How do we know what an emoji really means? A recent feature in ZEIT ONLINE highlights research by ViCom PI Tatjana Scheffler on how people interpret emojis and why these interpretations often differ across generations.
Drawing on a study by Tatjana Scheffler and Ivan Nenchev, the article shows that emojis do not have fixed, universal meanings. Instead, their interpretation depends heavily on context, cultural background, and age group. While strongly emotional emojis tend to be understood similarly, more ambiguous ones – such as the upside-down smiley – can signal very different things, ranging from friendliness to irony or discomfort.
Scheffler’s research demonstrates that emojis function much like digital gestures and facial expressions: they help shape how written messages are interpreted. Just like spoken language, their meanings evolve over time and across communities.
The article illustrates how these small symbols have become an important part of everyday communication and why understanding their interpretation is a fascinating topic for linguistic research.
The article can be accessed via the following link: