The use of emoticons and nonverbal communication in online friendships : young adults' perspective

Abstract

This study delved into young adults’ perceptions of emoticon use and nonverbal communication while forming friendships online. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit six Maltese University of Malta students. All participants were between the ages of 18 to 25 years old and have formed friendships online in the past. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and get an in depth understanding of the perceptions of young adults’ emoticon use while forming friendships online. The data gathered was analysed by using Thematic Analysis and three overarching themes were found. These include “The Ingredients for Online Friendships”, “A New Form of Expression” and “The Online Personality”. It was established that the participants had all formed friendships online in the past and all acknowledged the effects emoticons can have on the formation of friendships. While many felt that emoticons were needed to be able to read new people, not all felt this way. A few participants felt that forming friendships in face-to-face interactions was a lot easier than forming them online. This could have been due to the fact that emoticons could be difficult to interpret and as a result can cause confusion especially when speaking to someone new. Participants concluded that if a common understanding of emoticon use was formed between two people, then a strong bond can be built. Problems were noted when there was confusion between different styles of emoticon use and when emoticons have a deeper meaning such as sarcasm.