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The overwhelming majority of my non white friends use emojis with skin tone modifiers. This emoji business is sticky. On one hand, I agree that the current way

by GuiA 9y ago

The overwhelming majority of my non white friends use emojis with skin tone modifiers. This emoji business is sticky. On one hand, I agree that the current way is not sustainable - we can’t keep adding dozens of weird concepts like POO WITH CONCERNED FACE every year. On the other hand, if you have a system whose goal is to represent humans, but certain humans feel that it can’t represent them (eg http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/18/europe/hijab-emoji-teenager/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/18/europe/hijab-emoji-teenager/in...), then you have a problem.

derefr 9y ago
Emoji aren’t meant to represent humans, though, no? They’re meant to represent body language—and it just happens to be convenient to visually depict body language using a human body. Personally, I think it was a mistake to enclose the first smiley in a circle. It turned it from a facial expression, into a head with a face. It was all skeuomorphically downhill from there.
- trowawee 9y ago
  But if they're representing body language, then they're representing the human body that's communicating the body language. When a family member had some health issues and a friend sent me a text that said "I hope they're ok, and I'll keep your family in my thoughts. :prayer-hands:", that reads (at least to me) as though that person is saying "I hope they're ok, and I'll keep your family in my thoughts. I'll be praying for you and them." The prayer hands emoji is carrying a whole sentence - which, slightly off-topic, but this is why I actually kinda love emoji - and the implication is that it's representing that person, the same way that the actual words "I'll be praying for you and them." would be symbolically representing the person saying them.
  - FreakyT 9y ago
    > The prayer hands emoji is carrying a whole sentence The funny thing is, the "prayer hands" emoji doesn't really exist in the spec -- its use is completely based on a misinterpretation of the Japanese "folded hands" gesture, which is supposed to mean "thank you".
    - GuiA 9y ago
      I find that kind of great - if possible, the meaning should allow for varied cultural interpretation. As it stands, there are many emojis that make no sense outside of Japan.

by GuiA 9y ago

derefr 9y ago

Emoji aren’t meant to represent humans, though, no? They’re meant to represent body language—and it just happens to be convenient to visually depict body language using a human body. Personally, I think it was a mistake to enclose the first smiley in a circle. It turned it from a facial expression, into a head with a face. It was all skeuomorphically downhill from there.

trowawee 9y ago
But if they're representing body language, then they're representing the human body that's communicating the body language. When a family member had some health issues and a friend sent me a text that said "I hope they're ok, and I'll keep your family in my thoughts. :prayer-hands:", that reads (at least to me) as though that person is saying "I hope they're ok, and I'll keep your family in my thoughts. I'll be praying for you and them." The prayer hands emoji is carrying a whole sentence - which, slightly off-topic, but this is why I actually kinda love emoji - and the implication is that it's representing that person, the same way that the actual words "I'll be praying for you and them." would be symbolically representing the person saying them.
- FreakyT 9y ago
  > The prayer hands emoji is carrying a whole sentence The funny thing is, the "prayer hands" emoji doesn't really exist in the spec -- its use is completely based on a misinterpretation of the Japanese "folded hands" gesture, which is supposed to mean "thank you".
  - GuiA 9y ago
    I find that kind of great - if possible, the meaning should allow for varied cultural interpretation. As it stands, there are many emojis that make no sense outside of Japan.