A longitudinal study of emoticon use in text messaging from smartphones

Authors:
Chad C. Tossell;Philip Kortum;Clayton Shepard;Laura H. Barg-Walkow;Ahmad Rahmati;Lin Zhong
Affiliations:
Department of Psychology, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-25, Houston, TX 77005, United States;Department of Psychology, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-25, Houston, TX 77005, United States;Department of Psychology, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-25, Houston, TX 77005, United States;Human Factors & Aging Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, 654 Cherry St., Atlanta, GA 30332-0170, United States;Department of Psychology, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-25, Houston, TX 77005, United States;Department of Psychology, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-25, Houston, TX 77005, United States
Venue:
Computers in Human Behavior
Year:
2012

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Abstract

Our goal in the present study was to understand how emoticons are used in text messaging and, in particular, how genders differed in the frequency and variety of emoticons used via this medium. Previous research has found small and sundry differences in emotive expression online suggesting that technology has closed the gender gap. However, the data collected in these studies were public. In this study, we collected real portions of private communications data from individuals' smartphones over a 6-month period. SMS messages, in general, were not used very much overall, with only 4% of all messages containing at least one emoticon. Still, differences between genders manifested in the amount and variety of emoticons used. Females sent more messages with emoticons; however, surprisingly, males used a more diverse range of emoticons.