Unveiling humour in digital discourse: the pragmatic functions of humorous stickers in Spanish WhatsApp chat groups

2.1 Interaction in WhatsApp groups

WhatsApp groups bring together individuals with common ties, whether they are family members, friends, school parents, or gym mates. These groups tend to be active and dynamic, as members usually share a lot of content which may be irrelevant in propositional or informative terms, but plays an essential role in fostering group cohesion and sociability (Cruz Moya and Sánchez Moya 2021). In fact, Maíz-Arévalo (2024) highlights that users consistently report higher levels of satisfaction when participating in group interactions, a phenomenon known as “ambient virtual co-presence” or “digital co-presence” (Yus 2022). However, it is important to acknowledge the diverse nature of WhatsApp groups. They vary greatly in size, purpose, and interaction styles – ranging from small, short-term chats among close friends or colleagues to large, long-term communities built around shared interests or professional goals. The dynamics and communication patterns in these groups are largely shaped by the relationships between members and the group’s specific objectives.

Depending on the group in question, users shape what they type in terms of content, register and typing style. Indeed, Childs (2016: 262) notes that users constantly adjust and refine their digital discourse in an effort to communicate in the way they deem most appropriate for the conversational situation. We do not express ourselves in the same way on WhatsApp as we do as on Instagram or Tinder (Méndez Santos and Linares 2022), and of course our WhatsApp conversations with a work group are very different from those with a group of lifelong friends.

This issue relates to the importance in WhatsApp groups of maintaining group cohesion and strengthening bonds of solidarity; humour has a fundamental function here in establishing affective connections. On these lines, Yus (2016) argues that humour can promote the transformation of the individual cognitive space of the parties into a mutual one by means of comical allusions to a reality that everyone knows and to which they are related or involved in some way. That is, there is a feeling of complicity and shared joy; as Yus (2017: 121) defines it, the joy of mutual manifestness.

2.2 Humour in WhatsApp groups

The desire to generate humorous effects is prevalent in everyday communicative situations, and the same is true in the digital sphere, where we encounter a wide range of innovative and creative examples of multimodal humour that combine various technologies and media^[2] (Dynel 2016). However, it is clear that it will depend on the topic of the conversation, among other variables, as to whether there is a greater or lesser number of humorous interventions. As Pérez-Sábater (2021) has noted, there will naturally be an absence of humorous messages, or these will be less frequent, when the conversation deals with emotionally sensitive issues, such as terrorist attacks, terminal illnesses, etc. Likewise, when the subject of the humour is in attendance or shares a direct connection with someone within the conversation, users are likely to refrain from using humour (Alvarado Ortega 2022). This is done to safeguard the prestige of an individual within the group.

However, in certain WhatsApp groups the conditions arise in which users generally interact and participate in the conversation with the sole intention of generating humorous effects for their interlocutors. Yus (2022) has shown how it is often the case in WhatsApp groups that one of the users decides to switch from a serious interaction to a humorous one, and that this can either be accepted or not. If it is accepted, then the tone of the interaction is generally phatic and playful, in that users cooperate to maintain and develop the humorous mode. This is related to the phases through which all humorous texts pass (Hay 2001): recognition, understanding, appreciation and agreement. The last of these, agreement, entails a continuation of the humorous mode, thus creating sustained humour (Attardo 2019).

Along these lines, Chovanec and Tsakona (2018: 6) comment that the dynamic negotiation of humour affects both its explicit manifestation plus reaction and feedback, as we will see through the use of stickers in the results section. Likewise, regarding the functions of humour in digital contexts, Yus (2016) argues that humour on WhatsApp serves to strengthen solidarity between interlocutors, among other functions. That is, it can help to create and promote social cohesion, in addition to enhancing shared knowledge. Another function is to mitigate any possible aggressive acts, since, as shown in previous research (Linares-Bernabéu 2021), humour is a rhetorical-pragmatic strategy that serves to mitigate possible damage to the participants’ face in a communicative act. Finally, the use of humour on WhatsApp also allows users to develop power relations and to reflect who can create humour, depending on the context, and who is able or authorised to appreciate and continue or extend it.

All these functions are related to the management of social relations in interaction. According to Spencer-Oatey (2000, 2007) ^[3] there are a number of social management strategies that can occur in different domains, and these will be applied in our analysis:

1. Illocutionary Domain: This pertains to the social and cultural context shaping speech acts, influenced not only by linguistic form but also by cultural norms, social expectations, and interpersonal relationships. In our study within WhatsApp conversations, factors like message asynchrony, absence of nonverbal cues, and the speaker’s public image will impact on interlocutors’ responses.

2. Participatory Domain: This focuses on the structural elements governing interactions, such as turn-taking and overlaps. Within this domain, we examine how humour is generated and reacted to, observing techniques used by participants to initiate, sustain, or end humour.

3. Stylistic Domain: This relates to linguistic choices, humorous or serious, and forms of address. In our context, it refers to the selection of stickers within a communication context, considering factors such as WhatsApp group type and the participants’ chosen register.

4. Discourse Domain: Associated with interaction organization and content, it closely ties to the previous domains. It involves aspects related to discourse structure and content, including the selection of stickers that can replace text and perform speech acts.

5. Non-verbal Domain: This encompasses non-verbal language like emoticons, emojis, and stickers on social networks, which convey emotions, attitudes, and intentions.

In this sense, the use of stickers is embedded within the non-verbal domain, and depending on the type of humorous sticker used, they can also influence other domains for the proper management of social relationships in group conversations on WhatsApp. Indeed, following the proposals of Spencer-Oatey (2007), as applied to humour in Alvarado Ortega (2023) and Sampietro (2019, 2021), we understand that interlocutors perceive a right to connect with others, that is, to feel part of the group, trying to generate empathy and respect. Hence, Spencer-Oatey (2000, 2007) has proposed a series of factors that can affect the choice of rapport management strategies:

1. Rapport orientation: comprising four aspects that affect the relationship between interlocutors, those which improve the relationship (rapport-enhancement), those which maintain it (rapport-maintenance orientation), those which neglect it (rapport-neglect orientation), and those which challenge it (rapport-neglect orientation). All of these have to do with the relationship that one seeks with interlocutors in the interaction.^[4]

2. Contextual variables: type of communicative activity, the nature of the communicative setting and the nature of the participant relations (social distance, power, belonging to the group, roles, etc.)

3. Sociopragmatic principles: related to people’s face/rapport management concerns. They effectively incorporate the three key politeness perspectives outlined by Fraser (1990): the conversational-maxim view, the face-saving view, and the conversational-contract view.

In the context of WhatsApp group interactions, communication involves contextualized acts related to politeness strategies, impacting on several domains including illocutionary acts, discourse structure, participatory dynamics, non-verbal elements (emojis, emoticons, etc.), and stylistic elements (tone, register, etc.). Stickers, in particular, significantly affect the illocutionary, participatory, and stylistic domains, contributing to the maintenance of social relationships within the group.

2.3 The co-construction of humour through stickers on WhatsApp

We can date the birth of stickers to 2011, when they began to be used in LINE, an instant messaging application commonly used in Asia (Lim 2015). Subsequently, in 2018, they were introduced onto WhatsApp as a communicative element of great potential; as Konrad et al. (2020) have noted, they have the ability to adopt a narrative form and provide information through a visual and verbal mode.^[5]

The pioneering study by Herring and Dainas (2017) represents a significant milestone in sticker research. Their seminal work emphasizes that stickers serve a demonstrative rather than symbolic function.^[6] Furthermore, it highlights the rapid generation of stickers, which provides users with a diverse array of options to express their emotions, moods, and actions. Following previous research by Yus (2021: 189), stickers can be defined as images which have been cropped for use, larger than emoticons and emojis, can carry text or be animated, and can be sent in isolation or in thematic sets on instant messaging applications and social networks. They are generally used to show emotions, feelings, thoughts and ideas. In addition, they can be organized into customized thematic galleries by users themselves, who often employ their own creativity to create them. Certain stickers come to be forwarded repeatedly, thus becoming popular and generating specific meanings within a community.

2.3.1 Types of stickers

As we have previously noted, online communication favours a mixture of styles, registers and genres (Baron 2011) due to its multimodal nature. Stickers are a clear example of this, since they are created in a bespoke way, according to specific communicative needs, using photographs, texts, videos and even customizable avatars of ourselves for the means of self-representation, as well as for the expression of emotions and speech acts. There is in fact great variety of types:

1. Text (puns, jokes, etc.)

2. Hybrid, combining the visual mode (image/video) with text

3. Image (icons)

4. Gifs (moving images)

Some of these stickers complement each other, creating a combined meaning that only makes sense and communicates its message successfully if used in combination.

Likewise, their characterization as humorous is not always determined by their content, since while some are humorous per se, that is, they contain an element of humorous incongruity, on other occasions users can strategically use stickers with a humorous purpose even when these stickers are not inherently humorous. It should be noted here that stickers may evoke a whole range of emotions beyond the humorous effect, such as tenderness, love or joy, or, on the contrary, negative emotions such a disgust, shame or fright. Let us look at an example of each of these:

On the one hand, as we will see below, there are humorous stickers per se, since the incongruity that arises between the image (A cat is sitting on top of a stuffed unicorn, playfully treating the unicorn as if it were a living creature) and the text (vamos Luis, ‘come on, Luis’) requires the interlocutor to resolve the incongruity as being humorous (Figure 1):

Figure 1:

A humorous sticker.

Figure 2:

A sticker with a comic context-dependent function.

On the other hand, some stickers only act as a mark of humour; that is, they are not in themselves humorous, but can serve as clues to reinforce a humorous mode or act in certain contexts. This is seen in the following example (Figure 2), in which two archetypically mature ladies high-five to show complicity.

Finally, as we have noted, not all stickers need to be humorous or to help in inferring the humorous intention of the speaker. Some, as we will see below, simply fulfil specific communicative functions (ese sí sabe lo que habla, ‘that one (guy) does know what he’s talking about’) or show feelings (Figure 3).

Figure 3:

A non-humorous sticker.

4.1 Mitigate threatening acts

Humorous stickers have the potential to alleviate inherently aggressive forms of communication, such as face-threatening acts as defined by Brown and Levinson (1987). These acts may include criticism, reprimands, or the delivery of directives, as discussed by Dynel (2017). This tone modification, identified by Herring and Dainas (2017) as a major function of emojis, is similarly observed in stickers, as illustrated in the following example.

In (1) an interlocutor admits that he has eaten an ice-cream wafer while acting as a judge, which involves counting the repetitions of participants during CrossFit Games training:

(1)

In (1) we observe that one interlocutor (speaker 6) admits that he was eating at the same time as counting repetitions, and another (speaker 3) acknowledges what he is saying with the statement “yes yes with his mouth full … Let’s go … One more rep”, which emulates a direct style. Next, the person for whom he was counting the repetitions enters the conversation using a sticker, with the text “naughty little girl”. This sticker is addressed to the person who was eating and serves to convey that, although it did not seem right that he was eating at the time, this other person is not angry. In this context, the text on the sticker, “niñita traviesa” (naughty little girl), could be face-threatening on its own. However, the juxtaposition of the SpongeBob image mitigates the potential face-threatening act (FTA). The combination of the text and image softens the interaction, reducing the perceived offence and signalling humorous intent. In this regard, we observe a reflection of both the illocutionary and stylistic aspects, as the user conveys their emotions in a humorous manner. Additionally, we see indications of the participatory and discursive dimensions, as the speaker employs strategies aimed at nurturing and enhancing the relationship between the interlocutors.

4.2 Attack the interlocutor’s face

Another function of the stickers that we find in our corpus is to attack the interlocutor in order to establish links with the conversational group. In the following sequence (2), one participant in the group asks if someone can lend him the official box shirt and another suggests that he buy it:

(2)

In (2) we see how one of the members of the group makes a direct attack on the image of the participant who has borrowed the shirt, and qualifies them as “JETA” (‘cheeky’, colloquial) in capital letters, thus intensifying the attack. This act of threatening the image of the other participant is mitigated with consecutive stickers: one used by the same person who carried out the attack, without text but with a humorous image in which a man smirks wryly, this serving to mitigate his initial message; and another, used by one of the owners of the CrossFit box, which alludes explicitly to the humorous intention of the first sticker, with the text “it’s a joke, but if you like it’s not a joke”. This second sticker derives its comic character from the direct depiction of Tom from Tom and Jerry, since Tom appears using a colloquial use of written language (kieres instead of the standard Spanish quieres, ‘(you) like’).

In addition, we observe how there is now a return to the serious theme so as not to damage the image of the participant in question (“someone else with doubts about their entry? I’m now working overtime here”). We can observe in this sequence that the illocutionary and stylistic domains are involved, since the user selects the sticker in that communicative context to decrease the illocutionary force of the message; the participatory and discourse domains are also activated, in that other participants now collaborate in the continuity of the humorous mode. This serves to avoid any possible damage to the social face of the participant requesting the shirt.

In these first two examples, users employ stickers to mitigate the attack on the interlocutor’s face in a humorous way, and thus ensure that their intention is correctly understood. On the other hand, as we noted in 2.2 and 2.3, another of the functional uses of stickers is to replace text with multimodal content, as we will see in (3), below.

4.3 Project feelings and emotions

In this example, the coach tells the athletes not to forget to pack the box shirt for the trip they’re going to make to Madrid for the announcement of the WOD (workout of the day) 23.1 of the CrossFit Games:

(3)

In (3) we observe that all the participants of the sequence introduce a sticker to show that they have understood what the coach has asked them, some with text (“tamo ready”), others with static images, and others with moving images. In the first one there is a typographic reproduction of the colloquial Spanish ‘tamos’ -shortening for ‘estamos’, “we are”, mixed with the English word “ready”; the second one shows two girls on the beach with drinks; in the third we see a Yeti in a bikini, and the fourth shows a girl with a haughty gesture. All of these contribute to and continue the humorous mode, which begins with a participant saying “ouhh yeahhh! done!!”, and extends over four interventions with stickers that reinforce that idea. In this way no threat is made to the public image of any participant, and there is a joint endeavour to show emotion and to co-construct humour. In this sense, we see how the speakers show a willingness to develop and maintain the interaction towards the co-construction of the humorous effect, and that they add comicality to the discourse through successive sticker use. The use of stickers here falls within the illocutionary and stylistic domains, in that the illocutionary force of the first participant is reinforced; and it also effects the discourse and participatory domains, insofar as participants show group union through their feelings.

4.4 Forge group identity and cohesion

Effective humorous outcomes underscore the presence of commonly held assumptions pertaining to broader aspects of their lives and shared social context, thereby nurturing a sense of cohesion and belonging within the group (Yus 2023). In (6), for example, several interlocutors talk about the members of a Brazilian CrossFit box that came second in the world ranking of number of participants, directly behind their own group:

(4)

As we can see, successful humorous interactions rely on assumed mutuality of information among the interactants. In particular, in (4) two stickers appear accompanied by verbal content, the first with the image of a bottle of pills (“hard truths to swallow”), which alludes to the fact that it is true that they have beaten the Brazilians and the second with the image of a child with a proud face (“because that’s how we are the successful ones”), which is a response to a previous intervention in which the user said that he did not see any Brazilians. In this case the target of the humour is a group of people absent from the conversation, the Brazilians, so the humorous mode is continued, because no threat is being made to the image of any of the current participants. Indeed, it is evident that the group is using aggressive humour (targeting Brazilians as the outgroup) to foster affiliation within the ingroup. Thus, the use of stickers in this context not only forges a sense of group identity but also employs orientation strategies to enhance the relationship between interlocutors. Consequently, the illocutionary domain becomes evident as expressive speech acts come into play when showing a collective boastful attitude. Additionally, how the discourse is shaped also plays a part in the humorous outcome of the conversation, as reference is made to both the content and structure of the communication with the different replies to the first intervention “I didn’t see any Brazilians”. Lastly, the stylistic and participatory domains are actively engaged, fostering relationships of solidarity within the group. Overall, the use of stickers in this setting has a multi-faceted impact, strengthening social bonds, and enriching the communicative experience.

4.5 Represent a speech act

Most stickers that contain verbal content convey a specific speech act that replaces written text, as we see in (5), where several friends talk about Jose, present in the conversation, who has not made much of an effort in training that day:

(5)

In (5) one of the participants uses a statement to reproach Jose, employing the phraseological unit “Va Jose que hoy has ido a medio gas” (‘going at half-speed today’, lit. go at half-gas), which serves as a hook for the rest of the interlocutors to continue the humorous mode. Thus, the other participants introduce transcribed laughter and stickers with verbal content (“you’ve realised that too, haven’t you?” and “why would I tell you no, if it is yes”), these expressions being typical of the Spanish comedian José Mota, and thus represent speech acts, in this case directive and assertive ones, respectively. Hence, propositional content is added to the conversation, the ties between participants are strengthened, and there is no threat to Jose’s image. So, in this example orientation strategies serve to maintain and improve the relationship between participants, and touch on various domains: illocutionary, participatory, stylistic and discourse.

4.6 Increase or decrease the illocutionary force of the message

As we have already said, stickers can function in the illocutionary domain and can modify the tone of the message. In (6) several participants are waiting for the trainer to upload the table of exercises they must do in wod 23.2:

(6)

In (6) there is a conversation about what training they should do in the coming days, and one of the participants introduces a message (“it must be some specific movement, not previous wod”), followed by a sticker with verbal content (“What nerves (I have)!”) and with visual-humorous content, this alluding to a specific gesture of offline human reality, that of tightening one’s buttocks when tense or nervous. Thus, the use of this sticker increases the illocutionary force of the previous message and emphasises that there is expectation about knowing the content of the training. The sticker causes a humorous effect in the conversation, as reflected in the reaction of the laughter emoji introduced by another participant. The introduction of the humorous sticker per-se has a significant impact on various aspects of social dynamics. Notably, it influences the illocutionary and stylistic domains by augmenting the communicative effect through the use of visual imagery. Additionally, it actively engages the participatory and discourse domains, fostering a stronger sense of group cohesion by leveraging the potent force of humour. Thus, the introduction of this seemingly simple sticker transcends its surface appeal and becomes a potent tool for enhancing social management across multiple dimensions.

4.7 Reinforce the image of the interlocutor

Another of the predominant functions of stickers in our corpus is to reinforce the image of the interlocutor. In (7) several participants watch a video about one of them training:

(7)

In (7) the participants react to the uploaded video showing one of them lifting weights. They respond with emojis which show encouragement, strength and complicity, and one sticker combines visual and verbal modes to generate an example of humorous incongruity (the image of a handmade card and the text “Card of a crack (expert)”). The use of these two resources reinforces the image of the interlocutor in a humorous way, since they are praising his progress and highlighting his qualities. Consequently, this sequence involves five distinct domains: illocutionary and stylistic, which work in tandem to heighten the impact of the message; participatory and discourse, both contributing to enhancing interpersonal relationships; and non-verbal, which further enriches the overall communication. The integration of these domains culminates in the maintenance of group cohesion, fostering a harmonious and interconnected social environment. By leveraging the power of these diverse elements, the collective experience is enriched, promoting a stronger sense of unity and understanding among the participants.

4.8 Show originality and creativity

The final function that was observed in our corpus has to do with creativity and originality in the use of stickers. In (8) all participants have seen the training table in the wod ad and are in shock:

(8)

In (8) each of the participants who intervenes uses a sticker to show surprise and amazement at the training they must undergo that week. This sequence has four stickers, three of which contain funny images of children, one face down on a swing and another with a scared face swimming, and a cartoon, Kermit the frog, throwing himself into a void. As we can see, all of these are comic images used to depict the feelings of the participant in question. The other sticker that appears here has both image and text: we see the well-known bullfighter Ortega Cano along with the text “give me a whisky cake, without cake, and with two ice cubes”. It mixes irony and humour and wordplay based on alcohol-related problems that Ortega Cano has faced, with which participants are likely to be familiar. For the understanding of these two stickers (featuring Kermit the frog and Ortega Cano) shared knowledge is required to be able to correctly interpret the message and thus infer the humorous intention behind it. This sequence, then, illustrates the creativity and originality of the participants in terms of expressing their feelings while also exploiting the use of shared knowledge.

Through strategic sticker usage, non-verbal expression becomes a canvas for creativity and subtlety, conveying messages that strengthen social connections and reinforce the group’s sense of unity. Consequently, the interplay between these diverse domains not only enhances the overall communication experience but also ensures long-lasting harmony and solidarity among the participants.