The Use of Emojis
Do you like using emojis on social media? Barbara Cheng reveals
some of the problems that can arise with widespread usage.
An emoji themed decoration is now on display at Hong Kong D2 Place and will be
displayed from 24th March until 30th April. It aims to provide the public with a
chance to take selfies with ten 1 metre tall glowing emoji decorations. Nowadays,
people have increasingly applied emojis to their updates on social media, not
only because they are seen as cute, but also because it has the capacity to
immediately convey different types of emotions which sometimes words cannot.
A heated discussion about the praying emoji started in July 2014 when 6abc
News in Philadelphia pointed out that the icon was actually a 'high five'. Although
millions of users on Twitter and Facebook agreed with the idea that the icon was
not a 'high five', the topic was eventually dropped before making a comeback the
year after. On 12th August 2015, there was an explosion in Tanggu, Tianjin,
which evoked a large quantity of bloggers to pray for the casualties with the
praying emoji. However, someone suggested again that the praying emoji
symbolised a 'high five', and this behavior was regarded as celebratory to
foreigners. However, the truth is that Apple have not yet clarified this debatable
topic.
What does the Emoji indicate? Praying hands or simply a high five? Some
netizens said, with praying hands, the thumbs face the same way, but this
characteristic does not exist when people high five with each other. Some people
thought it would be obvious to check the meaning of the emoji through the
Unicode introduction of Emojipedia. It reads that “two hands placed firmly
together, meaning please or thank you in Japanese culture, while other common
uses for this character include prayer/praying hands, or a high-five”. Moreover,
when “clapping hands” or “please” in Chinese is input, the praying emoji will
show, but not for “high five” or “celebrations”.
ISSUE 05: APRIL 2016
Although this answer could
not convince everyone on
social media, attention soon
turned to another discussion the new praying emoji in iOS
and OS X. Basically the emoji
always seems to have the last
word.
So while emojis can express
different emotions, close
attention needs to be paid so
that they are not used to the
extent that they influence
traditional communications.
Barbara Cheng
is studying
psychology at
HKIEd and likes
extreme sports,
backpacking,,
reading, and
writing lyrics.
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