In Defense of Emojis

In Defense of Emojis

April 27, 2017

An emoji with a smile.

Greetings, denizens of the Internet! I got into a conversation earlier this week about emojis. Namely, my fiancé said they made him feel less credible and he was trying to cut back on them. I know quite a few people who feel similarly, as though shortening words or dropping faces into your text somehow makes you less professional in everyday conversation.

While I can respect his choice to cut back, I don’t feel the need to join him. Language is a constantly evolving thing, and primarily we use it to communicate. The reason we even have grammar and spelling in the first place is for clarity. Contractions came about for convenience’s sake, and in that same vein, we obtained the humble emoji.

Once upon a time back in the ’90s, people started using the young colon parenthesis combo as a shorthand to signal their pleasure in text messages and through instant messengers. These were originally done sideways, so the user had to tilt the head to see them. : )

But in Japan they created a style that could be read directly without having to do that. ^_^b These are called kaomojis, and on top of being convenient, they are totally cute.

Emoticon is a portmanteau of the words ‘emotion’ and ‘icon,’ and kaomoji roughly translates to ‘face letters.’ When you put the two together, you get emojis. Fireball! (>^_^)> === 3

A set of emoticons from Puck Magazine, 1881; credit: Wikipedia

Now these aren’t new by any stretch. The modern versions we use today are direct descendants of ASCII Art, which is an art style using text characters to create a picture. In fact, you can even find examples of emoticons and ASCII that date back to the 1800s. And I will acknowledge, none of that sweet, sweet history really defends using them in everyday conversation. After all, there were tons of things they used to say and do in the 1800s that just wouldn’t be kosher today.

Let’s look at it this way. The way language evolves is for clarity and convenience, so doesn’t it just make sense that it would evolve further when used online? Stop me if you’ve heard this one: You’re online talking to one of your friends and you say something that you think is totally innocuous, but then they get upset at you because they read it in a tone you didn’t intend. Emojis are really good for stopping that from happening.

As a matter of fact, I would go as far as to say they are just as important to most of my online correspondences as the actual words we are typing to one another. So much of our communication is done through cues that are not specifically spelled out in words, even without the facial tone and body language we have face to face.

For example, if my girl LynZ logs in and starts talking to me and is making it a point to use proper punctuation, I know something is wrong. And it’s not her grammar. Her typing style changes depending on how she’s feeling, and these stylistic differences are effective replacements for a frown or folded arms.

If she says “XD” after she’s posted something, then I know she’s joking. If one of us throws up a “TT^TT” (that’s dramatic crying face for those of you who don’t use it), we know we’re exaggerating our intense feelings at that moment, even though the air between us is still mostly lighthearted.

A lot of the older ladies and gents I know still use ellipses (…) to mark that they’re not sure what to say next and are trailing off, but bar none, all of my friends that are my own age use them strictly when they’re hesitant or upset about something. That lapse of communication has caused many a misunderstanding between generations. Neither of us are wrong, we’re just miscommunicating like every generation has with the one that came before it since the dawn of time.

Online communication and text messaging are not replacements for face to face conversations. Far from it. But they do outline a completely different way of communicating with those around us. These aren’t cues that we have to read too far into to understand. When you spend enough time looking at someone’s words, reading between the lines of their text becomes second nature. It’s as telling as a real smile, or a fake one.

I’m not ashamed to admit I use emojis. I use them to sooth my friends’ nerves and I use them to punctuate my points. I think they’re cute. I’d even go as far as to say they’re necessary much of the time, at the very least in casual conversation with friends.

By the way, just because text-based communication isn’t a replacement for face to face doesn’t invalidate it. Some of my online friendships are the deepest and most meaningful ones I have in my life, and most of that back and forth is done online. It’s valid, and its own thing, and it’s not making us less social. I am talking to so many people that I never would have met otherwise because of the Internet. That is an amazing thing!

Perhaps we will never reach the point where it will be acceptable to drop a “>8D” in our term paper (it’s an evil grin, again, for those of you who don’t subscribe to the way of the emoji), but think about how many things you would say to those around you when you’re just shooting the breeze that you would never say in a professional setting. I bet there are a ton of examples.

I don’t feel like it kills my credibility. I feel like it’s just another way to get your point across, and in a text-based medium where you can’t fall back on things like tone and expression, it’s extremely important that other cues come in to fill that void. Again. Language is convenience and clarity.

It’s obvious right away that emojis are convenient, and that isn’t enough for a lot of people, but look at how much they can be used to clarify. I’ll never fault you for giving me a smiley to let me know you’re not angry when you’ve said something a little iffy and want to leave no doubt that you’re joking. In fact, I appreciate it. And that is why I’ll never stop. 😉

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