Full Paper (pdf): "Blissfully happy" or "ready to fight": Varying Interpretations of Emoji is linked to from the article. I've often been told that emoji use is essential for conveying the...
I've often been told that emoji use is essential for conveying the subtitles of intent and emotion normally lost (or at least difficult) through plain text. While it's possible for someone articulate to do so with words, at first glance they certainly seem to provide a useful shorthand to most casual conversations. Investigating further, it seems that it may add some ambiguity, with the potential for wildly differing interpretations. While the most obvious problems stem from variations on every platform, the exact same emoji graphic may be interpreted in multiple ways. That means a purely technical solution (unifying the graphics, going back to ASCI emoticons, etc.) aren't sufficient.
Regardless of emoji clarity, it's interesting how we moved away from pictograms only to slowly reintroduce them once more.
This kind of misinterpretations is why imo it's better not to use emojis with people you don't know well, unless their intent is really obvious. Even if they understand their meaning there's a...
This kind of misinterpretations is why imo it's better not to use emojis with people you don't know well, unless their intent is really obvious. Even if they understand their meaning there's a risk of sounding cheesy or over-informal depending on your relation with that person. Emojis belong in somewhat intimate conversations, where you can read their intent as you could read the other person's facial expressions face to face.
Full Paper (pdf): "Blissfully happy" or "ready to fight": Varying Interpretations of Emoji is linked to from the article.
I've often been told that emoji use is essential for conveying the subtitles of intent and emotion normally lost (or at least difficult) through plain text. While it's possible for someone articulate to do so with words, at first glance they certainly seem to provide a useful shorthand to most casual conversations. Investigating further, it seems that it may add some ambiguity, with the potential for wildly differing interpretations. While the most obvious problems stem from variations on every platform, the exact same emoji graphic may be interpreted in multiple ways. That means a purely technical solution (unifying the graphics, going back to ASCI emoticons, etc.) aren't sufficient.
Regardless of emoji clarity, it's interesting how we moved away from pictograms only to slowly reintroduce them once more.
This kind of misinterpretations is why imo it's better not to use emojis with people you don't know well, unless their intent is really obvious. Even if they understand their meaning there's a risk of sounding cheesy or over-informal depending on your relation with that person. Emojis belong in somewhat intimate conversations, where you can read their intent as you could read the other person's facial expressions face to face.
Reminds me of the style sheet that looks different in every browser from a while ago.