Ravi Jain | Emoji and the Evolution of Language

Tall, Skinny, Mocha | The value of pictures in writing

By Ravi Jain 02/26/15 12:34am

Like many, I was skeptical of emoji when they first arrived on the texting scene. They seemed little more than a gimmick or distraction, and I was much more comfortable using my favorite emoticons, namely :) and :D.

But as new technology is always met with skeptics and early adopters, I didn’t start using emoji until this year. I simply couldn’t get around the fact that it was faster to send a thumbs-up icon than to type out “sounds good!” or that I wasn’t restricted to the limited number of facial expressions I could create out of the English alphabet and punctuation.

It is difficult to pinpoint the time at which the usage of emoji went mainstream in the U.S., but in late 2011 Apple released an official version of the emoji keyboard for its iOS devices. Previously, iOS users would have to install a third-party application to use the pictographs. Most computers and smartphones can now render emoji well, so the barrier to entry is low.

Emoji have recently appeared in the media due to their purported lack of diversity. A recent “Saturday Night Live” segment drew attention to the controversy when comedian Sasheer Zamata joked that she had to use the emoji for a new moon as none of the faces resembled her.

While her observation is important, it is equally important to keep in mind that emoji were first invented for a Japanese audience, and thus catered to their needs. This indeed may say more about the Japanese and the stereotypes, both positive and negative, that they have developed about the rest of the world than it says about the creators of the iconography.

This past Monday, Apple announced that the emoji in an upcoming update for its operating systems would include faces with five skin tone options. Given that the company has invested heavily in the standardization of emoji in Unicode, it makes sense that it would respond to the demands of its quite diverse consumer base. However, the complete diversification of emoji to include other cultural images will of course take some time.

Controversy over race representation in emoji aside, it is interesting to think about their impact on communication. Texting — as well as most modern forms of communication — which lacks the same nuances present in speech or body language, is always widely criticized for potentially leading to miscommunication. As an example, adding a period to the end of a “thank you” text, or the usage of capital letters, can have a significant impact on the reception of a message. Emoji can alleviate some of the ambiguity by supplementing the expressions that can convey hidden meanings, like sarcasm or more complex emotions, that can’t be adequately represented by “lol.”

It is clear to see that the interpretation of emoji is heavily dependent on context. However, like any vocabulary, people tend to grow into their style of incorporating emoji into their daily texting. Lisa Lebduska, a professor of English at Wheaton College, has studied the impact of emoji on language in great detail. Ideograms have always been a part of written language, and preservationists of language would balk at the incorporation of emoji into writing. After all ,shouldn’t we value those who can express their thoughts using impressive lexicon and diction, as writers and poets want to remind us?

The distinction between formal and informal English has never been sharper. Even though texting is written, it is colloquial and, like the spoken form of American English, evolves at a much faster rate than the formal written form. Due to this rapid divergence, it has become more difficult for children starting to talk, read and write — as well as for non-native English speakers — to learn it.

We can’t predict how emoji will change writing, but we should not fear it inevitably creeping in over time. I certainly could never draw a monkey covering its mouth or a grinning cat, but sometimes I’d like to use them to make a point, to lighten a conversation or for no reason at all. As the adoption of technology progresses, thus making it easier to include pictures in text, we should embrace its ability to facilitate and simplify interaction.

RAVI JAIN is a College sophomore from Syosset, N.Y., studying economics. His email address is jainravi@sas.upenn.edu. “Tall, Skinny, Mocha” usually appears every other Wednesday.

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