Number of Posts: 17
Posts 11 - 17
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
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
How good is your grammar? Take the quiz
Newspaper | The Independent
Date | 16.2.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | childhood, grammar, language threat, research/study, school, texting, threat, youth
Summary | According to a study, texting can have a bad impact on young people's use of grammar. The results show that the more people text, the lower their score on the test was. There is also a correlation between the use of adaptations (e.g. gr8 for great) and a lower score. If parents text their kids with a lot of adaptations, the kids will probably imitate their parents.
Image Description | Photograph of a page of a dictionary where the word "grammar" is in sharp focus.
Image Tags | dictionary
GIF Rapt
Newspaper | The Independent
Date | 6.4.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | GIFs, language threat, smartphone, threat
Summary | According to the author of the article, GIFs are becoming a new language. We don't need words to communicate; in today's society, people prefer sending short clips. Why are GIFs so popular? Smartphones may be the reason. We don't use smartphones to think and spend too much time reading/writing long texts. We use them to get to the point, and GIFs are convenient if we want to communicate quickly. People don't need words anymore; they can type a word and choose the relevant GIFs they want to attach to their messages. Every generation considers each new medium as a threat to humanity (e.g. writing, TV, Twitter, etc.). Still, the author claims that we seem to be heading towards a word-less culture.
Image Description | N/A
Want your texts to appear sincere? DON’T use punctuation: Researchers say full stops make messages appear less trustworthy
Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 8.12.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | language threat, punctuation, research/study, spelling, texting
Summary | A study revealed that text messages that end with a period are considered as less sincere. In text messages, people use punctuation and emoticons to convey emotions and social cues. Also, the language of text messages has a serious impact on the English language. New words (e.g. LOL) have been added to the dictionary, people don't use hyphens anymore due to laziness, deep thoughts and ideas are summed up in 140 characters, and our smartphones correct our spelling so we don't have to learn how to spell words.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman using her phone.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone
:) 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)
Page 2 of 2
Back | Next