Goodbye Text, Hello Emoji: Mobile Communication on WeChat in China
summary
A qualitative study uses 30 interviews and observations across rural, small-town, and urban China to show WeChat users shift from text toward graphic communication: emoji and stickers routinely support and change text meaning, mark identity, and form subcultures. WeChat’s 846 million monthly users (Jan 2017) send inline emoji or larger downloadable/animated stickers; surprising finds include widespread user-created erotic stickers and practical instructive stickers that replace repeated phone explanations, and examples of misread meanings across age groups.
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chapters (7)
- 0:00Introduction and motivation
- 2:25WeChat platform overview
- 4:10Emoji and sticker mechanics
- 5:17Study methodology
- 5:48Key findings
- 9:50Future implications
- 11:05Q&A session
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