A Digital Socio-Psycholinguistic Impacts of Whatsapp Emojis on Interpersonal Communication among Selected Nigerian Undergraduates in Ikenne Remo Local

Abstract

Abstract

This study investigates the socio-psycholinguistic impacts of emoji usage on interpersonal communication among Nigerian undergraduates in Ikenne Remo Local Government, Ogun State, on WhatsApp. The research integrates a mixed-method design and a quantitative survey data from 55 students with qualitative thematic analysis anchored in Vygotsky's Socio-Cultural Theory of Cognitive Development and Social Information Processing Theory. The findings in this paper reveal that emojis function as digital paralanguage and compensate for absent non-verbal cues by enhancing clarity and conveying emotional nuances efficiently. The results indicate that 65.4% of respondents associate emojis with laughter, while 52.7% report that they facilitate emotional expression, thereby underscoring their role in affective communication and emotional contagion. Furthermore, 58.2% agree that emojis foster shared understanding and in-group identity. This demonstrates their function as cultural tools for social bonding. However, only 41.8% perceive emojis as affective in reducing social anxiety. This suggests that their role is more expressive than therapeutic. The study concludes that emojis are multifunctional socio-psycholinguistic tools essential to interpersonal dynamics within Nigerian digital youth culture, and recommends their informed integration into digital communicative practices.