The Nonverbal Communication Functions of Emoticons in Computer-Mediated Communication

The emergence of new communicative contexts and new forms of interaction has led to changes in the ways of communicating. Some authors speak of a new communicative paradigm caused by a new level of interaction arisen in the technological context. In this article, we focus on a new technology that can be included in the so-called computer mediated communication: WhatsApp. The aim of this work is to study WhatsApp interactions understood as a particular type of computer-mediated talks. Specifically we will: 1) Characterize the language used in WhatsApp interactions at every linguistic level, from phonetics to pragmatics, through morphology, vocabulary and syntax. 2) Analyze how the absence of nonverbal communication (paralanguage and kinesics) in such interactions is managed. 3) Determine whether WhatsApp interactions are manifestations of spoken or written language, or, on the contrary, they are a new type of language that cannot be classified as oral or written. And 4) determine whether WhatsApp interactions can be qualified as conversational.

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The Urgency and Role of Emoji and PUEBI-Compliant Spelling Applications in Digital Communication to Minimize Misunderstanding Among Airlangga University Students

10.31219/osf.io/r2t9s ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Walidil Afi ◽

Amanda Putri Setianingrum ◽

Bagas Respati Adjie ◽

Moses Glorino Rumambo Pandin

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Nonverbal Communication ◽

Digital Communication ◽

Computer Mediated Communication ◽

Electronic Devices ◽

Communication Process ◽

Human Communication ◽

Mediated Communication ◽

Computer Mediated

The existence of CMC (Computer-Mediated Communication) has influenced the pattern of human communication, which was initially face-to-face, to become more accessible by using electronic devices. So that the communication process can be carried out more flexibly even though they are separated by distance. However, communication through electronic devices has limitations in conveying messages and providing the opportunity for the recipient to understand the message because CMC (Computer-Mediated Communication) does not include nonverbal communication such as expressions and feelings. Therefore, communication through electronic devices depends on the use of language only. However, people tend to make language errors in digital communication such as omission or punctuation errors, spelling errors and inappropriate PUEBI, abbreviated words, and complex words to understand. These two conditions certainly impact the digital communication process because people are at risk of experiencing misunderstandings with different perceptions between the two. This research aims to determine the urgency and role of emoji and PUEBI-compliant spelling in digital communication among Airlangga University students. This research method is descriptive qualitative by applying the purposive sampling technique. The respondent's criteria are undergraduate students from Universitas Airlangga who have experience in digital communication. Data were collected through surveys and literature studies to obtain detailed information on the research topic. The results show that using emoji and good spelling is critical in digital communication because of limitations in delivering nonverbal communication and semantic errors that affect misunderstandings between communicators and communicators. Emojis and spellings that match The General Guideline for Indonesian Spelling (Pedoman Umum Ejaan Bahasa Indonesia [PUEBI]) can clarify messages so that the intent can be adequately conveyed, change the tone or intonation of speech, channel and represent the sender's expression, and give an impression to the sender of the message.

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