This is a presentation that analyzes and discusses Emoji usage across Social Media, with a particular focus on Twitter and usage by Japanese culture.

1. EM JIS & EM TIC NS
AR UND THE W RLD
BY GRANT MCGOVERN

2. INSPIRATION
• Last summer, I discovered the site:
• Emojitracker
• “…uses Twitter to calculate emoji usage, people are averaging
250 to 350 emoji tweets a second.” – The New York Times
• “The result is a stunning, simple and frankly worrying dashboard
of icons, which is also excellent evidence of our growing inability
to use the English language alone to express our emotions.” –
The Huffington Post
• “Beyond the novelty of seeing just which emoji are most popular
(and almost as amusing, which ones are rarely used), the
visualization also does a pretty good job at showing the extreme
pace at which tweets are posted every second.” – The Verge

3. MY QUESTION
“Are emojis used as frequently on social
media across different cultures?
Specifically, in Asian countries, how are
emojis interpreted differently than in other
countries such as the United States? ”

4. RESEARCH METHOD
• Target:
• Young (12-30 years) people.
• Japanese (contrast with U.S.)
• Where:
• Twitter (public profiles)
• How Many:
• ~50 people. (ended up being 46)
• How:
• Massive spreadsheet
• Record tweets with emojis
• Twitter Handle
• Name
• Tweet Body (Japanese)
• Tweet Body (American English)
• Via Google Translate
• Date

5. MESSY DATA
• Why?
• There’s a variety of “Emojis”
•
• Japanese Emoticons:
• (」゜ロ゜)」, (; ･`д･´) , (・∀・)
• Emoticons
• :-) , :’( , :-/
• Workaround?
• Emojis are classified via codes:
•
• (; ･`д･´)
:angry:
:angry:

6. DATA SNIPPET
Date Twitter Handle Name Tweet Body (Japanese) Tweet Body (American English) Emoticon/Emoji URL
11/17/14 @uti_honne これ、本音。幸せになる5原則✨ 嫌わない 心配しない 期You are wit待h しa sなmいile シtoン livプe ルsimにp生le きyo:るtuw id笑nok 顔lninoでgt -esいxtapるresc: t to nohtt twposr:/r/ytw yiottue rd.coo nmo/tu htiatheo fnivnee /psrtiantcuisp/l5e3s4 ✨27 b5e7 3h0a2p6p4y170497
@love_otome013 めーぷる十三支演義やばい〜Thirteen 支演 righteousness danger:obuluss ~hing-face: https://twitter.com/love_otome013/status/528836700110217216
@mio8598 ∞清水 未緒∞ またゆみこにあったw かわいいなWー also was in Yumiko, I cute :red-heart: https://twitter.com/mio8598/status/534685475680686082
@s_kajyu ハルはお受験中このヘッダー最高。 我ながら良いThアisイ hデeaィdeアr h #ig梶h裕es貴t. We while a goo:sdu indgelaa s#s Kesa-jfi aYcuek:i :thuhmttbps-:/u/tpw: i:thteera.crot-mar/rso_wk:ajyu/status/533995091841409024
@MK___31 ❥ こっとんわざわざことの垢いれてリプするI のwoやuめld てlikいe yたouだ tきo sたtoいp a#nwdw two wdewscr:icpltaopr :t,o : jpouy:t dirt of thingh tbtpost:h//etwr #itwtewr.cwowmw/MK___31/status/533604428952002561

7. DATA ANALYSIS
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
:heart:
:crying-face:
:neutral-face:
:splashing-water:
:worried-face:
:school:
:hand:
:neutral-face:
:sparkly-heart:
:ribbon-heart:
:praying-hands:
:bunny:
:soccer-ball:
:wind-blowing:
:heart-arrow:
:heartpulse:
:notes:
:home:
Emoji Breakdown
Series 1
Anomalies:
- Little to no “sad” emojis despite them being #5, #11, #12,
and #13 most used emojis in the world.
- Massive gap between heart emoji and other ones.
109 Total

8. DATA ANALYSIS (CONT.)
Gender Breakdown
Men (14)
Women (32)
• 76 worthwhile tweets
• 109 total emojis
• ~Approx. 1.43 emojis per tweet
Trends:
• Highest contributors of emoji-filled
Tweets were young females who
had a large follower base.
• The highest emoji users were
Japanese models and/or
celebrities. People plugged into
the “main-stream.”
• The most recurring emoji that was
non-inanimate was the :smile:
face.
• The most popular tweet bodies in
which there were emojis
appeared to be songs/lyrics and
exclamatory statements.
• i.e. “Today is my birthday ”
Conclusions:
• Japanese people tweet generally
less emojis than Americans
(compared to who I follow)
• Japanese people tend to pack more
emotional context into their emoji
usage. They are more
appropriate/relevant.

9. REFLECTION
• Obstacles:
• Language Barrier
• Google Translate was okay, but not great
• Japanese is terse and most of the language was slang (I’m
guessing).
• It’s estimated only 3% of Japanese people use their real
name on Twitter.
• Things I’d Do Differently:
• Given more time:
• Have a more solid understanding of who I’m following.
• Speak to actual Japanese citizens to learn about Twitter
culture in Japan.
• Follow even more people, over an extended period of time.
• Have a Japanese translator at hand instead of Google.

10. THANKS!
Any Questions?