Module 5 in Philippine Popular Culture (GE E3)

Semiotics of Emojis

What is emojis?

An emoji is a small icon used to represent an emotion, symbol or object. Emoji commonly appear in communication applications, such as social
networking apps and text messaging systems.

Where did emoji come from?

Emoji have been a part of the digital landscape since 1999 when a Japanese designer called Shigetaka Kurita designed the first emoji for a
cellphone. The concept of emoji reached global popularity in 2012, when Apple released their iOS 6 system, complete with an to send icons in
their text messages. Now, it’s possible to access a library of emoticons on virtually any app by tapping on the smiley face on your phone’s
keyboard.

Because emoji typically represent a specific feeling or thought, they’re used to give depth and context to a message. Many people use emoji to:

 Introduce humor to a message.

 Express themselves online
 Communicate beyond words or enhance the text in their messages.

The benefits of using emojis

Emoji are powerful in both everyday life and marketing strategies. Brands who use emoji in the subject lines of their emails see a 45% increase
in open rates on average. The main reason for this is that emoji represent a universal language that almost every customer resonates with.
Beyond the universal appeal of emoji, additional benefits include:

 A better way to connect with customers: Though emoji appeal in the digital world, they provide companies with a way to introduce a
more “human” experience to online interaction. -By mimicking facial expressions and emotions, companies use emoji to convey the
nuances of face-to-face interactions.
 Enhance communication: It’s often difficult to determine the tone of voice or meaning behind a message written on a smartphone or
a social media post. Emoji help to give context to information and show what a person was feeling as they typed.
 Demonstrate personality: Many brands today use emoji to convey the human side of their businesses. In a world where customers
struggle to trust faceless corporations, emoji give companies a playful side.
 Drive responses: The use of emoji to convey feelings often convinces other people to share their own emotions in response. Many
social media sites are now using emoji as “reactions” to let people demonstrate how they feel about posts without words.

Happy Emojis and Their Meanings

🙂 Smiling Emoji - “I’m happy for you! Sort of.”

This is the type of emoji you might get when you tell your jealous coworker about your new promotion.

Is she being genuine? Or does she secretly want to stab you in the back?

You may never know until it’s too late.

Best for: Light compliments or appearing interested but not.

Bad for: Sarcasm. It just doesn’t work: “I’m totally going to stab you in the back. 🙂 Haha. Hahaha.”

😃 Grinning Face Emoji- “I’m happy for you! Really!”

Are you genuinely happy and want to show it? This is the emoji for you!

Featuring a toothy grin and big, excited eyes, the Grinning Face Emoji is the classic emoji to get anyone to feel good—I mean, just look at those
big eyes! Who wouldn’t get happy looking at that?

Best for: Genuine compliments, congratulating friends, showing excitement.

Bad for: Admitting you’re cheating on your partner, reacting to celebrity death news, anything that requires you to be sad.

😁 Grinning Face with Smiling Eyes Emoji- “I’m happy and I don’t care what anyone else thinks!”

This is the perfect emoji to use when sending out a text like, “Guess what I’m bringing to the office party tomorrow? Fruitcake! 😁”

Especially if you’re required to bring something to the party… and you know you’re the only gal in the office who likes fruitcake.

Because when you use this emoji, nobody will blame you. You’ve literally put on a superhero outfit at this point.

You’re Grinning-and-Smiling-Eye gal, bringing happiness everywhere you go. Some adore you. Others fear you, for they lack the courage to
bring down your innocent vibes.You go, Grinning-and-Smiling-Eye gal.

Keep staying awesome.

Best for: When you’re happy but don’t know if the other person feels the same. Not like you care, anyway.
Bad for: Corny pickup jokes.

😂 Laughing Face Emoji

“This is slightly amusing so I’ll send this emoji. But I’m probably not laughing.”

Have you ever sent a bad joke or pic to a friend and got this single emoji as a response? It’s nice the first time you get it. But then it turns into
sleepless nights. Sleepless nights spent wondering if your friend found your text funny.

But deep down inside, you have a gut feeling they didn’t actually laugh.

Because this emoji is all based on lies and deceit.

Dramatic? Yes.

True? Sadly so.

Best for: Expressing genuine laughter.

Bad for: Text convos that aren’t really funny or are slightly amusing at best.

🤣 Rolling on the Floor Laughing Emoji

“This is so funny I want to convey I’m laughing, but since you couldn’t see how much I laughed here’s a bunch of emojis instead.”

This is the emoji used by your friends who love to laugh. They’ll send not only one—because that wouldn’t convey the proper amount of laughs,

which is many—but a barrage of 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 emojis.

Your friends who use this emoji are happy, and you love to hang around them. People who use this often will rarely be sad, and you can always
find a smile on their face when you see them in person.

Best for: Anytime you actually want to ROFL, replacing “LOL.”

Bad for: Formal or polite relationships.

Sad Emojis and Their Meanings

😞 Sad Emoji- “My head hangs down in sadness.”

You don’t need words to describe this emoji—the face says it all. The eyes are downturned and the mouth hangs in sadness. Whoever you send
this emoji to really did it this time. Or maybe it was your fault.

This is the universal emoji of sadness.

Best for: Apologizing for your mistakes, showing your utmost disappointment.

Bad for: Nothing, you can use this anytime you’re sad.

😕 Confused Emoji- “Uhh, did you seriously just say that?”

Have you ever received an offensive text?

Best for: Sending a wrong-doer that “old man” look of disapproval. Even if you’re not old. Or a man.

Bad for: Friends and family, people you want to build rapport with.

🥺 Sad Eyes Emoji- “Awww, pwetty pwease?”

While it might look cute, the Sad Eyes Emoji actually shows a bit of desperation and hopelessness. In fact, it’s commonly used among young
women worldwide as a last-ditch effort to get their man to say yes.

😳 Embarrassed Emoji- “Uh… I feel kinda uncomfortable.”

Awkward first dates, forgetting a friend’s birthday, accidentally sending your mom an inappropriate photo—we’ve all been there.

🙃 Upside-Down Face Emoji- “WeeEEEeeeEE!”

This emoji conveys a tone of humor, childishness, sarcasm, and everything silly. Basically, anything you say before the Upside-Down Face Emoji
can be taken as not being serious:

“I broke the lawnmower. 🙃”

“Sure, I made out with your ex. But only once. 🙃”

“If you stole my sandwich from the fridge, please return it. Or there will be consequences. 🙃”

Best for: Close friends and those that get your dark, sarcastic humor. April Fools’ Day pranks.

Bad for: Anything related to work.

🤷 Shrug Emoji- “Meh. I don’t know.”

Don’t know what to say? Don’t even care? This emoji indicates exactly how you feel: Meh. And it’s the only emoji with a body so far because,
well… little yellow round faces can’t exactly shrug.

Best for: Showing off your nonchalant attitude.

Bad for: Responding to your wife when she asks, “What do you want to eat tonight?”

😎 Smiling Face With Sunglasses Emoji- “Yeah, I’m cool.”

This emoji conveys badassery to the extreme. This is the Chad of all emojis, the mysterious man, cool kid, or wonder woman you always
dreamed of becoming.

Your genuinely cool friends use this emoji sparingly, and often send you pics of their treks and other such adventures. Your “fake cool” friends
will often use this emoji a tad too much (you know the feeling) and wear leather jackets and sunglasses, even during warm summer nights.

Alternatively, this can also be used during raunchy texts before ‘boom-chicka-wah-wah’ time with your lover.

Best for: Truly epic moments.

Bad for: Any other time you wouldn’t get a “Whoa!” response from your friend.

🥶 Cold Face Emoji- “Baby, it’s cold outside!”

Best for: Replying to snarky comments, texting friends who live in Northern Europe.

Bad for: Complaining how it’s too cold where you are… to your friends who live in Northern Europe.

😑 Annoyed Emoji- “All right, I’ve had enough.”

Have you ever watched The Office? This face is the Stanley Hudson of emojis.

Best for giving others a fair warning before they push your buttons even farther. And if you’re on the receiving end? Tread lightly, lest thou face
the wrath of a frenemy.

Best for: When your overly-zealous friend sends you yet another political meme.

Bad for: Responding to your mother-in-law’s request to invite herself to your house. Again.

😡 Angry Face Emoji-“I’m getting tired of your $#!*”

😬 Grimacing Face Emoji- “I’m tense and don’t know what to say.”

This emoji looks scared, a little tense, maybe even a bit nervous. This is the default emoji to send if you don’t know what to say in a situation,
like when an acquaintance starts pouring out their life story to you about a recent breakup.

However, it can be used in many uncertain contexts. Most likely, there are emotions that are hidden when someone sends this emoji.

Best for: Tense situations with no clear exit.

Bad for: Responding to your crush about how you truly feel.

😲 Surprised Emoji- “Ahhh!”

An open mouth and raised eyebrows make this emoji project an inaudible scream to your receiver through their phones.

Useful for surprising, shocking, distasteful, and happy texts.

Best for: A wide variety of situations. Great for responding to texts from friends who have newsworthy stories.

Bad for: Daily mundane topics. Like, “How’s the weather today? 😲” just ain’t gonna cut it.
😱 Shocked Emoji- “AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Oh, heck no! That did NOT just happen. Girl, puh-lease. Shut the front door.

Perfect to use in any situation where you’d pose as The Scream, this emoji is the highest level of surprise you can express through texting.

😨 Scared Emoji- “I’m scared.”

An emoji is one of the most useful shorthand communication tools of the 21st century.

An emoji can be used to express personality in your email campaigns, or on social media. In fact, nearly half of all comments and captions on

Instagram contain an emoji, and using an emoji on Twitter can result in 25.4% more engagement.

Ultimately, a properly-used emoji can make your audience smile and feel better connected to your brand.

Emoji Faces

To start, let's take a look at some of the faces you might use to convey certain emotions, along with examples of how you might use each in

your own marketing content.

1. Heart

You might consider using a heart eye emoji to show your love for something, whether it be a new product or a blog article you want to promote

on social.

For instance, SoulCycle uses a heart eye emoji in their email subject line, to convey their approval and love for the brands they're now selling

online:

2. Side Eye Emoji 😏

This side eye emoji is most commonly used to express a smirk after someone makes a sarcastic or ambiguous joke that could seem serious, out

of context. Ultimately, it's a good emoji to use if you want to demonstrate a playful side to your brand, or if you're making a joke and aren't

sure whether your audience will know you're kidding.

For instance, you might playfully insinuate you understand most of your readers will be offline over the weekend, by saying in an email, "While

we understand you're probably dying to do more work over the weekend 😏, we've put together a guide with suggestions for creating better

work-life balance. Check it out here."

3. Eyes Emoji 👀

The eyes emoji is a simple and fun way to draw attention to a link or image you want to share with an audience. Instead of saying "Look at this",

you might consider using the eyes as a silly substitute.

For instance, take a look at how GREATS, a footwear brand, uses the eye emoji to elicit excitement and suspense over an upcoming release:

In this case, the eye emoji playfully suggests to the audience, "Keep an eye out -- something new is coming soon".

4. Embarrassed/Flushed Face Emoji 😊

The flushed face emoji is a fantastic opportunity for your brand to demonstrate humility or gratitude for an achievement or award.
For instance, you might show the flushed face if you're sharing an article that lists you as a top company in your industry. Perhaps you'll tweet,

"So grateful to have made it on Company A's list of Best Workplace Culture of 2018 😊 Thank you!"

Alternatively, the flushed face emoji is often simply used to express happiness or joy.

5. Thinking Emoji 🤔

The thinking emoji is often used to demonstrate someone deep in thought, or pondering the validity of something. It can be used to express a

level of doubt, like "Hmm … not sure about that", in regards to a controversial issue.

For instance, take a look at how Monday.com responded with integrity to a Facebook user who questioned whether Monday.com bought fake

social media likes:

Rather than fighting with the user, Monday.com took the high road and used the thinking emoji to express a level of doubt over the accuracy of

the user's statement.

Alternatively, you might use the thinking emoji after a question or poll on social media, simply to create a visual that indicates you want your

audience to think about something.

6. Sweat Emoji 😅

The smiling emoji with a sweat droplet is typically used to express a close call -- while the sweat depicts a level of discomfort, the smile alludes

to someone who's thinking, "Phew! That could've been bad."

For instance, if your coworker emails you moments before a meeting with an urgent, "Wait, where's the most recent reporting deck with all our

statistics?" You might send the deck back with a "Don't worry -- got it, right here 😅" response, alluding to the satisfaction you both feel over

averting an issue.

7. Hand Up Emoji 🙋‍

Typically, businesses use the hand up emoji to suggest a level of enthusiasm or participation, like "Sign me up!" For internal purposes, you

might use the hands up emoji to get a headcount of people willing to help out.

For instance, if you see your team leader is asking for volunteers to pass out microphones during the next company meeting, you might send

back a simple "🙋‍" as your response.

Alternatively, you might use the hand up emoji to ask whether your social media audience agrees with you. For instance, you could post on

Twitter, "Who thinks skittles are better than m&m's? Give me a 🙋‍if you agree!"

8. The Laughing Emoji 😂

Allegedly 2017's most popular emoji in the U.S., the laughing emoji is one of the easiest ways to express humor or amusement. Oftentimes,

when a coworker makes a joke in a slack channel, I'll use the " 😂" emoji as an alternative to "haha" or "lol".

Additionally, the laughing emoji is an effective opportunity to demonstrate your brand's sense of humor. For instance, Honest, Jessica Alba's

company that creates safe and natural products for the household, uses the laughing emoji in this Instagram post:

In this instance, Honest demonstrates an ability to laugh at themselves and their own cheesiness (with their attempt to re-define BYOB's

acronym meaning) -- and makes them seem more human, as a result.

Emoji Symbols or Objects

Along with faces, emojis offer your business the opportunity to use objects or symbols to express meaning, such as the heart symbol ( ), a check

mark (✔️), or a taco (🌮).

Here are some symbols or objects you might consider using in your marketing content:

9. Monkey Emoji 🙈

The hiding monkey face emoji is a cute opportunity to express a level of shyness or embarrassment. For instance, your brand might use the

monkey emoji after making a mistake, like this -- "Hope you enjoyed our tool, even though it didn't work the first time 🙈."

Alternatively, you might use the hiding monkey face emoji to suggest you wish you hadn't seen something. This can be humorous, particularly if

you share a funny prank video with a "Yikes, that was rough 🙈" caption.

10. Nail Polish Emoji 💅

As you might've guessed, the nail polish emoji can be used to demonstrate a level of casualness or indifference. Some people believe it means

"I'm prettier than you", or an expression of arrogance or confidence, but typically, it isn't used for any other reason than to articulate

nonchalance or relaxation.

For instance, I might use the nail polish emoji to engage an audience, by writing -- "This weekend is all about rest and relaxation 💅😊 What are

your weekend plans? Leave them in the comment section, below."

11. Hand Emojis 👌👏👈🏿

HubSpot often uses various hand emojis to express emotion simply and effectively. For instance, the 👌 expresses the same message as it does in

real life -- "that's a-okay," or "fine by me".

The clapping hands (👏) can be used to express congratulations or excitement, such as "Congrats to @CForsey on winning our giveaway

contest👏!".

Finally, the "👈🏿" pointing finger emoji is effective for pointing at a link. Particularly when there's a word limit, it's a good idea to use the pointing

finger instead of writing, "Check out this link".

12. Waving Emoji 👋

Waving emoji is a playful yet simple way to say "Hello" or "Goodbye". Consider incorporating it into your welcome email to display a level of

warmth to your new subscriber.

Alternatively, you might use the 👋 emoji to playfully introduce your audience to a new product or service. For instance, Drop uses the 👋 in their

email subject line to introduce its email subscribers to Drop's new app:

13. Thumbs up emoji 👍🏾

The thumbs up is relatively universal, making it a classic emoji to use to either express your business's approval, or to ask for quick audience

engagement.

For instance, you might write on Instagram, "What do you think of our new company logo? Give us a 👍🏾or 👎🏾". This allows your audience to

engage with your brand with very minimal effort on their part.

Uses and Gratification Theory of Mobile Legends

The Uses and Gratification theory discusses the effects of the media on people. It explains how people use the media for their own need and
get satisfied when their needs are fulfilled. In other words, it can be said that the theory argues what people do with media rather than what
media does to people. Also, this theory is in contradiction to the Magic Bullet theory, which states that the audience is passive. This theory has
a user/audience-centered approach. Even for communication, say – interpersonal, people refer to the media for the topic to discuss among
themselves. By referring the media, they gain more knowledge and exposure to the world beyond their limited eyesight.

History of Uses and Gratifications Theory

The origins of UGT can be traced back to the 1940s when communication scholars initially sought to study why specific media and content
appealed to different people. The theory was further expanded in the 1970s when researchers started examining not just the gratifications that
consumers sought but the gratifications they actually obtained.

Today UGT remains one of the most prevalent theories used in media effects research.2 In fact, communication scholar Ruggiero argued that
the rise of new media makes uses and gratifications theory more important than ever as this perspective is especially useful for explaining why
people adopt new mediums.

Assumptions of Uses and Gratifications Theory

A cornerstone of UGT is that audiences are active in choosing the media they consume. Moreover, audiences are aware of the reasons they
want to consume media and consciously use those reasons to make media selections that will fulfill their needs and desires.

Five Assumptions

Based on these notions, uses and gratifications theory specifies a set of five assumptions about media consumption.

The assumptions are:

1. Media use is motivated and goal-oriented. People always have a reason for consuming media, even if it's simply habit or
entertainment.
2. People select media based on their expectation that it will satisfy specific wants and needs.
3. Media use is driven by individual social and psychological factors.
4. Media compete with other forms of communication, especially in-person communication, for selection and use in the fulfillment of
needs and desires. Today, since so much of the media we consume is mobile, that competition is more immediate than ever as even
when engaging in in-person communication, media accessed through mobile devices, such as text messages, social networks, and
apps are also competing for our attention.
5. Because people are active media users, media messages don't exert especially strong effects on people.

Explaining Media Use with Uses and Gratification Theory

There are several needs and gratifications for people. They are categorized into five needs.

 Cognitive needs
 Affective needs
 Personal Integrative needs
 Social Integrative needs
 Tension free needs

Cognitive needs: or the need to acquire information and knowledge or improve understanding.

People use media for acquiring knowledge, information, facts, etc. Among the audience, some have the thirst to acquire intellectual and
academic knowledge. This is not a very common phenomenon. Different people have different needs. For example, quiz programs on television
give on factual knowledge; to know about current affairs people need to watch the news regularly; search engines on the internet are also very
popular since people can browse for any topic easily under the run with no time restriction.

Affective needs: or the need to have aesthetic or emotional experiences.

It includes all kinds of emotions, pleasure, and moods of the people. People use the media, say television, to satisfy their emotional needs.

The best example would be when people get emotional or sometimes even cry for a sad scene while watching the movie/soap opera.

Personal Integrative needs: or the need to strengthen confidence, status, or credibility. These needs have both cognitive and affective
components.

This is the self-esteem need. People use media to reassure their status, gain credibility and stabilize. So people watch television and assure
themselves that they have a respectable status in society. For example, people watch advertisements in the media like jewellery ads, furniture
ads, apparel ads, etc. and buy these products so that they can change their lifestyle. Hence the media helps them to do so.

Social Integrative needs: or the need to strengthen relationships with friends and family.

It encompasses the need to socialize with family, friends and relations in society. For social interaction nowadays, people do not seem to gather
socially during weekends instead they have turned to social networking sites on the internet such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr etc. to
satisfy their needs.
Another example is people may start watching a particular programmed, not because they have any self-interest, but because their
neighbor/friend watches it such that both the parties may have something in common to discuss.

Tension free needs: or the need to relax and escape by lessening one's awareness of the self

People sometimes use the media as a means to escapism from the real world and to relieve from tension and stress.

For example, people tend to relax while watching television, listening to the radio, surfing the internet, etc. In fact, media has the power to grab
audience mind since it makes them feel connected with the situation and characters emotionally.

Note: The needs are specific in nature to the individual and how the media satisfies the need is subjective. For example, some people may
watch the news to relax while others may get tensed or agitated by the same. The media is the same, but people use it for different needs.

On television, most people watch reality shows nowadays not only its popular, but because of the following reasons:

 It is more realistic.

 It provides entertainment.

 It is more interesting.

 There are new concepts cropping up every now and then.

 Viewers can participate as well in many ways while sitting at home.

 Controversies are extensively covered.

 Sensationalism brings in more viewers.

These needs, as well as those specified in many other uses and gratifications typologies, are based on the gratifications consumers obtained
from old media, such as books, newspapers, radio, television, and movies.

Interestingly, some more recent UGT research has suggested that new media offers similar gratifications. However, work by Sundar and
Limperos5 observes that while old media and new media may fulfill some similar social and psychological needs, affordances of new media also
create unique needs that studies of the uses and gratifications of new media may overlook.

The scholars suggest several new gratifications that fall into four categories specific to features of new media.

These four categories include:

1. Modality-based gratifications: New media content can be served up in a variety of modalities from audio to video to text. The use of
these different modalities can satisfy the need for realism, novelty, or in the case of something like virtual reality, the need to feel like
you've been somewhere.

2. Agency-based gratifications: New media gives people the ability to create and share information and content, giving each individual a
certain amount of power. This can satisfy needs such as agency-enhancement, community building, and the ability to tailor content to
one's specific desires.

3. Interactivity-based gratifications: The interactivity of new media means content is no longer static. Instead, users can interact with and
impact content in real time. This satisfies needs such as responsiveness and more choice and control.

4. Navigability-based gratifications: Users move through new media, and the navigation offered by different interfaces can greatly impact
users' experiences. Positive new media navigation experiences satisfy needs such as browsing, guidance through navigation (or
scaffolding), and the fun that comes with moving through spaces and, if one's playing a game, levels.

Criticism of Uses and gratification theory :

The uses and gratification theory does not bring into consideration the power of media.

It is more audience-oriented study.

Positive point of the uses and gratification theory is it focuses attention on individuals in the mass communication process.

It mainly focuses on people’s selectivity on media content rather than its unintended effects in their minds.

Researches of this theory conclude the results are subjective rather than objective.