All hail emoji! :-O
What struck me most in this unit was the idea that somehow language skills (writing and reading) were at risk because of the ‘breakout of the visual’. Maybe we’re not far enough into this new wave of communication where we mix short forms, emoticons and now emojis, but I do not think that our ability to read and write is in trouble. In fact, I’d be more likely to agree that it is enhancing our ability to do both.
In my classroom, I rarely ever see short forms transfer into more formal writing. Today’s students seem to be good at knowing when, where and how to use language appropriately. When they give speeches and oral presentations, they do not use short forms. They use short forms where they are required like on Twitter with the character limit (which is apparently being phased out) or in text messages back and forth (quick! The teacher is looking; I have to get my message to you in as few words as possible!). Maybe my room is the exception, but there is no discernible difference in the quality or quantity of their writing because of short forms.
Regardless of my own personal experience, many articles recently suggest there is something to explore respecting the effects of short forms and emoticons/emoji. In her article “How using emoji makes us less emotional”, Alice Robb points out several interesting facts. There is a difference with usage of emoji based upon gender, geography and age. She goes on to suggest that the usage of emoji and emoticons is actually not new and is essentially very similar to early pictographs and hieroglyphics; even to the point of asking, “Could the rise of emoji mean we’re going backward?”
A New York Times writer seems very reluctant to embrace the use of emojis as he deems them ‘childish’. In his blog post “The Rise of Emoji on Instagram Is Causing Language Repercussions”, Mike Isaac laments over the rise of the emoji, yet he cites an engineer at Instagram who relishes the idea that, “It is a rare privilege to observe the rise of a new language. Emoji are becoming a valid and near-universal method of expression in all languages.” Perhaps the rising wave of emoji is unstoppable.
This is very evident as some studies point to a near saturation point where 76% of Americans admitted to using an emoji in digital communications at work (Lam). But, why are people using them? “People tend to use emoticons when there’s some kind of what linguists call a face threat—something kind of awkward or potentially offensive, or somebody could take something the wrong way.” In other words, they are useful as in many forms of digital communication, tone is absent.
My final thought is a perplexing one as there have been studies examining the popularity of emoji use around the world. Maybe it’s that I don’t use them on a regular basis, but for some reason, Canadians love the smiling poop emoji the most (NPR). Americans tend to use food related ones the most (a reflection of the level of obesity, perhaps?). Overall, however, the most commonly used ones are the happy faces.
In the end, the rise of usage of these visual elements into our modes of communication do not pose a threat to reading and writing. I believe they enhance it as they can add tone to an otherwise toneless environment. I just don’t get the poop appeal, but then again, maybe I’m not supposed to.
Works Cited
Bolter, J. David. “The Breakout of the Visual.” Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. New York: Routledge, 2011. 47-76. Print.
“Canadians Love Poop, Americans Love Pizza: How Emojis Fare Worldwide.” NPR. NPR, 27 Apr. 2015. Web. 27 July 2015.
Isaac, Mike. “The Rise of Emoji on Instagram Is Causing Language Repercussions.” Bits The Rise of Emoji on Instagram Is Causing Language Repercussions Comments. New York Times, 01 May 2015. Web. 27 July 2015.
Lam, Bourree. “Why Emoji Are Suddenly Acceptable at Work.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 15 May 2015. Web. 27 July 2015.
Otis, Dimitri. Emojis Keyboard. Digital image. CNBC. Getty Images, 24 June 2015. Web. 27 July 2015.
Robb, Alice. “How Using Emoji Makes Us Less Emotional.” The New Republic. N.p., 7 July 2014. Web. 27 July 2015.
“Twitter Axes Dick and 140 Character Limit between Friends.” Euronews. N.p., 12 July 2015. Web. 27 July 2015.
Great points Jody! I also do not get the poop one, but assumed it was a male thing! Lol!
I feel that the visual has become much more important in so much of our lives (television, posters, photography). It may appear to be a step backward as visuals were so important before the advent of written language, but I don’t feel it is a regression, but agree with your comment that “they add tone to an otherwise toneless environment.” Emoticons often replace facial expressions that are used in face-to-face conversations to help understand the intention of what is being said.
Huang, Yen and Zhang (2008) conducted a study to see how emoticons affected perceived information richness, perceived usefulness of messaging, the level of personal interaction and the level enjoyment. They concluded the following:
1. Emoticons speed up communication, eliminate some difficulty in expressing feelings using words, and are easy, interactive, fun, aesthetically pleasing, funny and sarcastic.
2. When a communication process is enjoyable, it is used more often and so increases interaction with people.
3. Those who used more emoticons perceived instant messaging as richer and so they were able to convey more in less time.
With these advantages, emoticons can’t be all bad! I think the key to ensuring that they do not carry over into more formal text is teaching students that there is a time and place for such things. In many cultures, dialect speech causes the use of many oral sayings that are not appropriate for scholarly, written work or oral presentations. As teachers, we discuss with students that we don’t always write the way we speak. We need to also teach that we do not write the way we text.
Huang, A.H., Yen, D.C., & Zhang, X. (2008). Exploring the potential effects of emoticons. Information and Management, 45, 466-473.
Hi Jody,
I think there is a place for the emoticon, as so much communication between people now takes place electronically. Have you ever seen two people sitting together in a restaurant simultaneously texting to each other? Crazy, isn’t it?
It is difficult to “read” emotion from the tone of certain texts. Personally, I never had given much serious consideration to the emoji being a serious communication tool. However, just today, this interesting little news item popped up on my BBC twitter feed.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33738770?ocid=socialflow_twitter
It’s a story about “Russia, who ‘may ban gay emojis’ under ‘propaganda’ law”…
Who knew? I guess Russia takes emojis a lot more seriously than I have!
And as an interesting side note, your choice of the emoji visual really stood out in my memory, because when I read the twitter feed, I immediately remembered your post.
Cheers,
Sandra
Hey Jody,
I appreciate your thoughts on how emoji may or may not be affecting written language. It’s definitely the most prominent language across the world today as it’s even popping up in work and business correspondence.
My group actually decided to take this exact thought farther as our topic for Assignment 4 and explore the history, uses, and research findings that support ‘text talk’ and emoji and the research that states that it is detrimental.
emoji = emotion
Overall, I would agree that the positive effects of emoji in particular far outweigh the negative effects. Written text, especially text that is conversational, is known for its ambiguity and lack of emotion. Writers either have to choose their words carefully to illustrate a certain emotion, or else the reader is left to interpret the words on their own, sometimes with a vast misunderstanding of the intended emotion. The use of emoji allows the writer to insert an image that more accurately conveys the intended emotion so the reader is not required to do the interpreting.
In terms of text talk, I have read the odd piece of writing by my students that includes text talk, shorthand, and unconventional abbreviations, but for the most part students understand the time and place in which this type of language is to be used. My concern is that the odd student that does use the shorthand language uses it consistently and without the knowledge of the proper use of language for an academic piece of writing. Just last year a co-worker and I were having a conversation on this subject in particular and she shared an anonymous piece of writing, just to illustrate our point, that was submitted as a final piece of writing by one of her students that was written using ‘u’ instead of ‘you’ and other shorthands.
One article we looked at suggested that the use of this type of language creates a great opportunity for educators to create learning experiences surrounding the type of language to use in certain situations. Tomaszweski (2011) claims that although text talk is showing up in formal writing, it can still be fixed. Teachers can use the different types of technologies to educate students how and when to use proper grammar and spelling, and the instances (ex. Twitter) in which to use shorthand in order to convey a message with a limited amount of characters.
If you’re interested, here’s the link to our Assignment 4 looking at SMS (text talk) as a new language: http://textingetec540.weebly.com
Emily
References
Tomaszweski, J. (2011). Do texting and “cyber slang” harm students’ writing skills? Education World. Retrieved August 1, 2015 from http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/arcives/texting_impacts_student-writing.shtml
HI. Thanks for your response. I will definitely check out your final project.
I agree with you that most students do not transfer their “social media” writing to their formal writing in class, yet I have had parents write me emails and have they have used short forms such as “u” in their messages. I think that since most individuals send messages vis their mobiles, we will see an in crease in text speak in work and school messages.
I am a huge fan of emojis, when I message friends and I am often made fun of because of my extensive emoji use. I see them as a fun way to express yourself and often bombard my recipients with an “emoji parade”. There are just some emotions that can be easily expressed through those yellow (and now brown, thank you Apple for recognizing people of colour).
Emoji use is also culturally sensitive, in the United Arab Emirates you can be jailed for using the new middle finger emoji that is coming in a few months. Since using the middle finger is illegal in everyday life, authorities have extended that to emoji use, criminal defence lawyer Abdullah Yousef Al Nasi says that, “ending a middle finger emoji on a smartphone or even sending a middle finger picture through email can put you in trouble.” Most people think that because they are behind a computer of cell phone that they are immune to getting into trouble when using insults via social media button the UAE they are not.
I, like you do not think that emoji are a threat to reading and writing, in fact many of my students communicate with me through whatsapp and many of them cannot write what they want to say so they use emojis instead.
Using Middle Finger Emoji in UAE Could Land You in Court. (2015, May 18). 7 Days (Dubai, United Arab Emirates). Retrieved August 5, 2015, from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-414116640.html?