“ A picture is worth a thousand words, could a word be worth a thousand pictures? ” - Mathilde Barbier
“They are everywhere, And their number keeps growing every year. They are thought to be the universally understood shortcut for communication, But their visual nature leaves them open for interpretation.”
“They” are ….. EMOJI
I used to write letters with pen and paper and post them in an envelope with a stamp. Sometimes using the super speedy version of faxing them (!). It all changed when the email arrived in the 90’s, I gradually replaced my handwritten letters with long emails. Next, came the mobile phone. My SMSs (Short Message Service) looked more like mini emails with sentences and fully typed out words and punctuation.
Do you remember the emoticon (emotion-icon) those facial expressions made with punctuation marks:
:) smile (colon, close parenthesis)
:( sad (colon, open parenthesis)
=D excited (equal sign, capital D)
>:( angry (greater than sign, colon, open parenthesis)
They added something a little bit more personal to the messages, an emotion.
Gradually smileys showed up on the keyboard and I started picking some round yellow faces, an upgraded form of punctuation. 🙂
It felt like my messages were a little bit ‘rounder’, warmer, maybe friendlier.
Embracing the change tentatively, next thing I know, I’m hitting the emoji button freely. Some would say I am “upping up my game” but I am not so sure. As I surrender to using an emoji to acknowledge a message, it somehow feels lazy. Even a few short words such as: “Fine”, “OK”, “Thank you”, “If you say so”, “Nice one”, “Let me think” are replaced by their visual counterpart.[1]
Apparently, emoji are the new way of reading someone’s face. Sometimes I wonder:
Is this crying with laughter or just full-on crying? 😭
Why are they sending me a fart? 🏃♂️💨 … ooooh does it mean dashing off too?!
Do we need to give so many different meanings to a peach? 🍑 [2]
Emoji were meant to be a language supplement, but it seems that they are becoming a language in themselves (Did you know you can contribute by submitting an emoji proposal to add to the 3,363 options currently available? [3]).
Things can get lost in ‘translation’ and not just a cultural interpretation but also the transfer between different interfaces. EG: if you send a grinning emoji from an android device, it will land as a grimacing one on an apple device.
Well, today in the space of 1 hour I found all of them except cotton bud sticks and fishing net.
*** My dare to you this weekend ***
Change this tiny habit...
Image credit: Photo by Domingo Alvarez E on Unsplash
1. Explore your use of emoji
Do you communicate in 'emoji'?
Have you ever used an ‘emoji’ with a clear message in mind, but the recipient misinterpreted the emotion or the meaning you meant to convey?
2. Dare to change this tiny habit and refrain from using emoji for a couple of days
How does it feel?
Is it an easy habit to change?
What is your thought process when it comes to replacing the 'emoji' with words?
I went through this process last year after reading a blog post from This Too Shall Grow [4] and really enjoyed the challenge. It is time for me to do it again with you this weekend.
Enjoy choosing words that will be worth a thousand pictures (emoji) and dare to be the change you want to see in your family, community and life!
Let me know how you got on with this #dare, do share your experience in the comment section.
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References:
[1] Emojipedia
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