People use emojis to show and hide emotions, experts say

Tokyo: Scientists researching social media and online expression have said that even in normal life, wherever we express ourselves, we also hide our reactions. In the same way, we show the same instinct in the use of emojis.

In their research in the journal Frontiers in Science, Moyo Lui of the University of Tokyo and his colleagues said that we use emojis (emotional symbols) to express ourselves widely in online communication. Previous research has shown that when people express themselves with emoji, they also use it as a mask.

In this context, 1289 people were included and made to use the most downloaded emoji keyboard in Japan, ‘Simiji’. It turns out that emojis have been used to express facial expressions, but they don’t necessarily represent actual experience and emotions. This is especially true when the rules of expression are strict or confusing. In this way, if there is a difference between the real impressions and the expression of these impressions, a person can suffer from a kind of emotional suffocation.

It was also noted that participants accurately described like and dislike emojis to those closest to them. Otherwise, they don’t express their emotions properly with emojis even online.

The participants’ research found that people are more likely to express emoji correctly in close circles. Then the tendency to use emojis in front of high-ranking people is less and they use words. But above all, the young volunteers also used smiling emojis when experiencing negative emotions, which was an attempt to hide the negative emotions.

However, this small study has raised more questions and Moyo will continue to research this.