Emoji hashtags // hashtag emoji: Of platforms, visual affect, and discursive flexibility

Authors

  • Tim Highfield

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v23i9.9398

Abstract

This paper examines the communicative functions of emoji in concert with hashtags, comparing two platform-specific approaches to combining hashtags and emoji: emoji hashtags as discursive markers on Instagram, and platform-directed hashtag emoji on Twitter. These approaches offer key insights into the dynamics between the platforms and their users, from user-led practices on Instagram to the commercial partnerships over-riding user intentionality on Twitter. Such different means of combining emoji and hashtags then demonstrate how platforms variously support and restrict their users’ platform vernaculars and discursive creativity within their everyday social media practices.

Author Biography

Tim Highfield

Assistant Professor in New Media and Digital Culture in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam.

Downloads

Published

2018-09-01

How to Cite

Highfield, T. (2018). Emoji hashtags // hashtag emoji: Of platforms, visual affect, and discursive flexibility. First Monday, 23(9). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v23i9.9398