What are your favorite emojis?
“Emojis are by no means taking away from our written language but rather accentuating it by providing a tone that words on their own often cannot. They are, in a sense, the most evolved form of punctuation we have at our disposal”
Emmy J Favilla
I laugh. I laugh when I am nervous. I laugh when I am angry. I laugh when I am happy. And I am especially funny when I am sad. And when I am online, using a device to communicate, I often resort to emojis to highlight or accentuate these emotions.
Emojis are defined as smileys embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of a modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing in typed conversations.
Social media and chatting have evolved with the development of emojis, or maybe they have devolved with the use of emojis, we’ve gone back in time to using visuals to explain or elaborate on what words fail to convey. But emojis transcend language barriers, as they speak a universal language. One emoji helps convey emotions, ideas, and reactions at first glance. Here are the 5 emojis I use most often and what they mean:
- 😍🥰😘 Love emoji: This emoji communicates affection, adoration, and admiration in an instant. This emoji is used to express love for a subject as well as to help resonate with the audience at a personal level. A beautiful scenery, a delicious dish, or even a cute animal pic, this emoji creates an emotional connection creating an instant positive impression.
- 🤔The thinking face emoji: Curiosity is a powerful emotion, and this emoji is used to signal our piqued interest. I use it to pose a question or wonder out loud. This helps emote & engage your audience’s critical thinking skills and invites participation and sharing of perspectives.
- 🤣😂🤪😃😬😁🙃😄😏🥰😜😅😝🤓🤩The laughing emoji: Depicts smiling, laughing, joy, excitement, goofy happiness, crazy happiness, contentment, and at times even agreement. This emoji is great for expressing happiness, gratitude, or appreciation towards customers and supporters or even friends and relatives. The gradations of mirth included in a rolling on-the-floor laughing emoji communicate that something is funnier than it appears, or the laughing so hard you start to cry emoji.
- 🤢🤮The green queasy-looking emoji and the puking face emoji- these emojis signify feelings of disgust, nausea, or a gross physical reaction to something and are off-putting. I use it to signify something distasteful or scornful in my opinion.
- 🥳🎉🎊🎁🪅🪩🥂🎉🎊🍻🎂The party hat noisemaker emoji or the cake and hats and wine glasses emojis are used to signify celebrations. I use them to show when I want to celebrate or congratulate someone or celebrate an achievement or accomplishment.
Including emojis in our messages and communications is a fun and playful way to add personality to our messages and encourage engagement 🫶🏼🙌🏼👍🏼🤞🏽👌🏼🤙🏼👍🏼👎from our audience. But before you go berserk with using emojis in place of words, it’s best to understand the universal meaning of the emoji in a professional setting. Some emojis can be misinterpreted and hence it’s recommended to err on the side of caution. Using too many emojis in a message signifies immaturity, so less is always more when it comes to the usage of emojis in a message. Over the years, the emojis for laughter and sadness have been the same. While there is a point of view that expresses boredom and insincerity by using the same expressions and emojis again and again, I see no point in reinventing the wheel, especially for the most basic emotions.
When I am at a loss for words, I use emojis.
Just a little more 