11.05.2020
The power of emojis
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Here we are, in the 21st century 2020, where approximately all of our messages contain at least one emoji. These symbols have managed to become an inclusive part of our written communication and we can’t contain our curiosity regarding why this happened. But first thing’s first, let’s find out the origin of their name.
The word emoji comes from Japanese and can harshly be translated as picture writing character: 絵 (e ≅ picture) 文 (mo ≅ writing) 字 (ji ≅ character). They are a new generation of emoticons that people can use on their smart devices when communication with others. Their importance has been widely acknowledged, forcing the main technological companies to constantly come up with new, more various and more inclusive emojis.
Emojis are vital when communicating emotions via text. But why do we feel like this about them? And why do we use them so much?
Emojis help people be empathic
Researchers found out that our brain reacts to emojis and the feelings they transmit the same it would react when seeing another human being. Unlike face-to-face communication, where people share their emotions and create bonds via a phenomenon called emotional contagion, in digital communication, we need some extra help in maintaining the level of empathy high. Right here, emojis step in and help us translate our basic facial expressions in order to better communicate with others.
In other words, emojis manage to encapsulate a particular mood and present it to the person we are currently addressing.
Emojis help us keep the tone of voice as friendly as possible
Ever encountered a situation when one particular text message or e-mail you received seemed a bit austere and far from being friendly? That’s because we tend to interpret plain messages as a sign of a distancing and unsympathetic approach from the person we are talking to, when in fact this situation is far from reality. However, emojis are the most convenient solution when trying to keep the tone of voice as friendly as possible in order to offer the ones we are talking to the comfort of knowing that everything is fine.
Emojis are a good way of expressing our personality
Tell me what emojis you most frequently use so I can tell you what kind of personality you have. Because yes, our choices of emojis are easily translatable into personality traits. We adapt our usage of emojis depending on who we are talking to and what personality traits we want to put forward. Repeatedly using `Face with Tears of Joy` can indicate that you’re a funny person, who enjoys both laughing and making people laugh, while emojis such as `Smiling Face with Heart-Eyes`, `Smiling Face with Hearts` or `Face Blowing a Kiss` might indicate a more caring, loving side you choose to show to your closed ones.
How often should we use emojis in our day to day texts? And how much should we count on them when interpreting someone’s mood? This is something we can hardly put our finger on. What we do know is that we should find a balance between emoji-free and emoji-full messages, depending on the ones we are addressing to. Adapting your messages is the key to a successful act of communication.
P.S. If you are looking for online engines where you can find emojis for various operating systems, here are our top three picks: getemoji.com, emojipedia.org, and unicode.org/emoji/charts/full-emoji-list.html.
Till next time,
diARK team
