Emojis Speak Louder Than Words

Are you more of a text person or a call person? Do you ever feel like your texts come off as rude or bland unless you add extra letters or a small emoji at the end? It's strange how we've come to rely on tiny icons to convey emotions that words alone sometimes can't capture. It's funny how a simple smiley can transform a “fine” into “I’m actually okay.” Or maybe you like adding “:)” at the end of your sentences. In case you're still wondering, emoticons and emojis are two different concepts—something we'll explore more today.

An emoticon stands for an “emotion icon” is a graphical depiction of someone's facial expression that conveys a person's sentiments, mood, or response without the need for a detailed description. The characters used are often punctuation marks, numerals, and letters. On the other hand, emoji is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages.

Earlier, emoticons were more frequently used. The credit is majorly given to the Carnegie Mellon computer scientist, Scott Fehlman. He proposed the usage of “: - )” and “: - (“  in a message on the Bulletin Board system (BBS) of Carnegie Melon University in 1982. However, there have been instances before the 1980’s where emoticons have been used. In April of 1857, the National Telegraphic Review and Operators Guide recorded that "love and kisses" (later shortened to the more formal "best regards") could be sent using the Morse code number 73. "Love and kisses" was reintroduced as the number 88 in Dodge's Manual in 1908.

Ambrose Bierce, an American writer, proposed "an improvement in punctuation"  that suggested using a bracket to depict a smiling face. This allowed writers to express cachinnation, or excessive or loud laughter, by writing, "it is written thus ‿ and presents a smiling mouth. It is to be appended, with the full stop, to every jocular or ironical sentence". The sides of the mouth or cheeks were represented by brackets, and additional punctuation was used in between to indicate other emotions: (-) for a grin, (--) for laughing (revealing more "teeth"), (#) for a frown, and (*) for a wink.

Emojis, on the other hand, originated in Japan in the late 1990s, created by Shigetaka Kurita, a designer at NTT Docomo. He developed the first set of 176 simple icons to add emotional nuance to text messages on mobile platforms. Inspired by manga and pictograms, these pixel designs bridged the gap between written words and human expression, paving the way for the vast array of emojis we use today.

There is so much more to explore about these simple yet essential components of our life. They are a constant reminder of how even in this digital age, our need for human connection and emotional expression is as strong as ever. In the silence of these typed words, emoticons, and emojis are the whispers that bring our emotions roaring to life.