Emojis in Parties’ Online Communication During the 2019 European Election Campaign: Toward a Typology of Political Emoji Use

Authors: Wurst, A.K., Pohl, K., Hassler, J. and Jackson, D.

Journal: International Journal of Communication

Volume: 17

Pages: 4686-4706

eISSN: 1932-8036

Abstract:

Emojis have become ubiquitous in digital communication, but we know relatively little about how they are used in political and campaigning contexts. To address this deficit, we analyze the use of emojis in the Facebook communication of parties in 11 European countries during the 2019 European election campaign. Results indicate that the use of emojis by political parties differs significantly from general online communication. Political parties more often use neutral and representational (such as flags) emojis than emotional and facial emojis to draw users’ attention while maintaining a serious appearance of their content. Based on our empirical results, we develop a typology to characterize the mixture of generic and unique functions of emojis used in political communication, outlining how they are used for (1) attracting attention, (2) visual structuring, (3) mobilizing, (4) promoting, (5), referring to political levels, (6) emphasizing policies/values, and (7) displaying affect/emotion.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/38788/

Source: Scopus

Emojis in Parties' Online Communication During the 2019 European Election Campaign: Toward a Typology of Political Emoji Use

Authors: Wurst, A.-K., Pohl, K., Hassler, J. and Jackson, D.

Journal: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION

Volume: 17

Pages: 4686-4706

ISSN: 1932-8036

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/38788/

Source: Web of Science (Lite)

Emojis in Parties’ Online Communication During the 2019 European Election Campaign: Toward a Typology of Political Emoji Use

Authors: Wurst, A.-K., Pohl, K., Hassler, J. and Jackson, D.

Journal: International Journal of Communication

Volume: 17

Pages: 4686-4706

Publisher: University of Southern California

ISSN: 1932-8036

Abstract:

Emojis have become ubiquitous in digital communication, but we know relatively little about how they are used in political and campaigning contexts. To address this deficit, we analyze the use of emojis in the Facebook communication of parties in 11 European countries during the 2019 European election campaign. Results indicate that the use of emojis by political parties differs significantly from general online communication. Political parties more often use neutral and representational (such as flags) emojis than emotional and facial emojis to draw users’ attention while maintaining a serious appearance of their content. Based on our empirical results, we develop a typology to characterize the mixture of generic and unique functions of emojis used in political communication, outlining how they are used for (1) attracting attention, (2) visual structuring, (3) mobilizing, (4) promoting, (5), referring to political levels, (6) emphasizing policies/values, and (7) displaying affect/emotion.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/38788/

Source: Manual

Emojis in Parties’ Online Communication During the 2019 European Election Campaign: Toward a Typology of Political Emoji Use

Authors: Wurst, A.-K., Pohl, K., Hassler, J. and Jackson, D.

Journal: International Journal of Communication

Volume: 17

Pages: 4686-4706

Publisher: University of Southern California

ISSN: 1932-8036

Abstract:

Emojis have become ubiquitous in digital communication, but we know relatively little about how they are used in political and campaigning contexts. To address this deficit, we analyze the use of emojis in the Facebook communication of parties in 11 European countries during the 2019 European election campaign. Results indicate that the use of emojis by political parties differs significantly from general online communication. Political parties more often use neutral and representational (such as flags) emojis than emotional and facial emojis to draw users’ attention while maintaining a serious appearance of their content. Based on our empirical results, we develop a typology to characterize the mixture of generic and unique functions of emojis used in political communication, outlining how they are used for (1) attracting attention, (2) visual structuring, (3) mobilizing, (4) promoting, (5), referring to political levels, (6) emphasizing policies/values, and (7) displaying affect/emotion.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/38788/

https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/issue/view/19

Source: BURO EPrints