Emoji - Usage
The "Instagram-Husband-Video" leads me to the context, in which emojis are used. You only use an emoji in chats such as whatsapp, telegram, your messages on Facebook, or on other social media platforms like twitter, tumblr or the just mentioned Instagram. In certain situations, one should do anything but using an emoji. In formal emails for example. Or in all other textual formats, such as contracts, books etc. Also, when you sit in classroom and want to write a message for your neighbor while the teacher is talking, you would do anything but draw pictures of smiling or sad faces to let them now how you feel today. Emojis are only used because they are already produced. In fact, if one would have to take the pen and paint - one would rather stick to words. So the process of coming into being of the emoji-signs are completely blocked out and the usage of them is all that matters. #blackbox
Another sector where emojis are used are the public opinion polls. Quite often, next to the exit of public restrooms (in the airport for example), there is a touchscreen with three emojis: a smiling green one, an indifferent yellow one and a sad red one. This is how the company wants to get feedback, how the experience with this certain restroom was so that they can draw conclusions from that. Like fire the cleaning lady and hire a new one. If the traveling person would have to draw an emoji themselves or fill in a long document, only very few people would give their feedback. So asking them with emojis is the easiest and most efficient way of doing so.
But let’s have a brief look at related keywords, that frame the phenomenon of the emojis: digital emotions, emoticons, flood of images, globalization, cultural differences in the digital world, pictogram, new media, chat. That sums up, what I already wrote above - that you would never use an emoji in the physical world. There are so many more expressions than just one smiling face. There are the most different types of skin and not only „Pale“, „Cream White“, „Moderate Brown“, „Dark Brown“ or „Black“ - but that is how they are called in the emoji-language. How would you react, if all of a sudden, someone would take out different masks in shape of emojis to show their feelings? Or to not speak with pictures: if everyone reacts in the same way?
What I mean is, that emojis are just made for the digital world. And yet - everyone in the „real“ world understands them and uses them as well. So where does this fascination originates from? Of course, I can’t and won’t answer this question. All I think is that emojis want to underline feelings, but while doing that, they generalize them. In the digital world, everyone has to feel the same. #discrepancyoftheself
| Previous page on path | Emoji - Lara Jüres, page 2 of 4 | Next page on path |
Discussion of "Emoji - Usage"
Add your voice to this discussion.
Checking your signed in status ...