Frequent emojis in WhatsApp interactions: A comparative study between two Spanish varieties (Argentina and Spain)

Abstract

Within the semiotic resources available in instant messaging systems, emojis are especially appreciated by users due to the varied repertoire that offer as for its ability to dynamize the interaction. With the growth of its use, we consider the need for a methodology technique that allows not only to identify the most frequent emojis (i.e., those who have a more extended use in a speech community), but also its main functions and common interpretations. Therefore, in this work, we present, on the one hand, a methodology that makes it possible to recover the emojis used most frequently by a group of WhatsApp users and, on the other, an exploration and interpretation of these first data obtained. We applied our methodological design for the collection of a comparative sample of two Spanish varieties: Spanish of Spain and Spanish of Argentina.