4 ms·
Emoji are inevitable because text - the basic communication medium on the Internet - is a very poor medium for conveying emotions. That's why first emoticons, a
by phoe-krk 7y ago
Emoji are inevitable because text - the basic communication medium on the Internet - is a very poor medium for conveying emotions. That's why first emoticons, and then emoji - the modern pictograms - happened.
- c3534l 7y agoWriters have relied on their words only to convey emotions for a very long time. It's only recently that we've been drawing faces next to our words instead picking good ones.
- nafeydev 7y agoWell the mobile keyboard does not allow you to express yourself in great detail.
- chiph 7y agoSo you just litter your desk with about a dozen emoji-ized keyboards like Tom Scott did (as a stunt) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AtBE9BOvvk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AtBE9BOvvk
- WilliamEdward 7y agoBecause writers invest time into using the right words especially since they're going to be published somewhere. You can surely see the difference between this and texting, which is supposed to be quick.
- phoe-krk 7y agoMost people on the Internet aren't writers, and don't want to spend long minutes of reading text to get an emotional reaction that they can get in an eyeblink by looking at an emoticon. Literary expression of emotion isn't something easily comparable to emoji.
- papito 7y agoEh, I could just write [wink], or [SAD FACE].
- LocalH 7y agoEmoji are just the evolution of that idea. They're more pleasing to look at, as well.
- papito 7y agoYeah, but now we have to think about it. "Hey, do we have a test for when someone types in an emoji into their credit card number?". Punks.
- giggles_giggles 7y agoThat's a funny example considering an input validation routine for credit cards should automatically throw out any input consisting of more than numerals and spaces. You don't need to test for Unicode or emoji when there are only 11 possibly valid characters in the input.
- LocalH 7y agoOn a tangent, I find it interesting how many people who came up during such a period of profound change as the computing revolution, still have problems with other changes.
- papito 7y agoYes, but the code that actually checks for the valid characters can bomb if Unicode blows its brains out.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- phoe-krk 7y agoThat's exactly how emoticon placeholders worked in the days of internet forums. Things like :grin:, at least in my mind, get associated with images though; the emoticons have likely already corrupted my brain enough for that to happen.
- kalleboo 7y agoI'd say text is not specifically a poor medium as much as an inefficient medium for conveying emotions. Text can convey fantastically deep and moving emotions. It just takes a more investment on part of both the author and reader than images.
- Rusky 7y agoThat's really not true. We've been drawing faces and other emoticon-like symbols next to our words long before the internet. (Think informal writing like postcards or notes.) People have illustrated their writing for even longer. (Think medieval manuscripts, as an extreme example.) Even canonically great writers don't (as a whole) limit themselves to words- they write plays that include stage directions, they write poetry that plays with layout and punctuation, they write songs that include melody and instrumental parts. It's really only some forms of formal writing that limits itself to words to convey emotions.
- krsdcbl 7y agoWriters and their targeted readers have two things that aren't present in internet communication: time and room. If i was to explain my emotional state and intent on every other message i send, chatting would become rather laborious and having a fluent conversation much much harder. Indicating that beside my contrary opinion my critique of your comment isn't a try to bluntly dismiss and educate but rather an act of wanting to partake in the conversation in a benevolent way takes me a good third of what I am writing. Or i could just :)
- ulisesrmzroche 7y agoHieroglyphics
- ken 7y agoDid people write pictograms in handwritten letters? We had a much easier capability for emoji-like pictograms in the past, but I don't recall people using it.
- phoe-krk 7y agoTo somewhat paraphrase my other comment in the thread: Most people on the Internet aren't writing personal letters, and most writing on the Internet isn't deeply personal writing from someone you know and have ane motional bond with. Deeply personal writing isn't something easily comparable to emoji, either.
- playpause 7y agoFair, but handwritten letters were much longer (because that's what made sense when the round trip time was measured in days/weeks). With multiple paragraphs you can build up a rich emotional context for whatever you're saying.
- riantogo 7y agoWhat will be next?
- phoe-krk 7y agoI don't know. Visual input has the greatest bandwidth and the least latency when it comes to transferring emotions, so pictograms are very effective when it comes to non-technical solutions. When it comes to technical ones, maybe a brain-to-brain interfaces capable of transferring emotions directly to one's mind could eventually challenge the visual interface humans have naturally.
- puranjay 7y agoI've literally had people think I was rude and arrogant because I ended my sentences with full stops.
- MrEldritch 7y agoIn informal online writing, using full stops has become an optional choice, which means that using full stops requires that you choose to do so, which means that presumably you have something to communicate by that choice. Generally speaking, using full stops is a sign that one is Very Serious; it's the textual equivalent of how, when someone is angry, they will close doors harder.
- Rusky 7y agoThat is part of a real convention in active use, influenced by the medium of text on phones and computers. People replace full stops with newlines/message breaks, and over time they start to repurpose the now-unused punctuation for emphasis. It's not surprising that new linguistic conventions cause confusion, but that doesn't make them something to deride.
- phoe-krk 7y agoRelated: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2015/dec/09/science-has-spoken-ending-a-text-with-a-full-stop-makes-you-a-monster https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2015/dec/09...