The role of digital cues in online banter: a systematic review of adolescents’ and emerging adults’ views, uses and interpretations

Abstract

The potential ambiguity and aggression related to banter-type humorous interactions may lead to misinterpretations and escalations such as perceived bullying, especially in the online context. A way to minimise such risks during online banter is the use of digital visual cues such as emojis, emoticons, GIFs, personal photos, videos, etc. This review summarised and synthesised the literature to understand how adolescents and emerging adults perceive and interpret the role of digital visual cues in online banter/humour and how they actually use these cues in banter-type online interactions. From the 12,372 papers identified, 17 papers were included, and the relevant narrative data were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Clarke & Braun, 2021). Four themes were generated, including, (1) Digital cues are an essential part of digital banter, (2) Digital cues are ambiguous, (3) Harmful online banter containing digital cues, and (4) Personal and contextual effects. Implications and future directions are discussed.