Emoji
Depending on Emoji
Recently, I responded by text to a friend with the intention of sending her a shy emoji. Instead, I sent her one that conveys yawning or boredom. Since then, the cordial pleasantries we used to exchange have become one-sided. She no longer expresses pleasant sentiments or indulges in small talk. I have been trying to make the situation light, but communication has grown awkward.
Now, I wonder if it is too late to apologize. Some time has gone by, and I pay closer attention to similar-looking emoji, so I won’t repeat my error. Besides, I hadn’t realized my mistake, at the time; or else I would have apologized soon enough. Was sending the wrong emoji such a challenging gesture to be forgiven? Do we not make mistakes? I do.
The social inanimate
I never thought a character—a little inanimate object that is always on the social scene—would come between my friendship. Who knew using it incorrectly in a text would have such a consequence?
Yes, I am guilty of using a tiny symbol to express how I felt, at the time. After being encouraged, I felt shy to go on stage and sing, in 2022. It has been years since I have sung in public, and my vocal cords can use some tuning up. I was poking fun at myself and thought I was reinforcing what I had written. That didn’t work out. Have I grown too dependent on the tiny characters as additional punctuation marks?
Returning to face time and in-person visits
Since the pandemic started, I have been visiting and interacting less with people. So, I smile less. I think it’s time I go back to using face time and doing in-person visits whenever I can do so safely. In this way, I can maintain my healthy facial expressions, and depend less on those tiny social characters.
As recipients of electronic messages with emoji, whenever I see them, they give me an idea of the sender’s mood, if he or she is happy or sad; angry, pleasantly surprised, or other. Some can even convey how hard the sender laughed by showing tears rolling down the emoji’s cheeks. Still others convey what the weather is like in the sender’s neighborhood.
A positive communication device
I see the emoji I choose to use as positive writing enhancements, when on social media. I especially like the common smiley face to help punctuate my pleasant disposition, whenever I happen to be in a cheerful mood.
So, I have learned a lesson: I will not entirely depend on emoji to supplement my thoughts. They are many, so it’s easy for some of us to make a mistake and send one instead of another, especially when the eyesight is not 20/20.
Having facetime chats or phone conversations with my relatives and friends are at the top of my list. They are more personal. During an audio or video conversation, I can sense or see a smile, hear a chuckle, or acknowledge the mood that the person on the other end may feel.
I need to reclaim the confidence I had before emoji showed up on my phone. I will still use them, but will do so, sparingly. I haven’t written them off, yet.