This year I’m taking part in “Bloganuary” - a series of writing prompts published throughout the month by Mindy Postoff. Today’s writing prompt is “What emoji(s) do you like to use ?”.
This is where I immediately admit to not using emojis. I tend to write everything long-hand - even when instant messaging people. I certainly don’t use them while writing blog posts. While I know language evolves and we shouldn’t rail too much about new words or turns of phrase, I think perhaps a small part of me will die if emojis make their way into “the written word”.
That said, I do use some of the popular acronyms, and one or two emoticons when writing instant messages - chiefly the happy and sad face, along with “lol”.
I’m old enough to remember emoticons becoming “a thing”. Back in the early days of the internet - when email became somewhat ubiquitous - there was a common problem in that the written word often lacks emotional context - words written in short emails could be easily misinterpreted, and offence taken. I remember writing a guide for everybody in the company where I worked at the time - a guide to “emoticons”, with examples of their use.
For some reason I’ve never quite caught the emoji craze. I can’t help feeling some people cross a line though - communicating in a bizarre mixture of acronyms and emojis to construct a hell-stew of easily mangled gibberish. Don’t even get me started on “l33t sp33k”.
So - getting back to the writing prompt. Which emojis do I use? None really. Unless you count the smiley face - which is really an emoticon.
p.s. if you want to experience my lack of emoji talent, feel free to instant message me - my contact details are on my contact page!