Faculty of Philology

English Department

Students' Attitude Towards the Usage of Emojis in Serbia

Jelena Kovačević 20150660

Belgrade 2018
Abstract

In this conductive research, we will explore how present are emoticons or now
commonly known as emojis in a day-to-day conversation among the students in Serbia. The
research will mainly focus on the students' mindset on the emojis, considering they have
become one of the main methods of communication, now not only used to further clarify the
context of one's message, but also as stand alone words conveying a certain phrase or a
sentence. With them being one of, if not the main method of digital communication the
history of emojis will also be discussed. Method of this research was an online questionnaire
distributed to the student cohort of the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade. The number of the
respondents was 128. The students' reaction on the subject matter was all in all positive but
considering the broadness of the matter, there is more to be explored. The data collected
through the study showcased that emojis are indeed an inevitable part of the students from
Serbia.
Key words: Emoticons, emojis, communication, Serbia, attitudes, students
Introduction

During the recent years we were all able to witness but also participate in the curious
phenomenon of Internet and mobile communication. It all started in 2000 when text
messaging gained momentum and people had to quickly adapt to a new variety of language
i.e. the constant abbreviation of words (Lungova, 2017:8). Then came the Internet
communication-chat rooms, MySpace, Facebook etc. and all languages, not just the English
one became so much more than just simple words. Words became emotions, expressions,
moods and feelings presented by pictures.
Now to fully understand how it all came to be a few steps back are necessary. Ever
since humans came into existence, we have felt the need to express ourselves visually be it
through paintings found in caves, on canvases or now in our cellphones (Lungova, 2017:4).
Our first encounter with emoticons was in the 1881 issue of Puck Magazine in the form of
“vertically arranged symbols” which had the expressions of joy, melancholy, indifference and
astonishment (Chan, 2013 as cited by Lungova, 2017:4). Lungova further continues the
history of “ emoticons as it is known today” by mentioning the first use of “sideways
emoticons” which were invented by Scott Fahlam who first used them in an online
newsgroup in order to avoid misinterpretation of the messages (Lungova, 2017:5). Finally
that leads us to the creation of Emojis. Emojis as we use them today came into existence in
Japan (Lebduska as cited in McIntyre, 2016:10). The word itself is a Japanese one, “e”
translates to “picture” and “moji” translates to “letter” (Lebduska as cited in McIntyre,
2016:10). In the mid-2000s American giants Google and Apple finally showcased the
Japanese emojis to Unicode Consortium and already in 2010 there had been 722 different
emojis registered and fit for “display” on any website (Lebduska as cited in McIntyre,
2016:11). One of the problems they came across was that because of the differences in “emoji
keyboards” for every American cellphone provider, the same emojis looked different on
different cellphone brands (McIntyre 2016:11-12).
Nowadays with emojis being what they are today, and in addition with GIFs we are
presented with a wide specter of ways of expressing ourselves, communication vise. Emojis
are beginning, or to be more precise are amidst completely replacing the written language.
One of the main indicators being that in November of 2015, Oxford Dictionaries selected the
“pictograph” or officially called “Face With Tears of Joy” as the Word of the Year
(Luongova, 2017:1). She further mentions the event where Hilary Clinton posted a tweet in
which she requested that students send her how they felt about student loan debt “in 3 or less
emojis” (@hilaryclinton as cited in Luongova, 2017:1). If this fails to convince you of just
how much have emojis integrated into our language, what also showcases this event perfectly
is the publication of some of the best literary classics written completely in emojis. Namely,
Penguin Random House published books like “YOLO Juliet”, “Midsummer Night #nofilter”,
“Macbeth #killingit” and in addition Herman Melville's “Moby Dick” was re-imagined
through emoji characters (Luongova, 2017: 12-13). The emojis have become so popular
nowadays that they've had an entire movie made about them called “The Emoji
Movie”(2017).
Having in mind the way their popularity skyrocketed, especially in the recent years, it
comes to our mind just how many people are actually using emojis in a day to day
conversations? Well, in his article The Emoji Is the Birth of a New Type of Language (No
Joke), Clive Thompson answers that question and the answer is that “Fully 92 percent of all
people online use emojis now, and one-third of them do so daily” (C. Thompson, 2016). In a
research written by D. Thompson and Filik, they mention a study conducted by Wolf in 2000
in which he claims that emoticons are more likely to be used by males for “sarcasm and
teasing” rather than females who use them in “more varied contexts”, however, they also
warn that the research may not be valid since it could have been influenced by topics of the
message boards (D. Thompson & Filik, 2016:106).
The motivation for this research comes from author's fascination with written
language and communication of the new world. Having been there when these changes
happened, moreover partaking in these changes the author would like to find out how have
they affected her peers. In accordance with that the aims of this study would be to find out do
students in Serbia play a role in this widespread phenomenon.

Research Methodology

In order to collect the data necessary for conducting this research a questionnaire was made
on Google Forms. It was posted and open for response submission on an unofficial, public
Facebook page of the Faculty of Philology and also on the page of the students of the
University of Belgrade on 29th of August. It was closed after only a couple of hours due to
sufficient number of responses collected. There were 128 respondents participating in total of
which 82% (n=105) respondents were female and 18% (n=23) were male.
As said beforehand, the aim of the questionnaire was to determine how frequently do
people communicate through emojis and their mindset on the usage of emojis in general and
so the questions were formed as such to examine these subjects. The questions were
formulated as either multiple choice questions, check box questions or linear scale.
In regards of the research method, a questionnaire has been a quite sufficient way of
collecting the data necessary for conducting this study. It was simple yet not at all time-
consuming method which made it easier to draw in a great number of respondents who did
not view it as a hassle. Also it being an online survey also made it available to a broader
audience.
Nevertheless, this method did come across a couple of obstacles. One of the hurdles
being the uneven quantity of male and female participants. This may be due to there not
being a proportionate number of male and female students on the Faculty of Philology. The
female students enrolled prevail over the male ones by a much larger number.

Results and Analysis

Firstly, among the 128 respondents, once again the percentage of female respondents 82%
(n=105) outnumbered by a large-scale the percentage of male respondents 18% (n=23). What
was rather interesting in the results is the level of agreement between the male and the female
participants. The respondents of both genders largely gave the same answers on the
frequency of using emojis and also on when they are most likely to use them, which was
quite surprising given that people usually think that female persons are the ones to use emojis
more than male persons. Nevertheless the results were quite balanced with no noticeable
discrepancies.
In her research McIntyre talks about the study conducted by Linda Kaye, Helen Wall
and Stephanie Malone on the subject of emoji usage. There she highlights that number one
reason why students use emojis is for “aiding personal expression” and not just any
expression but most commonly sarcasm (McIntyre 2016:15). An interesting thing was
discovered through this research in the question number two and it completely fits in and
finds the support in the research conducted by Kaye, Wall and Malone.
Namely, the question number two regarding the mood and the emotion of students
when they most likely send emojis had the vast majority choosing either “when I am happy”
or “when I am sarcastic”. Happiness is in the first place with 88.3% (n=113) of people
choosing this as their answer, right behind is sarcasm 57.8 (n=74). Among all the given
answers there was a possibility of choosing “other” and giving a short answer of your own
choice. However, not many people chose this, and the answers of those who did choose it
neither aid nor harm further research.
Furthermore, McIntyre also points out that students prefer and tend to use emojis due
to avoiding any unpleasant situations, she says that it helps “prevent misunderstandings”
(McIntyre, 2016:15). Nonetheless, what this research showed, with the question number five
concerning the fear of having a message misinterpreted unless there is an emoji attached to it,
the majority answered “no”, meaning that they felt no obligation of attaching an emoji at the
end of the message feeling it would convey the intended meaning all on its own. Moreover,
what further supports this claim, are the results of two more questions those being the ones
about the excessive use of emojis. Specifically, when asked whether they think that emojis
are used too much 33.6% (n=43) answered “no”, while there was almost double the amount
of people who answered “yes” - 66.4% (n=85). Additionally, 60.2% (n=77) answered “yes”
when asked whether they find it annoying when a person constantly uses emojis, while only
39.8% (n=51) answered “no”.
What may also come as a surprise to some, was the result of the penultimate question.
With a considerable fear of emojis having a negative influence on language in general, and
the possibility of them ultimately replacing language all together, we come upon the contrast
of what we think that the preponderance of people think and what the results have shown.
The predominant answer to the question of whether they think that emojis have a negative
influence on their mother tongue was “no” with the striking percentage of 83.6% (n=107),
while only 16.4% (n=21) of the respondents answered “yes”.
Finally, as for the last question, it was a five point Likert scale one. The respondents
were asked to choose one answer between numbers of 1-5, 1 being “Agree” and 5 being
“disagree”. The majority of 48.4% (n=62) chose “disagree” on whether they think if emojis
will substitute language in the future.

Conclusion

Despite the minuscule discrepancies, the data collected in this study does support the research
papers previously done on this subject matter. The belief of emojis being used worldwide on
a daily basis has been further proven by this study. Despite the respondents' answers about
how they think that emojis are in fact excessively used, and how they find it annoying if a
person overuses them, the fact still remains that they have become a new way of
communication. Whether they will have a negative impact on the language we have yet to
see.
Clive Thompson was also able to highlight one incredible side of emojis and that is
that they are a way of expressing “emotional nuance in short, online utterances”. (C.
Thompson, 2016). We have been given the possibility of taking a pick out of 1000 different
kinds of little pictures representing human emotions there just to further help our self-
expression.
Nevertheless, there are still people who get angered by the mention, let alone use of
emojis. But it is just the way of the world. When a certain thing flourishes there will always
be those wishing to tear it apart no matter what it is. Once it was Elvis Presley and the
Beatles who's music was considered as the Devil's music, but now they are the greatest
musicians that ever lived. Who is to say that the same thing will not happen with emojis, no
matter how ridiculous it seems to some.
We have in a way created a third way of communication that belongs neither in the
written nor the spoken language, a curious “word” that can't be pronounced, but yet says
more than a word ever could (McIntyre, 2016:34). But, then again we should also not confuse
emojis for something they are not, meaning that although they are such a convenient way of
self-expressing they should stay just that. No one should attempt to translate Shakespeare or
Hemingway, or any other writer for that matter into emoji language, it is simply not possible.
The act itself appears degrading to writers themselves and all the classic aficionados. Words
are meant for books and writing, while emojis are there to help convey a certain message
\and they are simple and humorous way of bettering the digital communication of the new
age.
All in all, considering the constant progression of the communication today, the ever
changing emojis, creation and addition of new ones, makes this subject still available for
research. Although this research came to expected conclusions, it is just the tip of the iceberg
and I hope that it only aids in further studies on this subject matter.
Refrences:
McIntyre, E.S. (2016). From cave painting to Shakespeare and back again: What are emoji
and should I be afraid?, 10,11,12,15,34
Thompson, C. (2016). The Emoji Is the Birth of a New Type of Language (No Joke), Wired.
Retrieved 30 August, 2018 from https://www.wired.com/2016/04/the-science-of-emoji/
Thompson, D., & Filik, R. (2016). Sarcasm in written communication: Emoticons are
efficient markers of intention, 106
.Luongová T. (2017). Evolution of Emoticons/Emoji and their Functions in Digital
Communications, 1,4,5,8,12,13
Appendix:

Gender *

• Male
• Female

How often do you use emojis? *

• Always
• Very often
• Rarely
• Never
• Often

When are you most likely to use emojis? *

• When I am happy
• When I am sad
• When I am angry
• When I am sarcastic
• When I am serious
• I do not use emojis
• Other:

With whom are you most likely to use emojis? *

• Family members
• Friends
• Acquaintances
• Colleagues
• My superiors (teachers, bosses...)
• Nobody
• Other:

Do you feel obligated to attach an emoji to your message so that it is not misinterpreted? *

• Yes
• No

Do you feel annoyed when you get a message with no emoji attached to it? *
 • Yes
• No

Do you think that there is an excessive use of emojis? *

• Yes
• No

Do you think that a person is annoying if they excessively use emojis? *

• Yes
• No

Do you think that emojis have a negative influence on your mother tongue? *

• Yes
• No

Do you think that emojis will completely substitute languages in the future? *

• 1Stronlgy agree
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5Disagree