Penggunaan Stiker Di Aplikasi Whatsapp Dalam Komunikasi Interpersonal Dosen Fakultas Ilmu Komunikasi Universitas Islam Riau Kota Pekanbaru

Currently the most used social media is Whatsapp. Whatsapp is not only used to communicate, but whatsapp can also provide information, and can be a place of entertainment in its own right. In an era that has become more modern today, of course WhatsApp is constantly updating. One of them is adding the feature of sending messages via stickers, where users can send self-expression messages just by sending sticker messages. In this case, the researcher focuses on the lecturer of the communication science faculty in communicating using whatsapp stickers. The theory used in this research is the symbolic interaction theory proposed by George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer. This study aims to determine and analyze the use of stickers on the Whatsapp application in interpersonal communication of lecturers at the Faculty of Communication, Islamic University of Riau, Pekanbaru City. The approach to this research is qualitative. The research subjects used in the study amounted to 6 lecturers from 17 lecturers where the researcher took the subject using a purposive sampling technique. Data collection techniques are by using interviews, documentation , as well as observations. The results in this study were from 6 lecturers who used stickers showing that the basis for using whatsapp stickers was 1. To follow the flow of development, 2. Must have emotional closeness, 3. Entertaining, 4. Can represent feelings, 5. Unique or something unique. new. The results of this study indicate that it is known that the use of whatsapp stickers is considered more practical without having to type a chat that is so long, but once the chat uses text, it is considered to be the main character in the context of communication using Whatsapp