The semantics of emojis and memes: understanding meaning- making among social media users

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dc.contributor.advisorMpendukana, Sibonile
dc.contributor.authorFrancis, Tasneem
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-21T07:11:29Z
dc.date.available2025-11-21T07:11:29Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.date.updated2025-11-21T07:00:18Z
dc.description.abstractThere is no doubt that the use of emojis and memes within computer-mediated communication (CMC) on social media platforms like Facebook has become an essential part of how people communicate online (see Thurlow 2018; Thurlow and Jaroski 2020; Barbieri et al 2016; Bai et al 2019 and Thurlow and Dü rscheid 2020). A lot of work has been done to study meaning related to emojis and memes and how they function within communication (see Deumert 2014; Zhu and Ren 2022; Lynch 2022 and Ljubešić and Fišer 2016). This current study advocates for a user-centric approach to understanding meaning- making. The strength of what I am proposing in my research is how to draw an analysis of meaning-making practices linked to the use of emojis and memes within CMC while allowing users to advocate for themselves from their perspectives. This current research unpacked how the average person on Facebook attached meaning to emojis and memes when they are selected and used to communicate online. The goal was to understand whether the meaning attached is shared and universal or if there was room for different modes of expression and meaning-making. The data collected for this research included quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data. Surveys were used as a starting point for conducting one-on-one interviews with a selected number of people who were open to being interviewed after completing the survey. The study concluded that different emojis and memes are used by different people, in different ways, however, the meaning attached to different emojis, and memes become universal over time when it is shared by people. The data provided evidence that universal and shared meaning occurs. However, within the same data, there was evidence to support that even though shared and universal meaning is happening, there is still room for different modes of expression online.
dc.identifier.apacitationFrancis, T. (2025). <i>The semantics of emojis and memes: understanding meaning- making among social media users</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Linguistics. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42290en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationFrancis, Tasneem. <i>"The semantics of emojis and memes: understanding meaning- making among social media users."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Linguistics, 2025. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42290en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationFrancis, T. 2025. The semantics of emojis and memes: understanding meaning- making among social media users. . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Linguistics. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42290en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Francis, Tasneem AB - There is no doubt that the use of emojis and memes within computer-mediated communication (CMC) on social media platforms like Facebook has become an essential part of how people communicate online (see Thurlow 2018; Thurlow and Jaroski 2020; Barbieri et al 2016; Bai et al 2019 and Thurlow and Dü rscheid 2020). A lot of work has been done to study meaning related to emojis and memes and how they function within communication (see Deumert 2014; Zhu and Ren 2022; Lynch 2022 and Ljubešić and Fišer 2016). This current study advocates for a user-centric approach to understanding meaning- making. The strength of what I am proposing in my research is how to draw an analysis of meaning-making practices linked to the use of emojis and memes within CMC while allowing users to advocate for themselves from their perspectives. This current research unpacked how the average person on Facebook attached meaning to emojis and memes when they are selected and used to communicate online. The goal was to understand whether the meaning attached is shared and universal or if there was room for different modes of expression and meaning-making. The data collected for this research included quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data. Surveys were used as a starting point for conducting one-on-one interviews with a selected number of people who were open to being interviewed after completing the survey. The study concluded that different emojis and memes are used by different people, in different ways, however, the meaning attached to different emojis, and memes become universal over time when it is shared by people. The data provided evidence that universal and shared meaning occurs. However, within the same data, there was evidence to support that even though shared and universal meaning is happening, there is still room for different modes of expression online. DA - 2025 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - social media KW - Facebook users KW - emojis KW - memes KW - computer-mediated communication (CMC) KW - meaning-making KW - semiotics KW - multimodality KW - translanguaging KW - surveys and interviews LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2025 T1 - The semantics of emojis and memes: understanding meaning- making among social media users TI - The semantics of emojis and memes: understanding meaning- making among social media users UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42290 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/42290
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationFrancis T. The semantics of emojis and memes: understanding meaning- making among social media users. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Linguistics, 2025 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42290en_ZA
dc.language.isoen
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentLinguistics
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectsocial media
dc.subjectFacebook users
dc.subjectemojis
dc.subjectmemes
dc.subjectcomputer-mediated communication (CMC)
dc.subjectmeaning-making
dc.subjectsemiotics
dc.subjectmultimodality
dc.subjecttranslanguaging
dc.subjectsurveys and interviews
dc.titleThe semantics of emojis and memes: understanding meaning- making among social media users
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
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