Emoticons are symbols that have progressed over the years and have now become something that almost everyone with a phone uses daily. Emoticons first started out by just using symbols that are already on the keyboard and then further changed into actual images of smiley faces etc. Emojis were created to show a facial expression when it began but now it does that and way more. They have emojis for almost everything like birthday cake, shoes, stop sign and more in various categories. The word emoticon comes from a contraction of the words emotion and icon also known as emotional icon.
Britannica.com
Scott Fahlman created the first emoticon of :-) he was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He wanted his students to use the emoticon to show if their discussion post was to be taken seriously or as a joke if the emoticon was used.
Pictured: Scott Fahlman
Emoticons have continued to grow into everyday life, and they are used so much because of how easy they are to text, and our brains can process symbols faster than texts. Emoticons now go through a word processing program and turn the emoticons into little pictures also known as Emojis. Emojis are everywhere, on text and on all social medias.
Cons to Emoticons
There are some cons to emoticons though that are usually not talked about. Emoticons are unprofessional and if they are used in a business setting like an email or on a paper the work would not be accepted. The person who used the emoticon in the corporate world will then be viewed as less professional. Another con to emoticons is that they take away social skills. Instead of people expressing how they feel using words, they send emojis that can be taken the wrong way. Some emoticons mean different things to different people. Many people believe that emoticons are for lazy people.
Interesting Facts About Emoticons
Although, I find that emoticons are remarkably interesting and before spoken language people would draw symbols in caves to communicate. Emoticons are modern day cave symbols. When researching emoticons, I found out that the emoji language is the fastest growing language which shocked me. To continue, there are over 3,000 emojis and there is even a world emoji day. The emoticons today show a lot of diversity and interests which is helpful so everyone can have personalized emoticons.
Overall emoticons have made a significant impact on technology and how people communicate with one another. Whether someone likes emojis or not they will have to accept that 92% of online users use emojis every day and over 10 billion emojis are sent each day. More emoticons will be continued to be made every year and will be formed based on new social ideas. I know that I cannot personally remember texting without having emoticons because I was so young when emoticons were not put onto apple keyboards. I personally like emoticons but think that if they are used too much than they can be overwhelming and unprofessional. I will continue to use emoticons as a form of communication and am interested in the future of emoticons.
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