In this digitized age of speed and communication, the modern individual prefers short and concise messages, refrains from long messages, and even balks at the thought of reading lengthy texts. Our attention is now directed toward the use of symbols as shortcuts for text. Today we are experiencing the age of interaction rather than of communication, and the individuals of this age who think and talk digitally have a completely new common language in which to express themselves: emoji.

Emoji have become an essential part of our daily lives as a way of symbolizing emotions in our communication. These symbols, some of which are regarded as part of a global language, vary across countries in terms of meaning, use, and frequency. This is because the meanings conveyed by symbols reflect the shared values of an individual’s society; the meaning of the same emoji in one society may not be the same as it is in another (İnceoğlu, 2011).

The Theory of Interaction describes a ‘sociology of symbols’. Symbols make it possible for individuals to communicate, understand, and interact with each other in a society. The emergence of a variety of images during this period may result in an increase in the number of symbols. Because cultural identity is an essential element of both individuals and society, it is impossible to consider them independently of each other. Symbols and the meanings generated from them provide a continuity of interaction. “The most significant feature of the theory of symbolic interaction is assisting individuals in expressing themselves within their social environment” (Solomon, 1983, p. 320). Given the fact that a human has the ability to interact socially from the moment of birth, and that the most crucial problem of this digital age and the culture it generates is to create swifter interaction using symbols, we can surely predict that emoji will become even more commonplace. The potential of emoji to create a global language, along with their unlimited accessibility and popularity, make further academic discussions worthwhile.

Emoji are increasingly becoming a global language in daily digital communications. By reminding others of their existence using their own unique emoji, countries are beginning to make a distinctive contribution to digital communication. In fact, a set of country-themed emoji specific to Finland has been created and published with the support of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Finland now has 30 identity-specific images to use in digital communication. These include a couple relaxing in a sauna, an iconic Nokia cellphone, and a passionate heavy metal music fan (Uygun, 2015). 

In Turkey, four out of five people now use emoji in their communication (“Türk insanı hangi emojileri kullanıyor?”, 2015). Taking this into consideration, one may question the lack of symbols which accurately reflect Turkish values on emoji keyboards. Cultural symbols are rarely portrayed in the world of emoji. The goal of this study is to assess the demand for “emojification” of Turkish cultural symbols and determine the appropriate symbols to use in cultural interaction in Turkey. The data was gathered from a sample of 1001 participants through quantitative questionnaires, and was analyzed using a general scanning model. The majority of participants (91.8%) stated they would like localized symbols to be included on Turkish emoji keyboards. The most requested localized cultural symbols for Turkey were tea glasses (68.5%), raki (58.8%), Turkish coffee glasses/coffee-fortune-telling (55.9%), the evil eye talisman (51.3%), and simit (45.9%). As no previous research on this subject was found in Turkey, this study may prove valuable in allowing these symbols to represent national Turkish qualities to the global market and may also be important in the field of national representation and branding. People who are aware of emoji and frequently use them in daily texting or messaging were included in the sampling, and researchers made contact with 1001 participants via their Facebook networks, so they were able to contact a network of networks.

Gender distribution among the participants was 64.5% (646) females and 35.5% (355) males. The participants’ education levels showed that a clear majority of the participants was made up of undergraduates/graduates (58.1%) and postgraduates (37.5%). Students/graduates of secondary/high school (4.1%) and of primary school (0.3%) were among the minority. 

The cities with the highest rates of participation in emoji use are İstanbul (28.4%), Eskişehir (27.1%), Ankara (14.2%), İzmir (7.1%), Bursa (3.8%), and Antalya (2.6%). Participation by both national and international communities included 53 Turkish cities and 20 cities from other countries.

The distribution of participants by age group is as follows: the highest participation level (31.7%) was found among ages 25–31; next was 28.2% for ages 32–38; 14.3% for those aged 18–24, and finally 13.2% for ages 39–45. Participation in groups from ages 46–54 (8.7%), 55+ (3.8%) and under the age of 18 (0.2%) was significantly lower than the other age groups.

The majority of participants (91.8%) stated they would like local Turkish symbols to be included on emoji keyboards. The most requested localized cultural symbols for Turkey were tea glasses (68.5%), raki (58.8%), Turkish coffee glasses/coffeefortune-telling (55.9%), the evil eye talisman (51.3%), and simit (45.9%).

11.4% of participants indicated that their suggestions were not represented in the list by marking the ‘other’ choice. In the event that an ‘other’ answer was stated at least 5 times, it was included in the list. As a result, these additional 114 answers were added to the list, including: Bhosphorus Bridge (1.3%), Atatürk (1%), Maiden’s Tower (0.9%), Turkish delight (0.9%), prayer beads (0.8%), crests of sports clubs (0.6%) and Galata Tower (0.5%). Symbols mentioned fewer than 5 times were not included in the analysis.

It is unlikely that emoji can be created to represent everything in our culture. Global brands have the opportunity to instantly express themselves to other countries using emoji as a global language, and they can connect with the cultural spirits of other countries by taking a particular country’s local values into consideration, and therefore touch the feelings of its people. Because consumers react favorably to symbolic meaning more than functionality, this response meets both cultural and emotional needs.

It is impossible to think of a global brand that doesn’t successfully build a cultural interaction with the societies in which it does business. While cultural interchange arises from a number of local values and symbols in global markets, it also leads to a cultural convergence. It is obvious that a platform such as an emoji keyboard that addresses the global market and increases the number of characters available daily due to demand has been able to achieve growth owing to local symbols. Emoji use succeeds at converging cultures entertainingly and deliberately, and this simply reflects an extrapolation of our digital communication culture. “Globalization is a process that incorporates localities into its scope without destroying them” (Taylan & Arklan, 2008, p. 88). Since the emoji keyboard is on the way to transforming into another platform that can globalize local cultural symbols, its use provides an opportunity to create symbols of our own country in order to promote our Turkish values and symbols to other markets.

As no previous research on this subject was found in Turkish literature, this study may prove valuable in allowing these symbols to represent national Turkish qualities to the global market and may also be important in the field of national representation and branding.