TY - GEN
T1 - Understanding emoji ambiguity in context
T2 - 11th International Conference on Web and Social Media, ICWSM 2017
AU - Miller, Hannah
AU - Kluver, Daniel
AU - Thebault-Spieker, Jacob
AU - Terveen, Loren
AU - Hecht, Brent
PY - 2017/1/1
Y1 - 2017/1/1
N2 - Recent studies have found that people interpret emoji characters inconsistently, creating significant potential for miscommunication. However, this research examined emoji in isolation, without consideration of any surrounding text. Prior work has hypothesized that examining emoji in their natural textual contexts would substantially reduce the observed potential for miscommunication. To investigate this hypothesis, we carried out a controlled study with 2,482 participants who interpreted emoji both in isolation and in multiple textual contexts. After comparing the variability of emoji interpretation in each condition, we found that our results do not support the hypothesis in prior work: when emoji are interpreted in textual contexts, the potential for miscommunication appears to be roughly the same. We also identify directions for future research to better understand the interplay between emoji and textual context.
AB - Recent studies have found that people interpret emoji characters inconsistently, creating significant potential for miscommunication. However, this research examined emoji in isolation, without consideration of any surrounding text. Prior work has hypothesized that examining emoji in their natural textual contexts would substantially reduce the observed potential for miscommunication. To investigate this hypothesis, we carried out a controlled study with 2,482 participants who interpreted emoji both in isolation and in multiple textual contexts. After comparing the variability of emoji interpretation in each condition, we found that our results do not support the hypothesis in prior work: when emoji are interpreted in textual contexts, the potential for miscommunication appears to be roughly the same. We also identify directions for future research to better understand the interplay between emoji and textual context.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85029443917&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85029443917&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85029443917
T3 - Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Web and Social Media, ICWSM 2017
SP - 152
EP - 161
BT - Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Web and Social Media, ICWSM 2017
PB - AAAI press
Y2 - 15 May 2017 through 18 May 2017
ER -