Fabian Flores Social Theory Paper MWF 11:30

Fabian Flores
Theory Application Paper
Mrs. Lawson
Sociology MWF 11:30
Fabian Flores Social Theory Paper MWF 11:30

Fabian Flores
MWF 11:30 Sociology
Mrs. Lawson
April 7, 2017

The Use of Emojis

In todays time, there are many social phenomenon that are currently present. The social

phenomenon that I will be focusing on is the use of emoticons, or most commonly heard of as

emojis. Emojis are small images that portray emotions that can be inserted in text messages and

social media platforms. People use emojis to makes communicating easier because emojis are

small symbols that are sent through text messages or other communicating platforms that portray

what the person is symbolizing. The symbols are small images known as emojis symbolize the

emotion of the person is telling the other person instead of typing the whole sentence. The use of

emojis is a social phenomenon because it is a method of interaction that most people are using

worldwide. Statistics show that about 92 percent of the online population use emojis

(Hutchins 2015, pp.1). This makes the uses of emojis a social phenomenon because about half of

the human population are internet users. While having ninety-two percent of the internet users

use emojis, this makes it a social phenomenon because there are people using the internet all

around the world that are using emojis to communicate. In sociology, there are different theorys,

the theory in which the use of emojis best fits in is George Herbert Meads theory of symbolic

interactionism. The use of emojis is a social phenomenon because it is a wide spread pattern of

social behavior that is used all around the world, and best fits in George Herbert Meads theory.

Emojis are small symbols that portray the emotions that one is trying to get across to the

other person as if they were face to face. These symbols can be sent through text messages or
Fabian Flores Social Theory Paper MWF 11:30

social media platforms, so others know the emotion you are conveying in the message. Having

emojis use symbols to communicate with other people the paradigm that best fits the subject is

symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism is a theory by George Herbert Mead, which is

saying that humans use symbols or other gestures that have a meaning attached to it, in order to

be able to interact with other people, or groups (Kendall 2014, pp.19). George Herbert Mead also

states that depending on who your interaction group is, the symbol that you portray as something

can have a different meaning to another group. This best fits the use of emojiss because emojis

are several symbols that have meaning to them. People use emojis to interact with other people

to express the emotion the person is trying to convey to the other person or group they are

interacting with as if they were face to face. Symbolic interactionism theory by George Herbert

Mead best fits the use of emojis that are used in text messages and social media platforms, this is

due to the fact that emoji are symbols that are used to interact with other people or small groups.

The use of emojis in text messages and social media platforms is a pattern of a social

behavior that exists across society all around the world. George Herbert Meads theory of

symbolic interactionism view of society is that behavior is learned in interaction with other

people, how people define a situation becomes the foundation for how they behave (Kendall

2014, pp. 21). George Herbert Mead also argues that symbolic interactionism is that society is

the form of interactions of groups and people. What George Herbert Meads theory of symbolic

interactionism is saying is that the use of symbols can express the same or similar emotions that

people use in face to face interactions. George Herbert Meads theory also includes that the

emotion that a particular symbol has on a person or group may have a different emotion or

interpretation on another group or person. This is because symbolic interactionism analysis level

is micro. What this means is that symbolic interactionism theory studies small groups at a time,
Fabian Flores Social Theory Paper MWF 11:30

instead of the whole community that is involved in the social phenomenon. George Herbert

Meads theory of symbolic interactionism is basically saying that your behavior is learned

through the interaction with other people, and that the same behavior can have a different

meaning on a different group.

The theory of symbolic interactionism by George Herbert Meads would best apply to the

social phenomenon for the use of emojis for several reasons. An example that would apply the

use of emojis to this theory is that emojis are symbols that are used to interact with other people.

Having the theory of symbolic interaction state that behavior is learned through interaction with

other people makes it apply the theory apply to the social phenomenon of the use of emojis. This

applies to the use of emojis because depending on who you interact with, the emoji symbols can

be interpreted differently among different interacting groups. Having symbols interpret different

meaning for different groups goes along with symbolic interactionism theory on how it analysis

is micro. This is true because emojis can be considered a language of its own. And just like

different languages symbols that have a certain interpretation for a group can have another

interpretation for another group. This applies to the use of emojis because there are different

groups all around, this means that different emoji symbols have different emotions or

interpretations for other groups. The use of emojis best applies with the symbolic interactionism

theory because what the theory is stating all goes along with the use of emojis and how we

interpret them.
Fabian Flores Social Theory Paper MWF 11:30

Bibliography
Akson, Nilgun 2009. Symbolic Interaction Theory ScienceDirect Vol1(edition 1): pgs.902-
904.
Hutchins, Bob 2015. The Emoji Infographic: Stats to Back Up Your Obsession. BuzzPlant Vol
n.a( edition n.a)pgs.1-6.
Kendall, Diana Elizabeth 2014. Sociology in Our Times: the Essentials Cengage Learning
Vol n.a (edition 10) pgs.19-21.
Fabian Flores Social Theory Paper MWF 11:30

Works Cited
Akson, Nilgun 2009.Symbolic Interaction Theory ScienceDirect,2009,www.sciencedirect.com
4 April, 2017.
Hutchens, Bob. The Emoji Infographic: Stats to Back Up Your Obsession. BuzzPlant, 13
October, 2015, www.buzzplant.com. 4 April, 2017.
Kendall, Diana Elizabeth. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials CengageLearning, 2014, 3
April, 2017