Emojis, Chats, and Things In-Between

From a social networking sites user

Have you ever been misunderstood because you used an emoji?

Image source: 123RF

A friend and I arranged for a meeting via a phone call. We haven't met each other for some time. WhatsApp, Facebook, and the likes did not serve the conversations we had.

Face-to-face, we discussed several issues; about living, thriving, emojis, social media, among other issues.  We discussed to considerable depth the utility of emojis; assessing their capacity to represent expressions inexpressible with words; and if they are used accurately such that they tell exactly what the user expresses when using them. Like do you really LOL when you use this: 😂?

Rethinking the conversation, I made a post on my WhatsApp status. The post👇

A reply to the post fascinated me. It was from an advocate for inclusion of people with special needs, specifically the deaf, in every role and setting in society. The emoji I used to end the post meant something different to me compared to what the advocate says it is. How much more do I stand to be misunderstood? That unveiled an opportunity to learn further.

The point: There is intentionality behind every feature in our phones, from emojis to AI cams, and every thing else that is a product of the human mind.

This could be a call to reconsider your usage of your phone features; by being a bit more sensitive in regards to what they were intended for. An emoji creates an impression. And you don't want to create a wrong one😬

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On the founding of emoji: Wikipedia