| Emoticon has been widely used in social interactions in cyberspace.The "little yellow face" of Emoji,which is the most popular in the world,and WeChat emoticons,which is the most popular in China.They were used as the main materials for parallel comparison between cultures.Here we compared them from three perspectives,namely,the history and technological base of the two emoticons,the social semiotics analyses of emoticons,and the visual grammar frame.With different development of history and technology accumulation,different platform interfaces and applicable groups are selected,showing differences in usage and dissemination functions.The semiotics meaning based on the features of the five senses,especially the richness of the eyes and mouth,indicates that overall,the Emoji focuses on transmission,while the WeChat emoticons focuses on ritual.The comparison of the three visual grammar levels of reappearance,interaction and constitution from the yellow face to other emoticons also reinforces our explanation of transmission and ritual views. |
