A quick note on emojis, emoticons, bitmojis, and smileys
What we allude to as ‘modern life’ is, in my modest opinion, an obsequious psychoanalytic fiction or make-believe realm, if you will, and in which a wide range of emojis, emoticons, and smiley faces call the shots.
These and other delightful pictorial icons are currently the new punctuation marks, symbolizing new language norms while complementing our sentiments and articulation in the umpteen messages we send every day. At times everything in life can seem hard-hitting and make-believe, but thanks to the benefit of 3,460 emojis, which allow us to express our thoughts freely, complexities like human emotion can be alleviated (or help to soften the blow). Emojis are currently the opiate of the masses (or of the socio-digitally-acquainted users).
More than just cute little pictures, emojis (of various types) have taken over the world. These modern-day hieroglyphics have become a new lingua franca (or a new body language, so to speak) of the digital age, the era we all are living in.
Mostly they come with a yellow face and a big grin and can express Anger, Shock, or Laugh rolling on the floor. Or give cadence to the expression of Lust, Smiling Face, Kick, Kiss, Punch, even doing a jolly High-Five, or just acting reverently with Folded Hands while joining both palms together doing a flawless Namaste. (Perhaps more hygienic than a handshake?). You may digitally Clap or Slap someone resoundingly (no one will complain) because it is just a harmless suggestive emoji you'd sent across! (Or you might digitally get a tight one in return!). You can share Sparkles, Red Hearts, or straightaway avoid wearing pants and create welcome distractions while working coolly from home: WFH (Work From Home), a series of emoji-esque designs debuts during this pandemic season - an emoji with a mask on! Check it out. Either make a Sad Face to reflect on life amid the deadly viral disease or tap on a Loudly Crying Face to send. The choice is, of course, yours.
I’d say, have fun freely and indulgently while it lasts. But soon, the hyperbole will wear off due to constant use, and it has already started to feel insincere. These miniature self-emotive characters that have come to inhabit your text messages and social media feeds may soon be a thing of the past, obsolete bombast. With constant internet immersion and using it hundreds of times a day, I’m afraid it will deem uncool to use them, despite being the narcotics of the digitally well-connected. (Well, to each his own.)
While I'm no chief emoji officer (CEO!) to predict the new-age unpredictable or put you off your emoji party, teens and twenty-somethings (Gen Z-ers) are crazily using an increasing number of emojis. Nearly with the result of making their messages confused and loaded with uncontrolled gunk, almost to the point of making their messages unreadable - all in the quest of having to express themselves freely and lavishly. For people of the older generation or Millennial stock, emojis are slowly, if not already have been, becoming an off-limits territory. For them, emojis used to be cool, but now not anymore.
I continue to use them. But I'm starting to use lesser and lesser because these delightfully cute yellow smiley faces end up magnifying, overstating, and overemphasising even messages that are easy to read or comprehend. These smileys and pictograms need not fill in ‘emotional cues’ in the typed messages because I do not want them to. I think from here on, using it sparingly and conscientiously is the way forward. As it turns out, the choice of words is more important than trusting in some fancy, extravagant pack of emoticons to do it for your lack of writing proficiency. And oh, the latest trend in town is the Coronavirus Emoji, and yes, it comes complete with the medical mask on! And, I confess, it really looks so cool!
The initial tech appeal has worn off, as far as I am concerned.
By Arindam Moulick