Encoding and decoding in emoticons

“Encoding/Decoding” originates from Hall’s doubts about the communication theories of mass communication research.  The concept introduces the conventional communication model employed in such research, which follows a linear sequence from “sender” to “message” to “receiver”. The model suggests that the sender develops the message, decides on its meaning, and then communicates it directly and clearly to the receiver.  The only issue is that the recipient might not understand what they are supposed to. According to Hall, communication can be boiled down to a simple process: encoding and decoding. Encoding is when you translate your thoughts into communication, while decoding is the process of translating communication into thoughts. For instance, if you fancy a nice meal, you might send a message to your friend to tell them about it. “Would you like to have hotpot tonight? When your friend receives your message, they will understand what you want and consider joining you.”

As emoji creators expand their use beyond emotions to include communication between people, most emojis now have additional coding rules or elements.Compared to early emoticons, in recent years, a large number of emoticons have been created in response to social hotspots, and have therefore become a way of recording social hotspots. Hot events and topics are converted into visual symbols in emoticons, and emoticons are no longer only used for personal “expressions”, but also reflect the “expressions” of society.As users of emoticons, they choose emoticons according to different states of mind and situations, and give emoticons “real-time” meanings, which is their recoding process of emoticons.

Sometimes people code according to the common rules of online communication and popular culture, and sometimes they lay down a personal “code” that they may not always expect to be fully deciphered by the recipient.Because what people “encode” is not only “expression”, but often also contains emotions and attitudes. In some cases, the emoticons people send out may not be consistent with their real inner feelings, or even emoticons become a means to cover up or repress their inner emotions.For the sake of smooth communication and the maintenance of their own image, they prefer to expect the other party to receive only the surface meaning of the emoji, rather than the inner emotions. On the receiver’s end, there is also a process of decoding the emoji.The meaning of an emoji can differ depending on the situation it is used in. Factors such as the familiarity of the people communicating, their relationship, and the social groups they are part of, as well as other larger communication “contexts,” all impact the interpretation of emojis. To properly understand and interpret these symbols, it’s important to have knowledge of the cultural significance and narratives associated with them. The existence of contextual contexts and the continuous flow of communication and dialogue complement the uncertainty of the message.