The peculiarities of using emoji pictograms in online communities with different frequency of use of obscene lexicon

Kulikov Leonid Vasil'evich ORCID: 0000-0003-3395-3679 Doctor of Psychology Professor,  the department of Social Psychology ,Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9. leon-piter@mail.ru Potapova Yuliya Viktorovna ORCID: 0000-0002-1226-8982 PhD in Psychology Docent, the department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Humanities, Omsk State Medical University Omsk, Lenin St., 12. Omsk State Medical University kardova.jv@gmail.com Malenova A Yu Arina Yur'evna PhD in Psychology Docent, the department of General and Social Psychology, Omsk State University 55 Mira Ave., Omsk. Omsk State University malyonova@mail.ru Blekanov Ivan Stanislavovich PhD in Technical Science Docent, the department of Programming Technology, Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg University nab. 7/9. St. Petersburg State University i.blekanov@gmail.com

Razumilov Egor Sergeevich Student, the department of Programming Technology, Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg University nab. 7/9. St. Petersburg State University razumiloves@gmail.com

Problem statement

 The growth of the "cyberpopulation" observed recently due to the prevailing epidemiological conditions makes it difficult or impossible to communicate directly, leads to an increase in the role of Internet communication. For a more complete expression of their experiences, users resort to various forms of verbal and non-verbal expressiveness: the use of pictograms-emojis, stickers, voice messages. Emotionally colored messages (usually of a negative nature) are often accompanied by the use of obscene vocabulary. Such expressions are allowed in communities with less strict regulations and free moderation, they often humiliate participants, provoke conflicts and various forms of cyber aggression. Comparing different forms of emotionality (verbal and nonverbal) in social networks helps to identify the specifics of communication in groups with different attitudes to obscene vocabulary. The analysis of emoji pictograms and their attribution to certain types of experiences opens up opportunities for a more detailed and multidimensional study of emotions and feelings manifested in the network.

The increased importance of emojis in network communication is confirmed by the fact that pictograms are gradually replacing a number of slang words in the language of youth. This, in particular, is confirmed by the results of the study of the social network Instagram, given in the analytical review by D. A. Voynov ^[3]). Back in 2015, the Oxford Dictionary recognized the emoji "Face with Tears of Joy" (?) as the word of the year due to its extremely frequent use in network communication ^[20]. T.L. Kopus reports data obtained in the UK indicating that 80% of messages in modern Internet communication contain emojis and that 40% of all texts consist only of pictograms ^[6]. On the other hand, many authors, analyzing emoji alphabets, come to the conclusion that too many symbols can be interpreted in different ways and be largely associated with cultural codes, accepted gestures and symbols. The meaning of emojis strongly depends on the context, "unspoken agreements, occasional meanings of frequently used symbols" ^[9]. In addition, the technical features of using emojis are that the user is primarily offered symbols that he often uses in communication. They eventually make up an "active dictionary", to which the author of the messages resorts, this set reflects the individual characteristics of the linguistic personality ^[9]. This complicates communication, because in this way understanding is difficult and can become a source of discrepancies, but it is worth considering that the use of pictograms initiates creative processes and allows you to create a unique network identity, play with the meanings of words and symbols. 

In addition to being used as a means of self-expression, other important functions of emojis should also be noted:

- saving time and effort on writing messages, transmitting factual information in a compressed, abbreviated form ^{[9, 13, 17]};

- saving space, replacing a word with a subject image (substitution-nominative function) ^[7];

- emphasizing the communicative significance of the transmitted information ^[16];

- universality of message transmission, improvement of mutual understanding between communication participants ^{[2, 4, 5]};

- expression of mood, emotions, feelings, “revival” of communication ^[17];

- aesthetic (text decoration with visualization) ^[7];

- smoothing out contradictions in communication, enhancing the effect of speech, especially in the situation of congratulations and apologies ^{[13, 19]}

- management of readers' moods, mobilization, activation, manipulation of public opinion, including the most active social group – youth ^[3];

- attracting attention, enhancing the attractiveness of text messages ^[18];

- external and internal identification, the use of symbols to denote value orientations [Voynov];

- compensation for the “emotional insufficiency” of Internet discourse ^[14];

- manifestation of emotions, their coding and representation ^[10].

Thus, the analysis of the modern network language is impossible without taking into account emoji communication, which significantly complements, expands the capabilities of the written text, changes its style, increasing the number of non-verbal components. According to Yu. A. Inozemtseva, modern “smiles” are already independent speech actions that go beyond the complement to statements explaining the emotional state ^{[4, 5]}. Emojis serve as a kind of surrogate for the expressive component of emotions that is absent in remote communication, and the further they go, the more they displace detailed descriptions of their states from users. Probably, 2020 can be considered a milestone from which the countdown of a new Internet era begins - the time when remote communication begins to prevail in terms of the amount of time spent over real (face–to-face). That is why it is important to study the digital language and how it manifests itself in various social communities. 

This is of particular importance for assessing the well-being of young people, for whom digital language is becoming an important tool of “digital” socialization, as “the process of mastering and appropriating a person's social experience acquired in online contexts, reproducing this experience in a mixed offline/online reality and forming his digital personality as part of a real personality, mediated by all available infocommunication technologies."” ^[15].

In the context of the tasks of our research aimed at establishing a link between the frequency of occurrence of a certain type of emoji pictograms in groups of young people with varying degrees of use of obscene vocabulary in network communication, data already available in science reflecting the created semantic classifications of emoticons and emojis, as well as factors influencing the frequency of their use in the network, are of particular interest. In the first case, we were attracted by the classification proposed by K. I. Belousov and I. A. Obukhova, the material for which was the texts of 274 college-age users using emoticons and emojis, the analysis of which allowed not only to identify the most typical symbols, but also to establish their connection with specific emotional states. The authors identified 15 categories (rubrics), of which only four have a uniquely positive orientation – approval, gratitude, love and joy. At the same time, the last two have a clear dominance in the frequency of replicas in the case. Sadness, sarcasm (irony), and hint were also sufficiently represented ^[1]. The latter, designated by the authors by the term "wink", in our opinion, can hardly be put on a par with other emotional states in this classification (surprise, indifference, bewilderment, fear, guilt, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, anger). In the proposed list there are all classes of "emomarkers": positive (positive) orientation, negative orientation, as well as neutral ^[10]. The latter, for example, include surprise, indifference, thoughtfulness. However, this attribution is very conditional, since the context of using emoji is always important, because of which it can be assigned a different meaning, up to the opposite.  

Promising areas of research can be considered focused on establishing a connection between the frequency of use of certain emotional symbols with the socio-demographic and personal characteristics of students. There is evidence that emoticons and emojis reflecting "joy" are used more often than others, regardless of the specifics of the sample ^[1]. In addition to assessing the well-being of young people as generally prosperous (the dominance of positive emoticons), this result can also be explained in line with the so-called "emoji etiquette" (unspoken rules for using emojis in the text). In addition to the location of the symbol in the text, for example, insertion after a logically distinguished segment, at the end of a sentence or illustration of a sequence of events, it is more often recommended to use symbols expressing approval, sympathy, support in the message, as well as to use them in situations of interpersonal rather than business communication ^[7]. The latter is confirmed by the results of research on the role of emojis in online communities. In communities with increased emotional involvement (for example, fan groups), emojis are more often used as an emotional catalyst that does not affect the decrease in audience interest in posts. Whereas in educational communities there is a tendency to decrease comments on posts containing emojis, that is, with an increase in the use of emojis, interest in community messages decreases. Emojis become an object that distracts attention from the meaning of the message, rather than attracting and holding it ^[18]. We believe this may have another explanation – a natural decrease in the number of emojis with an increase in the volume of verbal comments. This is especially true when discussing business issues, which include educational content. All this corresponds to the unspoken rules of etiquette for using emojis in online business communication. In addition, there is evidence that the emotional load of intellectual content differs by the specifics of phonetics – emotions are more often reflected in the "multiplication" of vowels, their stretching, repetition (daaaaa ..., generally ...), as well as repeated use to convey the expression of an exclamation mark. As for the graphical fixation of the state on the pages of the "intelligent" groups of the VKontakte network, users more often resort to the use of emoticons (combinations formed from punctuation marks – brackets, colons, the "equal" sign and other graphic symbols), preferring them to system smiley pictures ^[8].

There are results proving a connection between gender and the frequency of use of specific emoticons and emojis. For example, men do not use symbols of thoughtfulness, anger, guilt and embarrassment in texts, while women address all emotional categories without exception ^[1]. This is consistent with the statements about the greater emotionality of women and the acceptance by society of their manifestations of any emotions in any communicative forms. It was found that women's speech in Internet communication is more emotional, expressive, evaluative, while men's evaluative vocabulary is less pronounced against the background of the dominance of negative connotations over positive ones. Men use emoticons less often than women, who use expressive syntax and pictograms more often ^[11]. A gender-related relationship between the use of certain emotional symbols and self-esteem was also revealed: in women, increased self-esteem positively correlates with the appeal to ironic emojis and negatively with the symbols of flirtation and love, whereas in men with increased self-esteem, the use of emoticons of joy is less common ^[1].

Text analysis makes it possible to detect whole "emotive fields" in the Internet space - "a set of verbal and nonverbal information units that perform the function of manifestation of human emotions in a certain communicative situation" ^{[10, p. 125]}. The type of field is determined by the dominant emoticons: positive, negative, bivalent (simultaneous presence of positive and negative emoticons) and ambivalent (impossibility of unambiguous definition and interpretation of polarity due to ambiguity and uncertainty of context). It is fundamentally important that a message can include several intersecting emotive fields (each has a core, markers, periphery, lines of force, borders) ^[10].

Organization of research

The object of this study was comments in several popular communities of the VKontakte social network among young people, the subject of the study is the use of pictograms to reflect emotions and feelings in Internet communication. The aim of the study was to compare the preferred pictograms-emojis, which express their emotions and feelings of users who are in communities with different frequency of use of obscene vocabulary. The research objectives included:

1. Search for popular communities of the VKontakte social network among young people on various topics with open comments;

2. Analysis of the selected communities in terms of the frequency of use of obscene vocabulary in them and ranking;

3. Analysis of selected communities in terms of the frequency of emoji icons used in them;

4. Comparison of ratings of preferred pictograms-emojis in communities that are polar in terms of the frequency of use of obscene vocabulary.

The research methods were survey and content analysis. To implement the first method, a questionnaire was compiled in which respondents were asked questions about the features of their Internet preferences, the most attractive Internet communities in social networks for them.

The study was conducted in two stages. At the first of them, the sample included 854 people (the majority of them were students), of which 505 were girls (59.1%), 349 were boys (40.9%). The average age of respondents is 14.52 years. Most of the participants were in the age range from 11 to 17 years. The majority of respondents are residents of Chelyabinsk. According to the survey, 128 of the most popular VKontakte social network communities of various topics were identified (humor, cinema, educational content, aesthetics, household advice, sports, politics and much more).

The second stage involved the collection and content analysis of messages presented in the studied Internet communities in two directions: 1) studying the frequency of using obscene vocabulary, 2) preferred pictograms-emojis that users post in their comments in the community. Data collection (data crawling) The frequency of pictograms in the texts of the communities listed above was determined using a search robot based on the use of the VKontakte API programming interface. Further, the groups were ranked according to the criterion of the frequency of use of obscene vocabulary in them, groups with high and low frequency of use of profanity were identified. Also, a rating of emoji icons was compiled for each of the communities, taking into account the frequency of their use. Polar communities were singled out in terms of the frequency of use of obscene language, and the most popular pictograms–emojis were in them. During the formation of community groups (with low and high frequency of use of obscene vocabulary), the average frequency of use of one or another pictogram in the group was calculated.

The hypothesis of the study was the assumption that groups with different frequency of use of obscene vocabulary differ in emotional tonality and used pictograms-emojis to express emotions and feelings.

Research results

To determine the frequency of use of obscene vocabulary, a list of obscene words and expressions of 7500 units was used, compiled by O. Odaykhovskaya [12https://github.com/odaykhovskaya/obscene_words_ru]. This list has been somewhat modified and supplemented, based on the frequency of occurrence of tokens in the texts of the VKontakte social network.  The selected communities were checked and then ranked according to the frequency of occurrence of obscene vocabulary in them. The selected communities are presented in table 1.

Table 1.

Characteristics of the studied Internet communities

Note. The frequency of using obscene vocabulary was calculated as the percentage of comments with obscene expressions in a particular community from the total number of comments in this community.

The first six communities in the presented table were assigned to a subgroup with a high frequency of use of obscene vocabulary, the remaining eight to a subgroup with a low frequency of use of this type of vocabulary. Further, the most popular pictograms used by their subscribers were analyzed in the studied communities. In general, for each group of communities (with low and high frequency of use of obscene vocabulary), a list of the 40 most frequently used emojis was compiled, Table 2 shows (in descending order) the frequency of occurrence of the 20 most preferred emojis in communities with different frequency of use of obscene vocabulary.

Table 2.

Frequency of occurrence of certain types of emojis in communities with different frequency of use of obscene vocabulary

Designations: "Medium.H" is the average frequency of emoji occurrence in a group of communities.

Analyzing the content of pictograms used in communities with a low frequency of use of obscene vocabulary, it should be noted that positive emotions (delight, joy, approval, hope, pleasure) are more often displayed in them, while positive emotions usually have a higher rating than negative ones – the first 13 states in this list can be considered positive. In a group of communities with a high frequency of using obscene vocabulary, emojis of negative emotions (in the frequency rating) appear not on the 14th position, as in the first group of communities, but already on the 5th position. The occurrence of pictograms reflecting five types (clusters) of emotions is shown on the emoji frequency diagram in the ratings of groups with different frequency of use of obscene vocabulary (see Fig. 1).

Fig.1 Frequency of use in the compared communities of emojis characterizing different types of emotions and feelings (%)

The vast majority of emojis in both groups of communities studied are associated with the display of positive emotions, however, in groups with rare use of obscene vocabulary, the description of hedonic emotions – joy, delight, pleasure - is more common. In the negative register, pictograms displaying removing (e.g., anger, disgust, shame) and melancholic (e.g., sadness, longing) emotions and feelings are somewhat more common, and both of these clusters of feelings are more common in a group of communities with frequent use of abuse.

For a more detailed assessment of the differences in the studied groups of communities according to the preference of pictograms, the average frequency and rank of each of the matching pictograms in groups of communities with different frequency of use of obscenities were compared. Pictograms were selected that were used both in communities with frequent use of obscene language, and in communities where such vocabulary is practically not represented. From the initial ratings, which included 40 positions, 30 pictograms coincided in both groups of communities. A comparison of the frequency ranks of these 30 most popular pictograms is presented in Table 3. In it, the pictograms are listed in descending order of the difference in ranks that emojis occupy in groups with different occurrence of obscene expressions. At the beginning of the list (the difference in ranks is characterized by a positive number) there are emojis that are more common in communities with rare use of swear words, at the end of the list (the difference in ranks is negative) there are pictograms that have a higher rank in groups with frequent use of obscene vocabulary. In other words, the upper rows of the table show pictograms with a predominance of frequency of occurrence in communities without obscene vocabulary in comparison with the frequency of occurrence in communities with obscene vocabulary, and in the lower rows, on the contrary, with a predominance in frequency of occurrence in communities with obscene vocabulary in comparison with communities without obscene vocabulary.

Table 3.

Differences in preferred emojis in communities with different frequency of use of obscene vocabulary

The first ten pictograms (the top positions of the table) are characteristic of communities with a low frequency of using obscene expressions, they indicate:

– approval – on pictograms, which in Unicode are designated as "Biceps", "Winking face";

– joy – "Smiling face with laughing eyes";

– different gradations of fun – "Smiling face with open mouth and laughing eyes", "Grinning face with laughing eyes", "Smiling face with open mouth";

– request or gratitude – "The man who folded his hands";

– embarrassment and pleasure: "A smiling face in cold sweat with an open mouth."

It is noticeable that most of these pictograms reflect hedonic and converging communicative emotions and feelings. It is difficult to interpret the "Grinning Face" emoji with certainty, since a smirk or a sneer can be both a manifestation of an arrogant attitude towards the interlocutor, and rejection of something undesirable - some kind of defensive reaction to the joyless news, events or words of the communicant.  In this row, one pictogram can be attributed to the symbols of negative experiences – "A face screaming with fear." However, it is necessary to take into account the considerable conventionality of pictographic images. Since few users turn to verbal interpretations of emoticons, it is quite possible to assume that many people associate this image with a reaction not of fear, but of strong surprise.

In the middle part of the table there are pictograms that do not have a pronounced specificity in terms of the style of communication in communities.

The lower rows of the table contain emojis typical of online communities with frequent use of obscene vocabulary. Attention is drawn to the presence of a significantly larger number of pictograms expressing negative emotions:

– anger – "The pouting face";

– fear – "Reddened face";

– sadness – "Thoughtful face", "Face with pleading eyes";

– misunderstanding of the situation, difficulties in assessing it – "Moiai" (Stone face).

In this subsample there are also pictograms displaying positive emotions:

– self-confidence: "Smiling face in sunglasses";

– sympathy and love: "Smiling face with heart-shaped eyes", "Smiling face with smiling eyes and three hearts";

– pleasure (possibly related to satisfying the need for food: "Drooling");

– fun: "A smiling face with an open mouth and tightly closed eyes."

It can be argued that in groups with frequent use of obscene vocabulary, the tonality is shifted towards negative emotions and feelings. Another difference between these communities is a greater variety of pictograms with an increased frequency of use – in communities without obscene vocabulary, there is noticeably more similarity in the preferred pictograms. This difference indicates that in groups with rare use of obscene speech, people are more attuned to expressing approval and sympathy, support for each other. The rating of negative emotions in groups with frequently used obscene vocabulary is slightly higher, which may indicate greater freedom in expressing negative emotional reactions, an increased mood in these groups for conflict, fewer restrictions related to the rules of etiquette within such communities.

The next step in analyzing information about the frequency of pictograms used was the comparison of emojis that were included in the rating of popular, but found only in one type of communities (see Table 4).

Table 4.

 Distinctive pictographs for communities with rare and frequent use of obscene language (average frequency of use, % of the total number of emojis in the community)

The distribution of distinctive (usage-specific in the communities being compared) pictograms is consistent with the detected trend regarding negative emotions: their display is more common in communities where obscene vocabulary is often used.

Discussion of the results

The results obtained show that in communities where obscene vocabulary is common, hedonic, removing, melancholic and asthenic emotions have a higher rating. In communities where people do without the use of obscene language, emojis describing the emotions that bring them together prevail when communicating.

Indirectly, the results obtained may indicate that in groups with rare use of obscene speech, people are more attuned to positive and trusting communication. In groups with obscene language, hedonic emotions prevail among the positive ones, probably because many of these communities are replete with humorous content, the reaction to which is the expression of the expressive component of joy, namely laughter, smiles. The rating of negative emotions in groups with frequently used obscene vocabulary is slightly higher, which may indicate a freer expression of emotions of various kinds, the ability to relieve internal tension, including through conflict interaction with other users.

In groups without obscene language, there is a greater number of bringing together emotions and their content clearly forms a positive message when communicating with another person, approval of his actions, deeds (arms open for hugs, applause, a kiss). The converging emotion, indicated by the emoji ?, which is more common in groups with frequent obscenities, although it most often means sympathy for the interlocutor, but it can also have a dual meaning. The language shown is in the nature of teasing, provoking, and in combination with comments of a negative kind, such a pictogram can be interpreted as a mockery at all. In the case of hedonic emotions in groups without obscene language, they express joy, but their expression is usually less pronounced. Hedonic emotions in groups with frequent use of obscene vocabulary have a brighter, expressive character – the designation of laughter.

Conclusion

The conducted research allows us to draw a number of conclusions regarding the features of using emojis:

1. The frequency of the use of obscene vocabulary acts as a marker of the emotional background of young participants in network communication.

2.                     There are similarities and differences in the use of emojis in online communities with different frequency of use of obscene vocabulary.

3.                     Regardless of the frequency of obscene vocabulary, pictograms reflecting positive emotions (delight, joy, approval, hope, pleasure) are more common than symbols of negative experiences, while in the hierarchy their rating is higher in a community with a low frequency of using obscene vocabulary.

4.                     There are differences in the frequency of using emojis that characterize different types of emotions and feelings: in groups with frequent use of abuse, images of removing (anger, disgust, shame) and melancholic (sadness, longing) experiences are more common, whereas in groups with rare use of obscene vocabulary, symbols of hedonic emotions (joy, delight, pleasure) are more common);

5.                     A general assessment of the emotional context of communication in communities of different types shows that hedonic, removing, melancholic and asthenic emotions are more often shown by members of communities with frequent use of obscene vocabulary, whereas with rare ones they are focused on the manifestation of hedonic and rapproching emotions.

Summing up, it should be noted that, despite certain similarities in the lists of popular emojis used to communicate in groups with rare and frequent use of obscene language, a more detailed analysis of the ratings specific to each group of pictograms allows us to identify features in the use of expressive means of network nonverbal communication in communities. In groups with frequent use of obscene vocabulary, the boundaries in communication are not so rigidly defined, they less often taboo the negative attitude of the interlocutors to each other, allow (or maybe provoke) conflict situations, clashes between subscribers, a mocking and picky-arrogant attitude towards other people. In communities with rare use of obscenities, positive emotions, expressions of approval and support towards other subscribers are encouraged, a respectful and friendly tone is more pronounced in them.