Expression beyond text: A study on the acceptance of emojis, gifs and stickers as a communication tool in Whatsapp among college students in Chennai

Abstract

Thanks to the rapid advancement of technology, computer-mediated communication has greatly improved and now plays a crucial role in our daily lives. WhatsApp's ability to send non-text messages has changed how people interact with one another, making it the most downloaded social networking platform with two billion downloads. The main non-textual, visual communication tools available in WhatsApp are Emojis, Stickers, and GIFs, which are generally referred to as "Pictorials." This study aims to determine if students in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, use these images—also referred to as emojis, GIFs, and stickers—as a form of communication. College students served as the study sample, and the data were collected using a Quantitative research method, cross-sectional research design, a surveying approach, and a questionnaire with 21 questions as the data collection tool. The questionnaire was distributed to the students using Google Forms, and the responses were analysed in a qualitative-descriptive way. The findings indicated that college students in Chennai liked using Emojis as a method of WhatsApp communication. Also, it was discovered that female students stand out for having a greater acceptance for pictorials than male students.