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The fact that they’re wildly popular should provide some indication that the qualities exist.

Communication is rife with ambiguities, emotion, shortcuts, and mistakes. And between people who share friendship or more personal relationships, those “flaws” are often features, not bugs.

The concept of emoji, I feel, embraces those flaws.

(And personally speaking on the subject of emoji vs common text shorthand, if I never see “lol” again it’ll be too soon.)




Many popular things are not quality things.

> (And personally speaking on the subject of emoji vs common text shorthand, if I never see “lol” again it’ll be too soon.)

Funny, I feel the same way about emoji. I dunno, maybe I'm too autistic to get it, but when people use emoji it makes me feel like I'm talking to a child who hasn't learned express themselves like an adult yet.


> The fact that they’re wildly popular should provide some indication that the qualities exist.

Really?

Pet rocks were wildly popular. Unhealthy foods are wildly popular. Cocaine is wildly popular (well maybe that's a stretch).

I think there's a correlation problem here. However, I think you're missing the point again; _what can I convey via an emoji that I cannot convey in ascii_? I have yet to see a single example, and that's what started the entire debate.


Pet rocks were popular for 5 minutes. Unhealthy foods are perpetually popular because they have the quality of tasting wonderful.

And neither of you tried to address the core argument I made in the parent, that emoji reflect the inherent messiness of personal communications and for that matter personal relationships.

The same reason it’s important (but inefficient) to tell someone you love them in nonverbal ways is the reason emoji are popular. We all appreciate communications that extend beyond the written word. Emoji is just another option among many for achieving that.


>And neither of you tried to address the core argument I made in the parent, that emoji reflect the inherent messiness of personal communications and for that matter personal relationships

And exactly zero people, including yourself, have been able to provide a single gle example where text fails to convey what an icon can. And, you, that was the entire subject of this discussion if you haven't noticed.




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