The use of emoji in interpersonal communication: A review on Whatsapp

With the development of Technology, the concepts of socialization,culture and communication have also changed. Social Media channels have emerged as New communication mediums. Face-to-face interpersonal communication in the past has moved to social media environments in the age of technology we are in. There are instant messaging applications among the social media platforms that have easy access without limitation of place and time. One of them is WhatsApp platform. Whatsapp application allows instant messaging facility to whatsapp users, voice, document, photograph, location, sharing, as well as video and voice call opportunities. İn addition, it offers an effective communication. In this thesis, it is aimed to determine whether the use of emojis on Whatsapp is consistent with the gestures and facial expressions that people use in face-to-face communication that they establish in everyday life, and elements such as physical contact. As a method, the power of the semi-structured interview technique to reveal the private and hidden information contained in the minds of the participants was used. This method, which gives the researcher the opportunity to ask questions according to the course of the interview, without depending on the questions he has prepared, allows to obtain more detailed information about the subject. For these reasons, it was considered as a suitable method for the subject and it was decided to use it. Whatsapp application, which allows communication as the universe, has been preferred. The sample of the study was limited to 25 users over the age of 18 who used WhatsApp. According to the information obtained as a result of the study, it revealed that the emojis used in interpersonal communication carried out in the whatsapp application contribute to effective communication; in short, the importance of emojis revealed. It has been informed that the non-verbal communication elements used in interpersonal communication established in daily life are also supported by emojis on Whatsapp.