The Evolution of Emojis for Sharing Emotions: A Systematic Review of the HCI Literature

TL;DR

This systematic review examines how HCI research over the past decade has explored the evolving role of emojis in emotion sharing, highlighting improvements in emoji selection and new communication functionalities.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of 42 studies on emoji use in emotion communication, revealing trends and future opportunities in HCI research.

Findings

Enhanced emoji selection methods for larger emoji lexicons

New ways of using emojis to improve digital communication

Broader scope of emoji functionalities in appearance and medium

Abstract

With the prevalence of instant messaging and social media platforms, emojis have become important artifacts for expressing emotions and feelings in our daily lives. We ask how HCI researchers have examined the role and evolution of emojis in sharing emotions over the past 10 years. We conducted a systematic literature review of papers addressing emojis employed for emotion communication between users. After screening more than 1,000 articles, we identified 42 articles of studies analyzing ways and systems that enable users to share emotions with emojis. Two main themes described how these papers have (1) improved how users select the right emoji from an increasing emoji lexicon, and (2) employed emojis in new ways and digital materials to enhance communication. We also discovered an increasingly broad scope of functionality across appearance, medium, and affordance. We discuss and offer insights into potential opportunities and challenges emojis will bring for HCI research.