Number of Posts: 30
Posts 21 - 30
Emoji diversity: how 'silly little faces' can make a big difference
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 7.11.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | diversity, emojis, research/study
Summary | San Francisco hosted the first Emojicon conference, where people could participate in different sessions (e.g Emoji karaoke, translation of songs into emojis, emoji spellcasting, etc.). Emojis are everywhere and users feel attached to them. They were even considered as art (they joined the MoMa in New York). However, the rise of emoji has led to cultural problems; people want emojis to represent the world's diversity. A researcher wanted to find out why the first emojis were not diverse. She said that the first emojis actually aligned with the belief that technology is neutral.
Image Description | Photograph of two smartphone with emojis on their screen, photograph of the emojibator next to an emoji pillow, image of the original set of 176 emojis, and set of emoji faces in different skin colors
Image Tags | emojis
Rifle emoji blocked from phones 'after pressure from Apple'
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 20.6.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis
Summary | New emojis will be released in 2017, but the rifle emoji won't be one of them. The rifle emoji was proposed in order to represent winter sports, but Apple decided not to include it. People are confused because the available set of emojis already includes violent ones: gun, knife, and bomb.
Image Description | N/A
Google is killing off Android's emoji blobs
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 23.5.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | diversity, emojis, Google
Summary | Google are changing their indiosyncratic emoji blobs into more conventional round, more humanoid emojis. Part of the reason may be the Unicode Consortium has begun introducing skin and hair color options for more diversity. This way, emojis are becoming more humanoid and less abstract. Google is following suit so as to ensure maximum emotional compatibility between smartphone operation systems.
Image Description | Evolutions of emojis in Android from Emojipedia.
Image Tags | emojis
When things are so bad you have no words, don’t reach for an emoji
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 13.10.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis, word/writing
Summary | Some people didn't like the fact that the newspaper USA Today decided to add a little emoji next to one of its editions' front-page stories. The author of this Guardian article thinks that it was inappropriate to use a crying face emoji next to a story about an American hero who was stabbed. Many people use emojis to add context to their messages and to show some emotion. However, emojis are also limited. The author claims that they work well with positive statements, but not with negative ones. This is due to their "inherent ridiculousness". Finally, the author is not worried about the future of words, but she wants to warn people and tell them that if they can't find the right words, it's better not to say anything rather that using an emoji.
Image Description | Screenshot of the front page of USA Today, screenshot of a tweet about the front page, and series of five yellow-face emojis.
Image Tags | emojis, newspaper, Twitter
Emoji invasion: the end of language as we know it :/
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 25.6.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat, misunderstanding
Summary | Emojis are spreading rapidly and are becoming a new language. It has become hard to differentiate between verbal and written communication. Emojis have become popular because they allow people to express things they would normally express through body language. Text messages can be misunderstood, so adding an emoji at the end of a text can clarify it. Is this new virtual language replacing real language? The author of the article claims that it is not. Language is always changing and evolving.
Image Description | Photograph of an emoji typewriter.
Image Tags | emojis, typewriter
The rise and rise of emoji social networks
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 12.9.2014
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat, social media, word/writing
Summary | The end of the word is close; three social media want to introduce 100% emoji conversations. Emojicate was the first network that tried to revolutionize our communication. Emojili is the real leader in terms of all-emoji network. The app creators state that Emojili started as a joke. Nowadays, more apps are image-oriented (e.g. focused on photo-sharing), and even Instagram posts are largely emojified.
Image Description | Image of an emoji.
Image Tags | emojis
Adults who use emoji should grow up
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 18.6.2014
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis, youth
Summary | Emojis are not the most interesting Internet invention, according to the author. Next to memes for examples, they are quite unimaginative. Also, the use of emojis by adults seems to mirror their refusal to grow up. They have important decisions to make in order to shape a bright future for the next generations.
Image Description | Image of a winking face emoji.
Image Tags | emojis
Emoji: the first truly global language?
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 31.8.2014
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | diversity, emojis, word/writing
Summary | The author of the article explains how sometimes sending an emoji can convey more than words, in just one click. Emojis have come a long way since their origin, and today one of the major concerns about emojis is diversity. The authors claims that if we're building a new language, we want to include everyone and everything. Emojis are also being used in other contexts (e.g. video clip, book). Words can express a lot but they can also create misunderstandings; emojis can thus be a way of freeing oneself from the limitations of language.
Image Description | Digital image representing different emojis.
Image Tags | emojis
Emoji is dragging us back to the dark ages – and all we can do is smile
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 27.5.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat
Summary | The fact that the new "emoji language" is expanding fast is viewed as a return to the dark ages. According to the author of the article, humanity is going downhill with this new visual language. Young people seem to prefer using emojis rather than words to express themselves (according to a survey). The author claims that images limit people's expression compared to words which are more adaptable. He also compares emojis with hieroglyphics and the Egyptian civilization.
Image Description | Two digital images representing different sets of emojis, and photograph of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Image Tags | emojis, hieroglyphics
:) them or :( them, emojis make our messages feel more like us
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 14.6.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat
Summary | Some people are happy about the new 'emojify' feature that Apple offers, and some people don't like it and think that future generations won't be able to understand the English language. Famous cognitivist Stephen Pinker argues in favor of such communicative features; people adapt their language to the medium they use. If people text or tweet, it doesn't mean they won't be able to communicate in other ways; the same holds true for emojis. Emojis are useful to convey information that is hard to transmit via text (e.g. tone of voice, facial expressions). Having representative emojis (e.g. different skin colors) is also important since they help construct users' identity. Some people are not totally happy with the set of emojis offered now; they still convey certain ideologies and norms (e.g. about gender).
Image Description | Photograph of a woman in a room full of emojis; she has a big 'smiling face with sunglasses emoji' on her head.
Image Tags | emojis, female(s)
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