157,439,872. That’s the number of smileys
being used this very moment as you sit reading this. One balmy Tokyo afternoon,
Shigetaka Kurito sat away plodding on his computer, silently creating history.
Little did he realise that the battery of seemingly ridiculous, infantile yellow
cartoons that he was coding were soon going to be used by the world in ginormous
proportions. Emoji, as they soon came to be called, appear to be throwback to
our times of communicating through pictograms and hieroglyphics. As we sit
immersed in our little phone worlds, these surrogate faces give expression to
our emotions as we talk to each other through screens and say the most
important things via texts.
So is the Emoji only for the emotionally
stunted, the wallflowers, and the inarticulate? I think not. We all use Emoji when it’s
convenient. Research states that giving
the smiley strong completion is the heart symbol. Love is indeed blossoming everywhere.
However I strongly believe that the grinning face emoticon cannot be far behind. With its half shut eyes and sheepish grin
this little face is often used when we have said something embarrassing, when
we brag about ourselves, but don’t want to sound too boastful, when we post
mushy pictures on Facebook and dread being the object of ridicule amongst our friends. The grinning face is a face-saver, an excuse
for any action. You can text your friend that she looks like a little tomato in
that red dress, add the grin and she will probably think you’re being funny.
Truth sugar-coated as cute always works.
Emoji soften our emotions and thus been the greatest invention in recent
times, saving fights, averting miscommunication and making everything light
hearted. They are also very popular among the youth, especially while flirting
or engaging in sexual banter. Emoji-sexting maybe juvenile, but it does take
the stigma out and allows them to converse with ease, without any moral implications
hounding their minds.
Apparently more women use the Emoji than men,
corroborating the popular perception that we women are more volatile beings.
But a handful of men do find these emoticons handy especially when they want to
apologise. “Girls never seem to be satisfied with just a sorry, so I add a
string of hearts, throw in a couple of teary eyed faces and factor in the feel-
goodness,” said one of my friends. I frantically rummaged through the keyboard
to send him a middle finger emoticon.(its time we got one!). For a long time I
was probably judgemental too, labelling guys who used the Emoji excessively as effeminate.
But perhaps more than effeminate, my grouse should have been that Emoji is now
a form of escapism, a tool to hide behind the real emotions. When we have
nothing to say but want to be polite we reply with a smiley. When a friend
sends what is the 100th picture of her baby that week, and we are
mentally exhausted of using the word cute, we add a few kissing smileys and
rest in peace. Last heard, the ISIS is using the Emoji to sound warm!
The Emoji have evolved over the years into
not only a language but also a full time hobby for some people, (I am glad we
don’t know them!) who translate popular songs like Beyoncé’s ‘ Drunk in love’
and books such as the ‘Moby Dick’ into pages of these graphics. If you want to
get a detailed report on your social well-being, emojianalysis .com can do a
quite interpretation for you. Old souls
who have no clue if the two hands picture is clapping, praying or saying “Oh
god leave me alone’ can visit emojipedia.com that will educate you that its
high five.
Nevertheless the Emoji are fun, now that all
our phones are socially inclusive and offer an interesting palette to choose from,
from skin colour to sexual orientation. There are three types of kissing faces,
(denoting different relationships? Beats me.), dancing girl, funny cats, a
yummy chicken leg and even a pile of smiling poop, which I believe is a lucky
symbol for the Japanese! Well, one only hopes that these faces continue to
augment our communication and not replace words entirely!
No comments:
Post a Comment