Benign or Toxic? Differences in Emoji Interpretation by Gender, Generation, and Emoji Type

Emoji usage, traditionally associated with playfulness and friendliness, has extended into toxic online behavior, encompassing both threatening emojis, such as the bomb 💣, and positive emojis, such as a smile 😊, used to intensify toxic content. This study investigates the extent to which different demographic groups perceive emoji use differently, including potentially toxic emoji use. Through an online survey, participants rated combinations of text and emoji on scales of friendliness, playfulness, sarcasm, passive-aggression, offensiveness, and threat. The findings reveal differences in emoji perception by gender, generation, and emoji type. Notably, non-binary individuals and Gen Z respondents perceived the emoji-containing messages as more sarcastic, passive-aggressive, and threatening. All groups reacted negatively to the bomb emoji and perceived the smiley face as friendly, but younger generations rated the smile and the thumbs up emojis as more passive-aggressive, while the fire and bomb emojis were rated more negatively by older generations. These findings have implications for the detection and moderation of toxic emoji use in online environments, as well as in legal contexts where emoji usage plays a role.