"Bitrix24" studied the impact of emojis on corporate culture

Experts from “Bitrix24” analyzed tens of millions of user reactions. They identified certain patterns between emojis and employee engagement, and compiled a ranking of the most emotionally reactive countries.

Liking in a work chat has long been used as a way to agree, approve, or acknowledge. This saves time and does not clutter the information space. But what can a “thumbs up” in a work chat say about a company’s or even a country’s mentality?

So, over three reporting months, users of “Bitrix24” portals in 104 countries used 65 million different emojis.

Regional observations show that in the Russian-speaking zone, the variety of reactions is lower than in other countries. However, other countries are also not homogeneous and have significant differences.

The top in terms of emotional diversity includes three island countries: Fiji, Bermuda, and the Philippines. In Bermuda, more different emojis are used than just likes, as in Nigeria. There are also countries where there are many reactions to messages, but low variability, which indicates a formal approach to using emojis. Among them are Japan, Iraq, and Myanmar.

“Emotional countries” are contrasted with “non-reactive” ones, where all indicators are low. Four European countries are in the top 10 of the emotional reactivity ranking: Hungary, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Portugal. And three island countries: Fiji, Bermuda, and the Philippines. Also Mongolia, Nepal, and Iraq. At the bottom are India and Saudi Arabia.

Kazakhstan also made it into the top ten of the most “non-reactive” countries, joined by its CIS neighbors: Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.

Based on the data, more religious countries can be identified. The ratio of positive and negative reactions shows two spikes: December 24 — Catholic Christmas, and January 1 — New Year. For example, in Poland, the ratio of positive reactions on Christmas is 5 times higher than usual, and almost twice as high as on New Year. In the US, the ratio is higher on New Year than on Christmas. In Vietnam, the highest level of positive reactions is on January 29, when Tet — the Vietnamese New Year — is celebrated.

On average, a user leaves 42 reactions per month, of which 35 are neutral likes, 6 are emotions of laughter or admiration, and 1 reaction will be negative. The average number of reactions per message is ~0.12, which means that to get one reaction, you need to send an average of eight messages.

On one portal, 60% of all users send messages, and only a third of them react to them. The average number of reactions to posts in channels is higher than to messages in chats.

Trends by day of the week show that the total number of positive reactions grows from the beginning of the work week to Saturday, and Monday is the most negative day: the difference in the number of positive and negative emotions is minimal. The greatest variety of reactions falls on Saturday, and the overall mood on this day is the most positive.

On weekends, users rarely use the work portal, but if they do log in, the content they read causes a greater emotional response.

In companies that have been using corporate portals for longer, the indicators of emotional engagement are higher. The share of employees using reactions is greater. This also applies to the average number of reactions per user: the general trend is also not in favor of companies that have been using portals for work relatively recently.

On the one hand, the increase in engagement over time on the platform may indicate that for some companies “Bitrix24” has become a familiar communication tool. And over time, employees begin to use the various advantages of the messenger more often. On the other hand, employee engagement can serve as a “prediction” of the company’s long-term existence: organizations with active employees, as a rule, function longer and remain users of “Bitrix24”.