Emojis as Instruments of Social Care: Exploring Their Role in Promoting Religious Tolerance on YouTube

While social design has traditionally been associated with social responsibility, its scope now encompasses community development and broader social transformation. A key aspect of this evolution is the establishment of ‘spaces of care’ or ‘tolerance’ through design-based participatory co-creation methods. However, these spaces remain limited in their effectiveness unless they directly address various forms of intolerance, particularly religious intolerance. As social media, particularly YouTube’s comment sections, have become a primary platform for the expression of religious intolerance, with discussions often escalating into inflammatory exchanges, there is a pressing need to develop tools that foster religious tolerance in digital environments. Recent research indicates that positive emojis can significantly reduce hostility and promote reconciliation during religious discussions in the comment sections. When used strategically, emojis can help soften hostile interactions, offering users tools for reconciliation and dialogue. This paper explores the potential of emojis as tools for promoting social care on social media, with a particular focus on promoting religious tolerance in comment sections and facilitating respectful religious discussions within online communities.