In addition, emoticons can act as a "joint code" for the same circle or intergenerational group. Professor Peng Lan, a new media scholar, once wrote: Expression packs can be used as labels to distinguish generations and groups. The more intimate or like-minded people talk, the more concrete and vivid the expression pack will be, which also explains why the lower level uses less expression packs for the upper level or the lower level for the elders. It's like the old people don't know how young people dance disco, and young people don't know how old people dance square dance. Different groups have their own communication codes and cultural symbols.
The expression packs used by young people are often funny, sarcastic or playful, while the expression packs for middle-aged and elderly people are famous for their quietness, peace and positive energy, which also leads to the cognitive differences of different generations on the same expression. For example, middle-aged and elderly people generally think that the "smile" expression in WeChat is a happy smile, while young people think that it is a fake smile with ridicule and high cold feeling, because it looks like expressions such as "sadness" and "goodbye" and looks like a smile after emotional depression.
As a network subculture, Yan characters also represent young people's pursuit of trendy lifestyles. Emoji packs do not exist in isolation, and they are often closely related to current social hotspots or online buzzwords. For example, the recent popular "Inner Volume", "Lie flat", "emo" and "yyds" have all been made into humorous expression packs, which to some extent reflects the attitude of young people towards life. Network technology empowers young people, and every netizen can participate in the production and sharing of Yan characters. This kind of graphic symbol with subculture attribute dispels serious discourse to some extent. For example, many college students have had the experience of photographing the teacher's lecture attitude and making it into an expression pack. Sending teachers' facial expressions in the course WeChat group can not only enliven the atmosphere of the virtual community, but also narrow the distance between teachers and students.
However, when we embrace Yan characters, we can't ignore the power of language. Because the content and decoding process of Yan Wen Zi are irrational and uncertain, it is easy to cause misunderstandings and deviations in the communication between the two sides. Whether it is still pictures or video clips, Yan characters can only be regarded as a shallow and fragmented expression, which is an auxiliary means of network interpersonal communication and cannot replace the profound thoughts and true feelings in language or text communication. After all, the real purpose of interpersonal communication is to better realize the spiritual connection between the two sides.