Writers Life | Emoji Worldview

My world seems to have been infiltrated by emoji.

You know, the little ‘faces’ that provide visual expression to our written words. I admit to being an avid user of these little pictures. And now, a sudden conversation and controversy about these little add-in’s has exploded into my world.

Maybe I’m noticing emoji more because there are so many life, death, war, and freedom issues facing us. Everything is serious and full-on. But hiding amongst the heaviness of world and society, the ‘faces’ consistently before me are smiley 🙂, smirked 😒, sunglasses 😎, flushed 😳 and even poo 💩.

Yes, ‘Poo’ is an emoji. How this little brown guy can be utilized in written conversation is beyond my imagination, but I have noticed his presence in a television advertisement selling debt reduction. Mr Poo emoji is shown while the voiceover promises to ‘flush away’ debt stress. The first time I saw it, it was hilarious in a cringeworthy way, but now the advertisement runs every second commercial break, and it’s disturbing. Even Mr. Poo’s cute little raised eyeballs are too much to handle.

I finally had a break from this running advertisement when my son, Tully, decided to see The Emoji Movie. Yes, there is a movie about these little guys. I’m assured the movie versions have arms, legs, and bodies, not just big round yellow heads.

Tully’s child critique of the movie is that it is great fun, and has a poignant message of good triumphing over evil. Since seeing it, he and his mate have spoken in length about the main characters. My world, yet again, is full of emoji.

Then a debate over emoji use flooded social media. A study outlined the potential for damage when using Emoji in business dealings. It was argued that it’s hard to take someone seriously when they insert a poo with eyes into a business letter. I concede this is a valid point.

On the other hand, former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is well known for her widespread and constant use of emoji. She even became the first ‘human emoji’ by answering a question put to her by a breakfast show host in emoji. I believe the attention she attracted has actually helped her profile as a politician, rather than hindering it. If you would like a giggle check it out here:
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/julie-bishop-answers-thermomix-question-by-becoming-human-emoji-20150225-13o42z.html

Another anti-emoji crusader made the claim that emoji are nothing but a lazy person’s way of communicating. Instead, we should be teaching our children vocabulary and wordsmithing skills, not relying on these easy-go-to expressions of emotion.

I admit this argument also made a good point. What was better, to say; The joy of my heart can be witnessed in the broad smile that spread across my face. Or, ☺? The latter, while effective, does seem to be the easy way out . . . especially for a writer.

I also noted that the Bible, the greatest expression of all human and spiritual emotion, can be understood without any picture references. Then I remembered how every old church we visited in Europe was ornately decorated, both inside and out, with picture messages and stories from the Bible. It wasn’t that long ago in human history that the majority of the population was illiterate, so pictures and carvings were a vital and reliable form of communicating the stories of the Bible and the message of Jesus.

Looking back on my photos of these churches, I noticed that the stone carvings, stained glass windows and paintings depicted emotion far greater than any emoji.

Maybe emoji aren’t such a horrible example of laziness and idiocy! Maybe they are just an expression of emotion, and one of the many ways we humans choose to express ourselves. Surely what matters is that we are free to express our emotions.

Yes, there is a moral to this column. We do all express emotion in different ways, just as we all grieve in different ways, find joy in different things, and love with our own personal love languages. But the most important application is that we express ourselves in a way that is healthy and beneficial. The fruit of expressing emotion should be good.

I, for one, will continue to use emoji. While I recognise their limitations and their place, I do believe they give flavour to a page of words. Flavour we can all relate to. Their use conveniently cancels out any misinterpretation of our words, and they bring a smile, a wink, a blush, and any and every face into our written conversation.

Expression comes in all forms. What is wonderful is that we can say, write, or draw the way we feel.
With that declaration I will sign off with this goodbye:
😉 😀

P.S. Did you know World Emoji Day is on July 17th?

Note: This article was first seen in Book Fun Magazine.