Research On The Image Function Of Emoticons

In recent years,with the development of technology,expression stickers have been continuously innovated and developed in the practice and communication of people's networks,and have been widely spread around the world.They have been loved by netizens and become a topic of concern to the academic community.At present,the study of expression stickers is extensive,and the research trends are relatively clear.But in general,the research perspective is relatively single,and the focus is mostly on vulgar and spoof emoticon themes.Those with positive meaningful expression stickers are not getting the attention they deserve.We can't deny that there are certain negative impact in the expression stickers at this stage,but we can't ignore the functions and positive significance of expression stickers as a visual symbol.Therefore,based on the theory of visual semiotics and the research framework of Roland Barthes' s image layering theory,this paper divides the expression stickers into information layer and symbol layer.This study uses the methods of participant observation and text analysis to answer the following questions.What is the essence of expression stickers? As an image form,what functions does the expression sticker have? What are the limitations of the current expression stickers? What are the reasons for its limitations? "This article believes that the essence of expression stickers is a visual symbol,which is intuitive and vivid,and is a kind of perceptible information.From different expression levels,the function of expression stickers can be divided into two levels from shallow to deep: one is the shallow surface information function,and the other is the deep connotative indirect function.Specifically,the surface information function of the expression stickers is to play a subordinate role to text,substitute language expression and reshape identity;the indirect function is to broaden the expression space,establish an emotional community,and record social culture.However,at present,expression stickers are still in the development stage.Netizens have weak legal consciousness and lack of media literacy,and cyberspace governance is not perfect.Therefore,expression stickers have limitations such as unclear emotional perception and meaning interpretation,visual violence,and excessive entertainment.