1.Introduction

IAs a Chinese term, “emoticons” refers to the use of images to express human emotions. Emoticons have become a popular culture after the rise of social software. With the rapid development of the Internet and social media, internet emoticons have become a commonly used tool for people in online communication due to their simplicity, vividness, and intuitiveness, making it easy to convey emotions and express opinions. Therefore, internet emoticons have been widely used in online communication. The influence of internet emoticons extends beyond personal emotional expression and communication, and also affects various aspects of social culture and political discourse [1]. The widespread dissemination of internet emoticons has had a significant impact on internet culture. As a unique form of visual language, emoticons create a unique way of expression through the combination of images and text, and have rich cultural connotations and emotional expressions. The widespread dissemination of internet emoticons promotes the integration and inheritance of diverse cultures, enriching the content of internet culture. However, the dissemination of internet emoticons has also brought about some social issues. This study aims to explore the impact of the dissemination of internet emoticons and the social issues derived from it from the perspective of new media, and propose corresponding countermeasures. In the dissemination process of internet emoticons, there are phenomena such as information distortion, emotional misunderstanding, and abuse for amusement. Some emoticons may contain insulting, discriminatory, vulgar, or malicious content, seriously affecting the quality and moral bottom line of online communication. In order to address the problems brought about by the dissemination of internet emoticons, this study will focus on exploring the characteristics and development reasons of internet emoticons, the positive and negative impacts in the dissemination process, as well as the dissemination strategies of internet emoticons. The author hopes to make a certain contribution to this field and provide important reference and reference value for the impact and countermeasures of the dissemination of internet emoticons from the perspective of new media [2].

2.The Features and Development of Internet Memes

2.1.Characteristics of Internet Emoticons

Firstly, uniqueness. Internet memes often have unique appearances and designs that make them visually striking. They can be characters, animals, objects, or symbols with distinctive features, or they can be photos, animations, or illustrations presented in a specific way. Secondly, rich expressions. Internet emoticons convey a wide range of emotions and feelings through different facial expressions and actions. These expressions can include joy, excitement, sadness, anger, helplessness, confusion, and so on. Internet emoticons often accurately capture specific emotions and become a way for people to express their feelings online. In addition, humor and irony. Internet memes often convey information in a humorous and ironic way. They may include witty text, funny images or actions, or be presented in a sarcastic or exaggerated manner, eliciting resonance or laughter from people. In addition, plasticity and expressiveness. Internet memes have a certain degree of plasticity and expressiveness, which allows them to adapt flexibly to different situations and topics. They can be applied in various internet chat, social media platforms, online forums, and other occasions, helping users to interact and communicate better with others. Finally, popularity and trendiness. Internet memes often have the characteristics of popularity and trendiness, and are frequently widely used and shared. Some popular internet memes quickly spread on social media and become a common way of expression for everyone. In general, internet memes are a medium for expressing emotions and information in the form of images or animations. They possess characteristics such as uniqueness, rich expressions, humor and irony, malleability, and popularity. They have become an indispensable part of internet culture, enhancing people’s ability to express themselves and convey emotions in online communication [3].

2.2.Reasons for the Development of Internet Memes

Firstly, the popularity of social media. With the rise of social media, people have started to engage in extensive communication and expression on virtual platforms. Words alone cannot fully convey emotions, and internet memes, in the form of images, provide more ways of expression, enabling better conveyance of emotions and enriching conversation content. Secondly, fast-paced information dissemination. In the Internet era, information spreads at a very fast pace, and people hope to quickly understand and respond to information. Internet memes are usually able to express complex emotions and meanings with concise images, making information more intuitive and quickly conveyed. Then, humor and entertainment. Internet memes often appear in exaggerated and humorous images, which can bring a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. People like to use memes in their daily social interactions to ridicule and express their feelings, adding some entertainment value [4].

Then, cross-cultural communication. Internet memes often express emotions and meanings in a concise and clear manner, sometimes without being limited by language and culture. This allows internet memes to transcend language and cultural barriers and become a universal form of expression worldwide. Finally, creativity and personal expression. The number and diversity of internet memes are vast, allowing people to choose and use them according to their needs and preferences. They have become a way of personal expression, helping users better convey their emotions and attitudes. In conclusion, the development of internet memes is due to the popularity of social media, fast-paced information dissemination, humor and entertainment, cross-cultural communication, as well as the demand for creativity and personal expression. These reasons have collectively driven the popularity and development of internet memes.

3.The Impact of Internet Memes and Suggestions for Countermeasures

3.1.The Influence of Internet Memes

3.1.1.Positive Impact of Internet Memes

Internet memes play an important role in today’s social media and internet culture, and they have many positive impacts. By enhancing the fun and expressive capabilities of social media and online interactions, internet memes promote effective communication and facilitate positive social and emotional experiences.

(1) Expressing emotions: Internet emoticons help people express complex emotions in a relaxed and fun way. Sometimes words are not enough to convey true feelings, but emoticons can use images and animated short films to convey emotions, helping people share their feelings more accurately and enhance communication effectiveness.

(2) Promoting humor and entertainment: Internet memes are often presented in a humorous, exaggerated, or ironic way, triggering laughter and entertainment. They bring a relaxed and fun atmosphere to social media platforms and online chats, allowing people to enjoy the humor and fun of internet culture.

(3) Cultural expression and sharing: Internet memes have become a trend in media and people’s sharing. They can convey specific cultural phenomena, memes, events, etc. through images and short videos, helping people grasp current hot topics and quickly spread them globally. This helps promote communication and understanding between different cultures.

(4) Social interaction: Internet memes play an important role in online interactions. People often use memes as a way to respond, comment, and express their opinions on social media platforms. They can enhance the fun and liveliness of social interactions, making people more willing to engage and share their thoughts.

(5) Creating personalized images: By using internet emojis, people can customize and shape their own personalized images. Emojis often represent personal preferences, emotions, and attitudes, allowing individuals to choose emojis that align with their style to showcase their personality and identity.

Overall, online emoticons enhance the fun and expressive power of social media and online interactions, promote communication and effectiveness, and bring positive social and emotional experiences.

3.1.2.Negative Impact of Internet Memes

(1) Language communication becomes unclear: Internet emoticons often use images or animations to express emotions and attitudes, but they often cannot completely replace text, especially in complex or formal communication situations. Over-reliance on emoticons can lead to inaccurate information transmission, misunderstandings, and ambiguities.

(2) Reduce social skills: The widespread use of internet emojis may lead people to rely on emojis and reduce direct face-to-face communication. This may result in the degradation of social skills, making it difficult for people to express their emotions and intentions in actual social interactions.

(3) Difficult to express complex emotions: Emojis are a simplified and condensed form of expression that cannot capture the complexity of human emotions and experiences. When people try to use emojis to express complex emotions, they may not be able to accurately convey their feelings, resulting in communication difficulties [5].

(4) Privacy infringement and bullying issues: The widespread dissemination of emojis may lead to unauthorized use and modification of personal photos or images, and may even become targets of malicious defamation, harassment, or bullying. This may have a negative impact on individuals’ privacy and mental health [6].

(5) Discriminatory and derogatory use: The use of some internet memes may contain inappropriate content such as racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and body image degradation. This kind of usage not only leads to conflicts and hatred, but also exacerbates social inequality.

In conclusion, although internet memes have a certain positive effect in making people more relaxed, humorous, and interactive, excessive reliance and inappropriate use may have negative consequences, affecting the quality of interpersonal communication and social interaction. Therefore, when using internet memes, netizens should pay attention to appropriate usage scenarios and strengthen face-to-face communication and expression skills [7].

3.2.Network Emoji Package Dissemination Strategy

3.2.1.Network Platform Monitoring

Monitoring and dissemination of internet memes is a relatively complex process that involves monitoring and analyzing online platforms. Monitoring online platforms: The monitoring of internet memes first requires attention to major social media platforms such as Weibo, WeChat, QQ, Instagram, etc. Monitoring can be achieved through data scraping, using APIs, or relevant tools. Keyword and feature extraction: Through natural language processing and image processing techniques, keywords and features are extracted from the monitored data. These features may include the text description of the meme, image content, tags, likes, shares, etc. Data analysis and filtering: The extracted data is analyzed, and machine learning algorithms and models can be used to detect and filter out non-meme content to reduce false positives and noise. Recognition and classification: Content that meets the characteristics of memes is recognized and classified using image recognition algorithms, text analysis models, and other technologies for automated processing. Cross-platform tracking: For disseminated memes, analyzing the data’s reposting relationships and user information can track the spread path and influence of memes across different platforms. Data visualization and reporting: The monitored data is organized into visual reports, analyzing the trends and audience characteristics of internet memes, and generating relevant charts and data displays.

Through the above steps, the monitoring and dissemination of internet memes can be effectively controlled on online platforms. It should be noted that this process may change due to the privacy policies and algorithm adjustments of different platforms, so continuous technological updates and compliance management are also necessary [8].

3.2.2.Strengthening Internet Users’ Discernment Awareness

Internet memes are a type of image symbol with specific meanings that are widely spread through social media, messaging apps, and other platforms. They express emotions and viewpoints in forms such as humor, exaggeration, and irony, and have become a part of internet culture. However, as internet memes spread rapidly, it becomes particularly important to enhance netizens’ discernment. The meaning of internet memes often relies on context to be accurately understood. The same meme can have different meanings due to different contexts, requiring netizens to possess discerning abilities. Netizens lacking discernment may misunderstand the meaning of memes, leading to unnecessary misunderstandings and communication barriers. Some memes may contain offensive or discriminatory content. Despite their widespread use on the internet, the underlying meanings of memes can have negative impacts. Strengthening netizens’ discernment can help them better judge whether memes are offensive or discriminatory, and avoid causing controversy or hurting others’ feelings when using them. Enhancing netizens’ discernment also helps prevent the misuse of internet memes. Sometimes, people may intentionally alter the meaning of memes for malicious purposes. Netizens should learn to distinguish between authenticity and falsehood to avoid being deceived or involved in negative online behaviors. To enhance netizens’ discernment, the following measures can be taken: providing interpretation guides and educational materials about memes to guide netizens in understanding their meanings correctly; urging social media platforms to provide more accurate explanations and tagging functions for memes to help users understand their meanings accurately; strengthening internet literacy education to cultivate netizens’ discerning abilities and judgment.

In conclusion, the dissemination of internet memes requires internet users to enhance their discernment. By improving their ability to distinguish, preventing misunderstandings and offenses, avoiding misuse and deception, internet users can better enjoy the fun of internet memes and maintain a healthy online communication environment [9].

3.2.3.Actively Promoting Positive Energy Emoji Pack

Internet memes are an important part of today’s social media culture. Initially used as tools for expressing emotions, they have now evolved into a popular means of communication. However, the content of memes can sometimes carry negative or pessimistic elements. In order to spread positive energy, the internet promotes the following types of positive memes.

(1) Encouragement and support: Choose emojis that can encourage and support others. For example, a friendly hug, applause, or a smiling face can convey recognition for someone’s efforts and success, and increase positive energy.

(2) Motivation and optimism: Choose emojis that can motivate and bring optimism. For example, a thumbs-up or a triumphant smiling face can convey positive energy and encourage others to maintain a positive mindset.

(3) Friendliness and mutual assistance: Choose emoticons that convey friendliness and mutual assistance. For example, a gesture of helping others or a smiling face that shares happiness can convey the spirit of mutual assistance and unity, calling on people to cultivate a positive social culture together.

(4) Humor and Relaxation: Choose humorous and light-hearted emoticons to bring joy and relaxation to people. Avoid using emoticons that are offensive, insulting, or hurtful to others’ feelings, and ensure the transmission of positive humor and happiness.

(5) Encourage growth and confidence: Choose emoticons that encourage personal growth and confidence. For example, an emoticon that bravely faces difficulties or shows success at the end can convey a message of firm belief and positive attitude to others [10].

By promoting these positive energy emoticons, netizens spread positive values and attitudes in social media and online communication, enhancing people’s emotions and mental health, while building a friendly, warm, and supportive online community.

4.Conclusions

In the era of new media, internet memes, as a popular form of communication, are widely spread and used on social media platforms. Through research, it has been found that internet memes have a wide impact on society during the dissemination process. By analyzing their positive and negative effects, communication strategies can be summarized to continuously optimize the online environment and user experience.

The spread of internet memes has influenced people’s communication methods and language expression. Memes are usually able to express emotions and meanings in a concise and intuitive way, making information transmission more vivid and interesting. In online communication, people prefer to use memes instead of text to express themselves, thus shortening the length of textual communication and improving dissemination efficiency. At the same time, internet memes also promote the development and inheritance of internet culture. As a special language symbol system, memes have gradually formed a unique internet culture and community culture over time. People use memes for identity recognition and social interaction, forming a special form of online socialization and sense of community.

However, the spread of internet memes also has some negative impacts. On one hand, excessive use of memes may lead to a degradation of textual expression and thinking ability, and even hinder social interaction. On the other hand, the creation, reposting, and dissemination of internet memes often involve copyright and ethical issues, which can easily trigger copyright disputes and conflicts of values.

To address these issues, some measures should be taken to regulate the dissemination of internet memes. For example, by monitoring online platforms and continuously strengthening netizens’ awareness of discrimination, as well as actively promoting positive energy expression packs, people can promote the diversity and healthy development of online culture. Overall, as a new media communication method, internet memes have had a profound impact on society. While fully leveraging their positive effects, internet users should also recognize their potential negative influences and take corresponding measures to guide and regulate their dissemination. Only in this way can we better promote the development of internet culture and achieve a healthy interaction between society and new media. This article has not yet adopted the case study method to investigate the impact of a specific set of emojis in terms of limitations. Future scholars may pay more attention to case study method, etc.