1. Introduction

With the rapid development of the Internet, social media has gradually become an important platform for people to show themselves and share their daily lives. Its functions and technology are becoming more and more perfect, making communication between people more convenient. Emojis are also gaining popularity among the general public, and the number of people using them continues to grow. The origin of emoji can be traced back to 1982, when Scott Elliot Faerman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, first typed the ":-)" character on an electronic bulletin board to express the emotion of smiling, which is regarded as the first symbolic emoji in history.

With the popularity of the Internet, emojis have gradually evolved from simple characters to more complex forms such as images and even dynamic emojis. All of these forms are referred to as emoticons in this article. The use of emoticons injects emotion and vividness into text, making communication closer to people's hearts and helping text make it easier for people to understand and express their feelings. However, sending emojis can sometimes lead to misunderstandings, for example, the same emoji may be displayed in different systems with different effects due to differences between different phone systems.

This paper examines whether young people aged 15 to 25 adjust the emojis they use depending on the recipient. This research mainly seeks the answer to this question through a questionnaire survey.

2. Literature review

In recent years, emojis have played an important role in people's expression of emotions as a non-verbal communication tool to help people convey emotions and tone. Different social situations and contexts will affect people's use of emojis, and different communication purposes (humor, comfort, formal occasions) will lead to the adjustment of emojis. Young users aged 15-25 years adjusted the number, type, and tone of emojis when communicating with different recipients. There is also a difference in the use of emojis in formal work Settings versus informal personal communication. Cultural background also plays an important role in the use of emojis, especially the differences in the use of emojis in cross-cultural communication.

2.1. Emoticons and expression of emotion

Emojis play an important role in People's Daily life communication, helping people convey their emotions. [1]. Therefore, the impact of emojis and emojis on the transmission of feelings is studied, focusing on how these emojis change the emotional and social nature of text communication. At the same time, emoticons play a role in assisting emotional expression in non-face-to-face communication.

2.2. The role of emojis in social media

The role of emojis in social media is multi-faceted; it is not only a simple emotional expression tool but also affects interpersonal interaction, information transmission, brand marketing, and cultural communication on many levels. In written communication, the lack of voice and facial expressions makes it difficult to understand the emotion and tone of the message. Emoticons can help fill this void by expressing feelings and moods graphically, enhancing the emotional color of the message. As a non-linguistic element, emojis can increase the interest and affinity of interactions. [2] By creating emojis with brand characteristics, brands can improve the emotional connection with consumers and enhance the affinity and recognition of the brand. As a global communication tool, emojis can break through language barriers and promote communication between people with different cultural backgrounds. [3]

2.3. Emoticons and situational dependence of communication

Tausczik, Y. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. [4] discuss how psychological research can be conducted through online texts (including emojis and memes) and how to reveal the emotional and social interaction characteristics of users. Emojis are often a catalyst for interaction, especially on social platforms, where emojis become part of the interaction, enhancing the sense of connection and engagement between users. On social platforms, emojis are not only a tool for emotional expression but can also be used to demonstrate social identity and belonging. Vasalou, A., Joinson, A. N., Banziger, T., & Krenn, M. [5] studied the role of emojis and avatars in Internet communication, especially in expressing emotions in virtual environments. The social and cultural impact of emojis is not only reflected in their complementary role in individual emotional expression but also in how they become tools of social identity and cross-cultural communication. It plays an increasingly important role in modern digital communication and has become an important medium for global social interaction and cultural exchange.

2.4. The adaptive use of emojis in situations

The use of emoji is highly context-dependent, and its meaning and usage will change with different communicative contexts, social environments, audience characteristics, and cultural backgrounds. Situational dependence plays a key role in the socialization of emojis. Walther, J. B. and D 'Addario, K. P. [6] have studied the role of emojis in computer-mediated communication, specifically their aid in interpreting information in the absence of verbal and facial expressions. On social media, the use of emojis is very common such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok platforms encourage users to use emojis to enhance the expression of posts, attract attention, or inspire resonance. Users also often respond to comments or likes with emojis to show support or empathy. Gibbs, J. L., Ellison, N. B., & Heino, R. D. [7] discuss how emotions play a role in personal presentation and communication, especially in terms of their impact on gender and attractiveness. The use of emojis is highly dependent on different situations. Depending on the context, purpose, cultural background, platform, and audience of communication, the applicability, effectiveness, and acceptance of emojis will vary.[8]

2.5. The impact of emojis across cultures

Emojis have a strong cross-cultural communication ability, especially in the context of the rapid development of globalization and digitalization, which can not only quickly overcome language barriers but also reflect cultural differences and unique ways of social interaction.[9] Shin, J., & Woo, M.[10] discussed the differences in emoji use in cross-cultural contexts and how it is influenced by cultural norms and social values. The understanding and acceptance of memes can vary greatly between cultures. [11] Certain memes have a unique meaning or value in a particular culture.

2.6. Social recognition and influence of emojis

Emojis have evolved from a simple humor or entertainment tool to a form of communication with social recognition and influence. They not only reflect the feelings, ideas, and trends of contemporary society but also shape people's social identity to a certain extent. The social recognition and influence of memes have profound effects on multiple levels. Ishii, K., & Leung, L.[12] analyzed the role of emojis and emojis in social communication through systematic review, emphasizing their role in the construction of social identity and group interaction. Memes can help a group or cultural group build a shared identity.[13] For example, anime fans, gamers, or video fans create and use their own memes through which they express their interests and sense of cultural belonging.

2.7. Our contribution to the field

Our research will, therefore, focus on how young people between the ages of 15-and 25 adjust their use of emojis depending on the recipient. According to the known literature, emojis play an important role in People's Daily life and communication, and they are used in different ways in different online communication environments. In today's digital and social media context. As a non-verbal form of expression, the use and understanding of emojis are influenced by many factors. However, there is still a lack of research on young people in this literature, so my research is based on the investigation of this specific group and the in-depth study of the factors that affect their choice of emoji use in these groups.

My survey, which focuses on the 15-25 age group, can help us explore the communication styles of people who are highly engaged on social media. By collecting data and comprehensively surveying 110 participants, 79 of whom were within my target age group, detailed information was collected on their use of social media, common social platforms, recipients of interactions and usage preferences.

The results showed that more than half of respondents (60 percent) consciously change their emoji usage depending on who they are receiving. This is because they are affected by some factors during use. First of all, about 51 percent of the respondents believe that using memes when communicating with elders will cause communication barriers, thinking that they do not understand and will not explain clearly. Thirty-two percent and 29 percent of respondents, respectively, believe that the use of emojis causes the recipient to misunderstand and offend them. And 42 percent of young respondents follow the trend and use memes similar to their peers to fit in with the group.

In addition, my research shows how platform diversity affects emoji use by surveying respondents on multiple platforms. In the survey, I chose five commonly used platforms: TikTok, Weibo, QQ, WeChat, and Twitter. The results show that across these different platforms, young respondents agree that it is important to use emojis to communicate when using these platforms.

3. Methodology

This study used a quantitative research method to collect data by distributing questionnaires to analyze the behavior patterns and reasons for the use of different emojis by young people aged 15-25 according to different people. Quantitative research can reveal the relationship between variables through structured data and provide statistically significant conclusions. According to the research purpose and the requirement of statistical analysis, 110 valid questionnaires were collected in this study. The sampling method adopts a random sampling method to ensure that the sample is representative. I distributed the questionnaire to the target groups through social media, moments, and online platforms.

The questionnaire involves multiple aspects, not only the recipient group, but also the social media platforms frequently used by the respondents, and in-depth research is conducted by collecting detailed information about their use.

In this study, a structured questionnaire was designed and distributed via the online platform Juanxing. After data collection, I closed the collection on this online platform, obtained the data, and displayed it in the form of charts to facilitate and more intuitively present the research results.

4. Analysis and results

4.1. Demographic profile of respondents

Table 1: Demographic characteristics of respondents

Note: Percentages are within each age group.

Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the respondents and the sample survey is adopted, so the gender of the samples is random, indicating that most of the respondents in our survey are female, accounting for 60.76% and 41.16%, respectively.

4.2. Preferred social media platforms and activities

The study reveals distinct preferences in social media platform usage and activities between the younger and older age groups.

Individuals aged 15-25 predominantly use Douyin and Xiaohongshu, with 75% and 70% usage respectively. In contrast, those aged 26 and above prefer Kuaishou, with a 70% usage rate. In addition, the most common activities among the 15-25 age group are liking content (80%) and commenting using text (70%) and emojis (60%). For those aged 26 and above, liking content is also prevalent (85%), but there is a significant drop in commenting with emojis (20%).

4.3. Types of emojis usage and used with different audiences

Table 2: Frequency of emoji use with different audiences

Table 3: Types of emojis used with different audiences

Table 2 shows the frequency of using emojis for different recipients in the questionnaire. Young people are more willing to use emojis when chatting with friends (48.18%), and less willing to use emojis when chatting with family members (29.09%) and colleagues and classmates (22.73%). Table 3 shows the preferences for choosing different kinds of emojis when chatting with different recipients.

Choosing different emojis for different recipients and different communication environments reflects people's situational adaptability and social cognitive ability. People choose different emojis based on the relationship of the recipient (friends, family, colleagues/classmates) to convey the appropriate emotion. They are more likely to use exaggerated (15.24 percent), playful emojis when communicating with friends while opting for more restrained, formal (20 percent) symbols or avoiding them altogether when in formal situations or facing superiors.

Different communication environments have different cultural and social norms. The choice of appropriate symbols reflects people's sensitivity to the communication environment. In conclusion, the choice of emoji reflects people's emotional management, social cognitive ability and adaptive communication strategies in different communication situations.[14] This choice not only shows the social wisdom among people but also reflects the diverse evolution of language and symbols in the digital age.

4.4. Proportion and reasons for adjusting emoji use

Table 4: The proportion of changing the use of emoticons based on the different recipients(15-25 Age Group, n=110)

Table 4 shows whether the use of emojis changes depending on the recipient. The results showed that more than half (60%) of respondents said they would change their emoji usage depending on who they were receiving, while the remaining 40% said they would not change their emoji usage.

Table 5: Reasons for adjusting emoji use (15-25 age group, n=110)

Table 5 shows why respondents choose to use different types of emojis according to different communication objects, which are divided into seven types, such as fear that elders do not understand and explain emojis, fear of offending others, fear of being misunderstood, and adapting to the group with their peers. Sending emoticons Choosing emoticons will affect the audience's interpretation of the sender's personality and the message [15], which will affect the recipient's understanding, so young people are more careful when choosing. In formal communication (e.g., the workplace), emojis (e.g., smiley faces) can have a negative impact, reflecting the fact that people adjust their use according to the audience and context [16]. In business, academic, or other serious situations, people reduce the use of memes or choose more neutral symbols in order to maintain a professional image. However, in relaxed chatting situations, such as social media or conversations between friends, people are more willing to use personalized and humorous memes, which can better reflect the meaning they want to convey and add fun to the chat.

The respondents chose different types of emojis according to the communication objects, which reflected their situational adaptability, social cognitive ability, and emotional regulation strategies in communication. This choice not only accurately conveys emotions and attitudes but also helps maintain good social relationships and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings or conflicts.

4.5. Perceived benefits of using emojis

Table 6: Perceived benefits of emojis (15-25 age group, n=110)

Table 6 shows the benefits that come with using emojis. The majority of respondents believe that they can more accurately convey the information they want to express (75.45%) and ease the atmosphere of chat communication (68.18%). The use of emojis brings many benefits to digital communication that profoundly affect the way people communicate, express their emotions, and interact socially.

In pure text communication, the lack of intonation and expression can easily lead to misunderstanding by the recipient. Emojis can convey emotions and make up for the lack of nonverbal signals. Through emoji, communication is more vivid and intuitive, which helps to reduce misunderstanding and misreading and promotes emotional resonance. Using emojis in informal communication can create a relaxed, friendly atmosphere and help to bridge the psychological distance between two people. Emojis help people make emotional connections in digital socializing, enhancing the intimacy and sense of belonging of interactions. Emoticons are intuitive and visual and can convey rich information or context in a short time. Emojis improve communication efficiency by simplifying expression, especially for fast-paced communication scenarios (such as chat software and social media).

As a visual language, it transcends the limitations of language and culture, making cross-language communication smoother. By choosing a specific style of emojis or memes, users can personalize themselves. People use emoji to convey their personality and build and reinforce their social image. It makes it easier for people to convey true emotions in text communication and avoid the embarrassing situation of "insincerity".

The benefits of using emoji profoundly affect people's communication experiences and social relationships, making information transfer more efficient and emotional expression more accurate, while enhancing the intimacy and fun of interactions. In addition, emoji transcend cultural and language barriers to become an important communication tool in the digital age. This form of communication not only meets people's needs for emotional expression but also gradually becomes an important tool for shaping personality and social identity.

4.6. Importance of emojis on social media platforms

Table 7: Importance of emojis on social media platforms (15-25 age group, n=110)

Table 7 shows how often respondents use emojis across different social media platforms. The majority of respondents use emojis when using social media, with usage rates around 40 percent across all platforms. When communicating with people and using social media, emoji plays an important role in achieving better communication effect [17]. The frequency of using Twitter reached 44.55%, and people are more willing to use emoji to convey the information they want to express.

The use of emojis on social platforms is influenced by a variety of factors, including personal factors, social context, cultural context, and the nature of the technology platform. There are individual differences in user names on social platforms, with younger users preferring a rich variety of memes, including popular memes and Internet memes, while older users may prefer simple, traditional symbols. There are also differences according to the user's personality traits, with extroverts preferring to use exaggerated, lively emojis, while introverts are more likely to choose concise, neutral symbols. Different platforms have different levels of support for emojis. [18] WeChat supports rich dynamic emojis and customized emojis, and users often use personalized emojis. Twitter emojis are often used to enhance tone, highlight emotions, or add visual appeal. The more diverse and accessible the emojis a platform offers users, the more frequently users will use them.

Popular social media platforms motivate and guide users to use emojis through a variety of designs and features to enhance interactive experiences, increase emotional expression, and increase platform stickiness. Social media has emoji shortcut buttons next to input boxes that allow users to quickly select and insert emoji, and Weibo and Twitter support direct insertion via the emoji keyboard. The platform uses AI algorithms to predict the mood and context of user input and automatically recommend the appropriate emoji for the user. According to the current network, hot spots are to launch appropriate emojis, forming a trend of use.

Popular social media encourage users to use emoji widely through convenient tool design, personalized emoji selection, interactive feedback mechanism and popular culture guidance.[19] These designs not only improve the emotional expression and communication efficiency of users, but also increase the user engagement and interactive activity of the platform through fun and visual experiences. To sum up, the data in the table proves these conclusions.

5. Interpretation and discussion of findings

Research data shows that young people aged 15-25 use emojis as high as 43.64% when communicating with close friends, showing frequent emotional expression. However, this percentage dropped significantly to 16.36% when communicating with superiors or unfamiliar people, using more neutral and restrained symbols. Categorize the use of emojis according to the type of recipient. The table shows the "frequency of emoji use in different situations."

The study found that young people aged 15-25 use emoji more frequently and are more expressive when communicating with close friends. This phenomenon can be attributed to the emotional transmission function of emojis in informal relationships, which can increase intimacy and interest in interaction. However, when communicating with teachers or superiors, young people showed a cautious attitude, using fewer and neutral emojis to maintain a formal and professional image of communication. This reflects young people's ability to adapt their self-presentation to social situations. In the digital age, emojis have become an important tool for non-verbal communication, especially in the 15-25 age group, who have a high reliance on social expression. However, young people also showed significant 'situational adaptability', flexibly choosing emojis in front of different communication objects to meet situational expectations. This habit of differentiated use of emojis helps maintain harmony in social relationships.

This study tested the hypothesis that young people aged 15-25 adjust the type and frequency of emoji use depending on who they are communicating with. This adjustment reflects young people's sensitivity to social situations, and emojis become a tool for them to express emotions and manage relationships.

6. Conclusion

While our study offered valuable insights, it had limitations due to the small sample size and reliance on self-reported data, which can vary across time and environment. Some respondents may not have taken the survey seriously, leading to an underrepresentation of the sample. Small sample sizes limit the generalizability of findings, and while questionnaires quantify data, they need more depth. Future research should increase the sample size and diversify participants to validate results better. Combining questionnaires with in-depth interviews, using both online and offline methods, and leveraging social media can enhance data collection. Longitudinal studies could also track changes over time for a deeper understanding of long-term trends.

This study shows that emojis play an essential role in the communication practices of individuals aged 15-25. Emojis are unique visual symbol systems that enrich people's ways of communicating and reflect people's new ways of expressing emotions in the digital age. Emoticons can express emotions through simple expressions, enhance the dimension of people's communication, and shorten people's information transmission time. At the same time, it is frequently used in social media and communication. Individuals between 15 and 25 years old can quickly establish and maintain social contact in online social communication. By using memes with diverse personalities, each person can show his or her personality and cultural recognition. The conscious adjustment of emojis according to the background and situation of the audience who use emojis also affects the online behavior and interaction pattern of individuals, reflecting the increasing use of emojis in People's Daily lives in this era of digital information and globalization.