Emojis Can Help Convey Indirect Meaning

hubie writes:

In face-to-face communication the speaker's meaning is conveyed not only with the words that are used, but also with the assistance of visual and verbal cues. If you asked someone what they thought of your new hairstyle, their reply of "I think it looks great" has a lot different meaning if it is delivered with a broad smile and enthusiasm, or with eye-darting after some hemming and hawing. What is more challenging is when communication is performed only through the message without these cues. A sarcastic comments takes on a whole different negative tone without these cues.

Over the years various conventions arose to add contextual meaning to a message. Long before people were LOL-ing, amateur radio operators would send "HIHI" over morse code. In the early 80s emoticons were created to add additional meaning to the various interchanges happening on Usenet. And of course, these have evolved into the ubiquitous emoji that we all know and love.

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