📷 Citizen Emoji
Aim: To document the non-digital use of emoji through public collection of artifacts from around the world.
Date: launched January 2, 2025 (ongoing)
🐦 Birding Emojis in Digital Writing Related to Ornithology
Aim: To explore emoji use by birding associations in their digital communication
Program: Research Opportunity Program at UTM
Co-Investigator: Dr. Sanja Hinic-Frlog
Undergraduate Student Researchers: Sharleen Bains, Kanupreet Arora
Date: Fall 2025
✍️ Exploring Student Writing about Emoji
Aim: To understand students’ perceptions of emoji rhetoric, their writing development, and their awareness of writing transfer
Graduate Student Research Assistant: Nicole Skrepnek
Date: 2025-2026
👩🏻🏫 Emojis in Teaching and Learning
Aim: To systematically review the literature about emoji use in teaching and learning in higher education
Undergraduate Student Research Assistant: Alya Ruken
Dissemination: Paper submitted for publication
Date: Summer 2025
🤑 Emoji Use in Brand Communication: A Case Study of Luxury Companies
Aim: To explore emoji use by brands in digital communication and the alignment – or lack thereof – between brands and their followers
Program: Scholars in Residence Program at the University of Toronto
Undergraduate Student Research Assistants: Sophie Conrad, Xinlin Huang, Hexuan Ma, Johanna Tan, Karin Wu
Dissemination: Poster presented at the SiR Research Colloquium; Research presented to social media team at Hermès headquarters, Paris, France
Date: May 2025
🏈 The Use of Emoji on X During the 2024 Super Bowl
Aim: To explore the use of emoji (type, frequency, sentiment, function) on X during the 2024 super bowl
Program: Research Opportunity Program at UTM
Undergraduate Student Researchers: Massimo Bozzo, Alya Ruken, Sacha Samouk, Lucas Zuzak
Dissemination: Poster presented at the Summer Undergraduate Research Fair (SURF), 2024
Date: Spring/Summer 2024