Analysis of the Differences of Emoticons in Intercultural Online Communication

Abstract

With the popularization of the online social media, the communication of various cultures in the world is becoming closer, and the use of emoticons is becoming much more frequent. Among them, there are not only emoji, a traditional emoticon, but also Animoji and "Biaoqingbao", which have sprung up in recent years. All kinds of emoticons are transmitted in the online world, but the differences then come forth obviously. This paper uses text analysis, comparing emoticons used in various countries, proposes to conclude how emoticons differ on the social media including the production, usage and comprehension. Because of the differences of way of thinking, language mechanism, culture and social media preference, Easterners and Westerners prefer using different forms of emoticons in different ways, and they also understand the meanings differently. Hence, for the sake of better intercultural online communication, people have to respect others from different cultures of both nations and social media, as try to use acknowledged and simple emoticons.