I like the technical idea of these items, but in reality they don't really provide any added usability. In fact, I would say they take away from a message more

I like the technical idea of these items, but in reality they don't really provide any added usability. In fact, I would say they take away from a message more than a standard icon. The idea of an icon is to instantly convey a message. Adding an animation to said message on hover doesn't really add any extra 'reason'