This is essay #85. HELLO New Subscribers!
Stop being so serious for a minute. Here’s a silly little essay on something you never thought you’d want to know anything about, but after you read it, you’ll be ready for Trivia night. Maybe. 🤷🏼♀️
I’m so glad you’re here! 👋 See how I used that emoji?
“They’re unprofessional.”
“Serious writers don’t use them.”
“They’re immature. Unnecessary. Distracting. Dumb.”
GUILTY!
I use too many exclamation points and too many emojis. I can’t help myself. I write like I talk. (Unless it’s ad copy, and even then, where I thought they were appropriate, the client did not. 🤷🏼♀️)
Like them or not, emojis are here to stay and are a ubiquitous part of online communication. Because I’m an enthusiastic, emotional person, I find these little symbols give me a chance to express myself and add emphasis and emotion to what I’m saying.
Where did it all begin?
Jump into the wayback time machine and you’ll find the ancient Egyptians used their own version of emojis... their hieroglyphics recorded their stories and history. But, this Japanese designer, Shigetaka Kurita, created the first set of 176 symbols in 1999, and he changed the way we communicate forever. They are so much a part of our online lives, his original pixelated designs are on display at the Museum of Modern Art. He also won the 2023 Webby Lifetime Achievement. Smart dude.
FACTS:
More than 900 million emojis-without text- are sent on Facebook EVERY DAY.
Half of Instagram comments contain emojis.
The White House Council of Economic Advisors released a report in 2014 about the status of Millennials… and yes, they used emojis.
Studies show that posts with emojis are likelier receive high levels of engagement.
In 2019, Adobe did a report and found the 8 out of 10 people believe that emoji users are more friendly and approachable. (Coulda told ya that!)
Did you know there is a World Emoji Day on July 17th? Here’s a site that tells us the most popular emojis.
Spoiler: It’s 😂.
They can also be used in a sarcastic way.
Use the laughing emoji when someone says something dumb to let them know what they said was, well, laughable. 😂
Or the eyeroll, one of my favorites. 🙄
Or, the shrug… like, “whatever”, or “I dont care.” 🤷🏼♀️
And yes, I know they have their place. I wouldn’t use an emoji in my doctoral thesis, a medical report, or other formal writing.
Now, about those exclamation points:
Sarah Fay here on Substack wrote an excellent piece about the exclamation point here. She said: “The exclamation point should more accurately be called the joy point, as in I’m full of joy that this moment exists.”
The “joy point”. I love that!
From Butte College:
“An exclamation point is one of the few ways that a writer can indicate how words may sound when spoken”.
From the University of Sussex:
“The exclamation mark (!), known informally as a bang or a shriek, is used at the end of a sentence or a short phrase which expresses very strong feeling.”
And finally, from Elevate:
“Exclamation points activate your brain’s medial prefrontal cortex, which is associated with processing emotional and alarming information.”
Written communication can often come off being cold and a little too direct. The “bang” and a 👍 or a 😂 or a✌️can soften your message. If you were looking at me as I was talking you, could see the exclamation points and emojis flying out of my mouth. It’s called enthusiasm and being positive.
It’s called “Joy Point” for a reason! 😃
I also write like I talk, tend to slap lots of exclamation points and emoji’s on my notes, especially when I’m beside myself with extreme emotions!!! 🤪
👍😉