We begin this section with a discussion of the role of emoticons (e.g., :-) or ‘smiley face’ – a precursor to emoji) in the interpretation of text-based communication and how emoji relate to emoticons. We then discuss what we know about the consistency of interpretation for emoticons and emoji. Emoticons Emoticons, or “typographic symbols that appear sideways as resembling facial expressions,” (Walther and D’Addario 2001) such as :), have been in use in text-based communication since at least the early 1980s, with numerous studies documenting their prevalence in SMS texts (Tossell et al. 2012), blogs (Huffaker and Calvert 2006), and, more recently, Twitter (Park et al. 2013). Much research has focused on the role that emoticons can play in complementing traditional text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC). Notably, Walther and D’Addario (2001) found that while the emotional valence of text (e.g., “I am happy”) tends to be more important than any accompanying emoticons with respect to interpretation, a negative emoticon (e.g., :( “frowny face”) can significantly change the interpretation of the message. Lo (2008) provided additional evidence that emoticons affect interpretation, showing that the same text can be perceived as either happy or sad depending on which emoticon accompanies it. Derks, Fischer, and Bos (2008) concluded in a survey of emotion in CMC that emoticons largely function as non-verbal cues do in face-to-face communication. Going beyond interpretation of individual messages, Liebman and Gergle (2016) demonstrated that emoticons (along with punctuation) are important in interpersonal relationship development over text-based communication. Together, this work emphasizes the importance of emoticons in text-based communication.