The role of emojis in digital communication

Younger Brits are finding emojis essential to self-expression and togetherness in digital communication, a new study suggests. 

The Emoji Effect is based on a survey of 16,000 people around the world by voice, video and text communication service Discord, which sees an average of 4.3 billion emojis used each week on its platform globally. 

Why it matters

The study found that emojis can have a positive effect on our emotional state: 40% globally agreed that emojis can make them feel more cared for than a hug. And 72% of Brits believe emojis help them better understand how other people are feeling. 

The suggestion is that younger generations, in particular, use emojis to help foster a sense of diversity and inclusivity, while deepening personal expression and connections, and improving trust and honesty in digital communication. 

Key stats

• 93% of British Gen Z (age 18-34) and millennials (age 35-44) feel emojis have a positive impact on the tone of a conversation.
• 83% of British Gen Z always/often use emojis.
• Nearly two-thirds of British emoji users (64%) feel the same sense of connection when using emojis with people as they would seeing their facial expressions and emotions in real life. 
• When communicating with someone new, 71% of British emoji users aged 18-34 report using emojis within a week. 
• Two-thirds of British emoji users (66%) report that when they start using more emojis with someone, they’ve reached true friendship status.

Key quote

“Among Gen Z, we have seen a strong desire for emojis to not just represent our emotions, but also create deeper connections in more authentic ways” – Nicole Brendis, Director of Consumer Product Marketing at Discord.

Sourced from Discord