Cross-Cultural Emotional Polarity Comparison of Emoji on Chinese and English Social Media in the Context of the World Cup

Abstract

In the age of digital communication, emojis function not only as affective cues but also as socially enregistered symbols shaped by cultural context and platform affordances. Drawing on enregisterment theory, this study explores how emojis acquire emotional and symbolic meaning across Chinese (Weibo) and Western (Twitter) social media platforms during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Using a corpus of over 488,000 posts, the study applies sentiment polarity analysis and a function-based emoji categorization framework to compare emotional expression patterns. Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) and mean polarity comparisons reveal distinct emotional intensities and symbolic trajectories between platforms: Weibo users exhibit more direct and affect-rich emoji usage. In contrast, Twitter users adopt a more restrained and metaphorical style. The findings demonstrate that emoji enregisterment is co-constructed by cultural emotional norms and technological mediation. This research contributes to the sociolinguistic understanding of digital symbols, offering new insights into the evolving role of emojis in global cross-platform communication.