Online Gestures: Icon Use by Fan Communities on LiveJournal

This paper examines the use of icons as communication devices in persistent conversations. The paper presents findings from the author´s ethnographic study of a fan group on live journal. Analysis reveals how icons approximate physical gestures in face-to-face conversation. Icons are used as a signal for attention, for emphasis, or as acknowledgment of another party´s conversation or mood. Designers of online environments are advised to consider the potential application of icons as conversational elements in online communities and provide for greater flexibility, variety and consistency in their use.