Emojis – Gradually Taking Us Back To The Era Of The Harappan And Mesopotamian Civilization

We can easily figure out changes in communication pattern around us. If I use the term that we are living in a visually driven world it will not be inapt. Usage of emojis while texting and inclination towards graphics for learning process is a clear indication of the onset of a visual era, where graphics are the medium of communication.

Emojis, a layman term of app-based chatting with visual expressions. All the mobile users are aware of it. And above that, its popularity is increasing rapidly with the release of an animated movie based on emojis.

Back To The Era of Harappa and Mesopotamia

Emojis are digital images used in texting on social media. It seems that very soon pictures will replace language, back to square. If we read the history of the origin of language, we will find that human being started communication with the help of symbols and pictures.

Emojis and The Non-Verbal Language

Pictures provide a universally valid medium of communication, it’s supported by its independence from the prerequisite knowledge of dialects.

Emojis fill the void between verbal and non-verbal communication. During face to face interactions, facial gestures play a pivotal role in the expression of feelings. A similar challenge was faced by text messaging before the evolution of emojis. Inability to correctly describe feelings has been sorted out by emojis. In such situations, Emojis work like lifesavers and enrich our conversation.

Emojis and The Corporate World

One survey says that in the USA, more than 70% people use emojis in their official communication. You can visit Unicode Standard to have a list of official and unofficial emojis.

The future generation will do more experiment with emojis. This is evident with the various corporate events of well-known brands like Chevrolet published this press release in emojis only. To increase engagement in its press release, it was kept as a challenge to decode.

You must have read about Tweet of Goldman Sachs which was completely written with emojis. Major brands — like Burger King, McDonald, Chevy, Dominos, and others also have started using emojis in the marketing of their products.

Moreover, Coca-Cola created a bunch of Web addresses using emojis as domain names. Coca-Cola registered every single happy emoji with a “.ws” domain suffix.

Grey Shades of Emoji

But, if we look at the other side of the coin, the present generation is not appreciating the essence of linguistic and vocabulary strength at their disposal for expression of feeling. Different words can be used for portraying different shades of an expression. This is eventually making the conversations dumb but is hardly bothered about.

Emojis can never replace face to face conversation because you can’t judge the actual intention of a person by seeing emojis only. Further, emojis can’t explain real perspective; the probability of misunderstanding prevails.

However, a larger part of linguistics is in favor of the use of emojis which actually help in better communication. No doubt, emojis are doing their job of expression very well.

What’s your thought?