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https://theconversation.com/thumbs-up-good-or-passive-aggressive-how-emojis-became-the-most-confusing-kind-of-online-language-259151>
"Emojis, as well as memes and other forms of short-form content, have become
central to how we express ourselves and connect online. Yet as meanings shift
across different contexts, so too does the potential for misunderstanding.
A senior colleague of mine recently encountered some commentary about the
“slightly smiling” face emoji: 🙂
They approached me, asking whether it represented joy, as they had assumed, or
if it had a more ominous meaning.
As a chronically-online millennial, who unironically identifies as a gen Z, I
bore the news that I, along with most younger internet users, only ever use it
sarcastically.
“It doesn’t actually signify happiness – more so fake happiness, or dry
humour,” I explained.
I also told them how the thumbs up emoji is often interpreted as passive
aggressive, and that the only time I’d use the laughing-crying (“face with
tears of joy”) emoji is under duress.
Despite seeming like a universal language – and sometimes they do function that
way – emojis can be at once more vague, and more specific, than words. That’s
because you can’t separate the meaning of a smiley from the person who sent it,
nor from the person receiving it."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
