticon usage is highest amongst friends, followed by siblings, then parents, other family members and more distant connections. Emoticons representing positive emotions are more commonly used than those representing strong negative emotions. Emoticons representing relief were found to be used particularly within peer group communication, whereas emoticons representing contentment were used more with family members and other, more distant, connections. The use of the “Relieved” emoticon with peers may reflect overcoming the stressors associated with shared educational challenges, whereas using the “Content” emoticon outside peers and family may represent emotional modulation and presentation

Užití interpunkce, emoji a emotikonů v urážlivých komentářích na YouTube

Tato práce navazuje na studie zabývající se interpunkcí (včetně emoji a emotikonů) v počítačové komunikaci. Jejím cílem je popsat roli interpunkčních znamének v urážlivých komentářích na videa na YouTube s LGBT tématikou a stanovit, do jaké míry se jejich použití liší u těchto videí v pozitivních a negativních komentářích. Analýza se soustředí také na porovnání jejich distribuce v komentářích s odlišnou polaritou, délkou a s odlišným obsahem. Navíc přináší klasifikaci emoji a emotikonů podle jejich role v textu. Klíčová slova Počítačová komunikace, YouTube, emoji, emotikony, interpunkce, komunikace přes internetThis thesis attempts to contribute to the study of punctuation marks (including emoji and emoticons) used in computer-mediated communication. It aims to describe their role in abusive comments on YouTube videos with LGBT content and the extent to which their use differs in respectful and hateful comments on such videos. The analysis concentrates also on how the distribution of punctuation marks differs in relation to the polarity, content and length of comments. The thesis also provides a comparison of the frequency of the occurrence of punctuation marks in both respectful and hateful comments. In addition to that, this paper attempts to classify emoji and emoticons according to their role in the text. Key words Computer-mediated communication, YouTube, emoji, emoticons, punctuation, Internet communicationÚstav anglického jazyka a didaktikyDepartment of the English Language and ELT MethodologyFaculty of ArtsFilozofická fakult

GENDER AND LANGUAGE VARIATION ON THE COMMENTS OF VIRAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS

This study aims at analyzing the language variations between female and male comments on YouTube viral videos as to abbreviations, emojis, laughter variants, and spelling variants of personal pronouns, utilizing a mixed-method design. This study revealed that males tend to use abbreviations in their comments in the leisure domain. Females used more abbreviations in the information and knowledge domains and emojis in the two domains. The female users used haha, hehe, and jaja more frequently than male users in the leisure domain. Male and female users used the laughter variant more often in the leisure domain than in the information and knowledge domain. Women preferred to write the standard spelling of the personal pronouns "I" and "you." Moreover, both men and women used abbreviations to express their views immediately to speed up the typing of messages. Women were more familiar with positive and negative emojis than men. Language varies according to YouTube users' preferences in using the language when posting comments online, and the core social attributes influencing language use are social class, social networks, sex and gender, ethnicity, and age. Thus, infographic material with meanings and examples can be distributed to students and teachers

GENDER AND LANGUAGE VARIATION ON THE COMMENTS OF VIRAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS

This study aims at analyzing the language variations between female and male comments on YouTube viral videos as to abbreviations, emojis, laughter variants, and spelling variants of personal pronouns, utilizing a mixed-method design. This study revealed that males tend to use abbreviations in their comments in the leisure domain. Females used more abbreviations in the information and knowledge domains and emojis in the two domains. The female users used haha, hehe, and jaja more frequently than male users in the leisure domain. Male and female users used the laughter variant more often in the leisure domain than in the information and knowledge domain. Women preferred to write the standard spelling of the personal pronouns "I" and "you." Moreover, both men and women used abbreviations to express their views immediately to speed up the typing of messages. Women were more familiar with positive and negative emojis than men. Language varies according to YouTube users' preferences in using the language when posting comments online, and the core social attributes influencing language use are social class, social networks, sex and gender, ethnicity, and age. Thus, infographic material with meanings and examples can be distributed to students and teachers

Using emoji in an e-commerce context: effects in brand perception, quality of service and intention to recommend

The increasing development of digital technologies has lead to business model disruption, transformation and developed new means of providing services and products (e.g., e-banking and e-commerce). In order to cope with, and benefit from these changes, people have changed their habits. Such is the case of Electronic Mediated Communication (EMC) that changed how and what people communicate (e.g., Skype, e-mail). Text-centric EMC (e.g., IM, e-mails) has itself evolved to allow the expression of emotion between sender and receiver, namely through the use of emoji. However how service providers and brands relate with their progressively more digital customer base in electronic contexts, and what may be the outcomes of that relationship is still an unexplored area of research. In the present work, we present two experiments that aimed to examine the influence of emoji use in brand-consumer communication during an online ticket selling transaction, on consumers perception of brand, quality of service and intention to recommend. Besides manipulating emoji presence (or absence), we additionally manipulated message valence (e-commerce transaction success or failure - Experiment 1) and product scarcity (Experiment 2). Overall, results suggest that guaranteeing service success is more determinant of brand and quality of service evaluation than the type of language used. Specifically, in Experiment 1, emoji use seems to have influenced the perception of language informality, while in Experiment 2, seems to have influenced the perception of brands social presence and warmth, language informality and funniness, as well as quality of service.A evolução das tecnologias digitais levou ao surgimento de novos modelos de negócio, e formas de fornecer serviços e produtos (e.g., e-commerce). Adaptando-se a estas mudanças, as pessoas alteraram parte dos seus hábitos. Um exemplo é o caso da Comunicação mediada por meio Eletrónicos (EMC), que mudou a forma e o conteúdo do que as pessoas comunicam (e.g., Skype, e-mail). A EMC em formato de texto (e.g., e-mails) evoluiu, permitindo a expressão da emoção entre emissor e recetor, nomeadamente através da utilização de emoji. No entanto, a forma como marcas e prestadores de serviço se relacionam com clientes em contextos eletrónicos, e quais os possíveis resultados desse relacionamento, é uma área de pesquisa pouco explorada. Neste trabalho apresentamos dois experimentos que examinam a influência do uso de emoji na comunicação da marca-consumidor durante uma venda de bilhetes on-line, na perceção da marca, qualidade do serviço e intenção de recomendar dos consumidores. Para além da presença (ausência) de emoji, manipulámos a valência da mensagem (sucesso ou insucesso da transação - Experimento 1) e a disponibilidade de produto (Experimento 2). Globalmente, os resultados sugerem que garantir o sucesso de serviço é mais determinante para a avaliação de marca e qualidade de serviço do que o tipo de linguagem utilizado. Especificamente, no Experimento 1, o uso de emoji parece influenciar a perceção de informalidade da linguagem, enquanto no Experimento 2, parece ter influenciado a perceção de presença social e calor da marca, de linguagem ser informal e divertida, assim como qualidade de serviço

A culturicon design model for communication across culture

Emoticons are important in Computer-Mediated Communication due to its capability to express emotions/actions without face-to-face meeting. However, existing emoticons are still incompatible and lack some human expressions that limit user’s selection, particularly in terms of culture. Based on the comprehensive literature review conducted, the study regarding emoticons in cultural perspective is limited and there are demand for more cultural-based emoticons to be developed. To solve the issue, this study developed a model named Culturicon Design Model (CDM) by incorporating appropriate cultural dimensions and icon design principles, where Culturicon is the combination of ‘culture’ and ‘icon’. The components of CDM were determined based on previous study’s findings. CDM was then verified through expert review by applying a convergent parallel mixed method that measured the model’s components, flow, and readability, involving 11 experts. Then, CDM was validated by applying an explanatory sequential mixed method involving two phases – validation by designers and validation by end users. Validation by designers measured the components of the model in terms of gain satisfaction, interface satisfaction, task support satisfaction, and emoticon samples’ development, involving five designers. The validation by the end user was performed through focus group discussions, involving eight participants. Thematic analysis was used to analyse focus group’s results. The final version of CDM comprises five cultural dimensions (high power distance, high collectivism, low uncertainty avoidance, moderate masculinity/femininity, and long-term relationships), and eight Human Computer Interaction (HCI) icon design principles (familiar, understandable, attractive, coherent, informative, distinct, memorable, and legible). Focus group’s result showed that the emoticon’s samples represent the cultural elements, fulfilled the HCI icon design principles, and useful in their communication across culture. CDM contributed to the body of knowledge in HCI. It can be a guideline for designers to develop Culturicon in the future, hence providing more emoticon selections from local culture to satisfy end user’s needs

VibEmoji: Exploring User-authoring Multi-modal Emoticons in Social Communication

Emoticons are indispensable in online communications. With users’ growing needs for more customized and expressive emoticons, recent messaging applications begin to support (limited) multi-modal emoticons:, enhancing emoticons with animations or vibrotactile feedback. However, little empirical knowledge has been accumulated concerning how people create, share and experience multi-modal emoticons in everyday communication, and how to better support them through design. To tackle this, we developed VibEmoji, a user-authoring multi-modal emoticon interface for mobile messaging. Extending existing designs, VibEmoji grants users greater flexibility to combine various emoticons, vibrations, and animations on-the-fly, and offers non-aggressive recommendations based on these components’ emotional relevance. Using VibEmoji as a probe, we conducted a four-week field study with 20 participants, to gain new understandings from in-the-wild usage and experience, and extract implications for design. We thereby contribute to both a novel system and various insights for supporting users’ creation and communication of multi-modal emoticons

Language, writing, and social (inter)action: An analysis of text-based chats in Macedonian and English

The purpose of this study is to investigate the text-based chatting practices of a particular community of native Macedonian speakers who chat both in Macedonian and in English (as their foreign language). Much research in computer-mediated communication (CMC) over the last decade has been done in English as L1. Some of the few studies which explored CMC cross-linguistically include the comparison of French vs. English (Werry, 1996), Japanese vs. English (Nishimura, 2003b), Spanish vs. English (del-Teso-Craviotto, 2006), Serbian vs. English (Radic, 2007) and Turkish vs. English (Savas, 2010). In these studies, a number of different language features (e.g., orthography, code switching) and functions (e.g., representation of gender) common to TBC have been analyzed, but none has explored in-depth the use of language as social action in online text-based interactions. Data collected from surveys, text-based chats, and interviews were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using methods and concepts borrowed from discourse analysis, conversation analysis, systemic functional linguistics and communication accommodation theory. Seventy text-based chats in Macedonian and English from seven native Macedonian speakers, who form an intact group, were collected over a period of four months. By investigating linguistic elements, extralinguistic phenomena (e.g., emoticons, typographic forms such as LOL), and contextual phenomena (e.g., appraisal, limitations of the medium) in the text-based chats of my participants, and by conducting follow-up text-based interviews regarding their individual chatting practices, this study has explored how all these phenomena are used for performing social action in two languages. Text-based chat was also found to be a convenient medium for participants to co-position in various ways while carefully accommodating to various contextual factors