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The Pros And Cons Of Emojis

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Ja’Kobe’ Taylor
Lynne Vance
English 3 DE
30 January 2018 The Truth About Emojis
Do you think emojis are worth using? I believe that emojis are not harmful to society. Emojis show human emotion. Also, emojis are the closest humans have to a universal language. Emojis can also cover up humiliating text messages and save time for fast situations. I see them as an asset to communication. Emoji are not harmful, they are helpful. Whether one likes it or not, emoji is becoming a universal language; the addition of facial expressions and gestures to fast-paced brief messages brings a touch of humanity to the cold and sometimes distant digital message. The very first forms of written communication were images and symbols. Prehistoric …show more content…

In the article “Jolly Good Yellow” published in The Independent, a London, England newspaper the author states: The Oxford dictionary input the first emoji into the Oxford Dictionary in August 2013. By 2015, the Oxford Dictionary named the smiley face weeping tears of laughter the word of the year: the first time that a symbol had been placed on the list let alone topped it. (“Jolly Good Yellow”) The fact that an emoji received the word of the year award in 2015 shows that the images are indeed considered to be a legitimate and universal language. The use of the human face adds to the universal appeal and ease in communication across cultures. US psychologist Paul Ekman determined that “there are only six facial expressions common across all cultures.” These expressions represent happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, fear, and disgust.” These six emojis display the basic human responses to certain situations. The ability of an icon to express universal human emotions makes the emoji effective in overcoming language …show more content…

Youth even have codes for certain words. Some texts cannot be taken back. For instance, the case of the 12-year-old Virginia girl who was faced with charges of Instagram comment threats towards her school. In an editorial posted by Uwire, a college news wire service, including content from over 600 college newspapers discusses questions over the legal interpretation of emoji in a court of law. The article titled, “Emoji Literacy a Priority as Middle Schooler Taken to Court Over Emojis,” explains that “The girl’s comments consisted of ‘killing [gun emoji], meet me in the library Tuesday,’ with the gun emoji, knife emoji and bomb emoji all next to each other.” She used an emoji code to express her intentions. The emojis were perceived as very harmful and

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