A little rant about Emojis and their kin

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Apple is apparently releasing a new batch of Emojis, to coincide with 'World Emoji Day' : **LINK**

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/techandgadgets/apple-unveils-new-range-of-emojis-including-guide-dogs-wheelchair-users-and-falafel-a4191576.html

< expletive deleted >

Those of us who loathe and detest the 'auto-correction' feature on this forum, that substitutes spurious 'smileys' when we type entirely appropriate text, might well think that the World has gone mad.

Apple has not even noticed [or perhaps does not care] that its stylish pale grey text on a white background is not appropriate for user information … but is now about to launch a range of 'disability' themed Emojis.

… I am at a loss for appropriate words of contempt [but would be interested to know what others think]

MichaelG.

[John BaguleyParticipant @johnbaguley78655]

Political correctness gone mad!

John

[Simon CollierParticipant @simoncollier74340]

I share your contempt.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

More info from Forbes: **LINK**

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidphelan/2019/07/16/world-emoji-day-apple-reveals-20-of-59-emoji-including-indispensable-new-smiley-face/

< yawn >

MichaelG.

[John ReeseParticipant @johnreese12848]

I, too, detest the damned things. Imagine the resources that were wasted creating them. They seem to appeal most to those who have inadequate language skills.

[Blue HeelerParticipant @blueheeler]

At least the blind will never have to see this emoji

And this one…you have to smile –

[Blue HeelerParticipant @blueheeler]

And this one is financially discriminatory not all who need a wheelchair can afford an electrically operated one –

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 16/07/2019 23:45:06:

… I am at a loss for appropriate words of contempt [but would be interested to know what others think]

 

There's sure to be an emoji you could have reached for there, Michael, which would have kind of done.

 

Seriously, early in my senior school career, when I was unable to entirely shake off junior school habits, I was marked down in English essays for occasionally punctuating text with pictures in order to ram home my poorly articulated point. Since my pictures were lousy anyway, I quickly learned to do without them and focus on conveying meaning with words alone.

 

As a legacy of that, I'm grateful to be able to feel absolutely no spontaneous need to resort to emojis, but I have occasionally been known to use one in order not to risk looking unfriendly.

 

I think this last point may partly account for their popularity; young people usually strive to be accepted by their peer group, and a tipping point was possibly reached some time ago for young people when not using emojis in texts etc. between acquaintances would have been felt to be at odds with in-group protocols and uncool, and therefore not using them at all came in practice not to be an option, or at least not a good survival strategy.

 

Emojis may all just be a passing fad, or they may be yet another sign of the end of civilization as we know it. If their now widespread use went hand in hand with a general upsurge in articulateness I'd be completely positive about them. Instead they are too often an ersatz form of communication indolently resorted to by the linguistically and cognitively impoverished.

Ah well, onwards and downwards.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 17/07/2019 02:30:02

[Barnaby WildeParticipant @barnabywilde70941]

Posted by Bill Phinn on 17/07/2019 02:29:15:

Emojis may all just be a passing fad, or they may be yet another sign of the end of civilization as we know it. If their now widespread use went hand in hand with a general upsurge in articulateness I'd be completely positive about them. Instead they are too often an ersatz form of communication indolently resorted to by the linguistically and cognitively impoverished.

Ah well, onwards and downwards.

We have always popularly used gestures to communicate, and they have evolved over time. How did the 2 finger salute become a raised middle finger???

I hear you, I dread the day when the grandkids can only express thermselve's through emoji's, but I also hear that soshal meedya use through small devices is near to peak & may well drop off when projects like 'Alexa' reach maturity.

[Perko7Participant @perko7]

I think emoji's are a consequence of the rise of electronic communication where the message is devoid of the tonal inflections and facial expressions that accompany face-to-face speech and therefore lack any contextual reference.

I use them occasionally where the brevity needed, particularly in text messages on phones, precludes the use of expansive phrases and therefore an appropriate emoji at least helps to articulate the intent of the communication.

That being said, I could happily live without them and go back to writing lengthy letters, but how many these days would be bothered to invest the time in reading them??

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Perhaps it is the 'Turn of the wheel' (TOTW) and like the ancients, go back to Hieroglyphs ??

BobH

[thaiguzziParticipant @thaiguzzi]

Posted by Blue Heeler on 17/07/2019 01:46:23:

At least the blind will never have to see this emoji

And this one…you have to smile –

That is downright un PC!

Where are the Transvestites and Ladyboys?

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Nobody has to use emojis unless they want to and accidental use is easily edited out anyway.

Edited By V8Eng on 17/07/2019 06:46:55

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Posted by Speedy Builder5 on 17/07/2019 06:33:36:

Perhaps it is the 'Turn of the wheel' (TOTW) and like the ancients, go back to Hieroglyphs ??

BobH

Still used today by a huge percentage of the world… the chinese character for smile:

pgk

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Posted by John Reese on 17/07/2019 00:34:50:

I, too, detest the damned things. Imagine the resources that were wasted creating them. They seem to appeal most to those who have inadequate language skills.

Hi John, one of my sisters has always been in the top of the class for English and she is very fluent in French also, however she is a avid fan of the emoji, but does use them in the correct context. Many others that I know use them often and they don't have a language inadequacy either.

Regards Nick.

[PlasmaParticipant @plasma]

I can see the value of facial expression emojis to convey that you're angry or smiling or laughing at a particular point in a written exchange. But I'm blowed if I know where I will possibly use a cartoon blind person or wheelchair user to make a point!

The range of different coloured characters and different sexualities is equally banal. Where would I use one? After a post to show I am a white middle aged man with whom you are speaking? Goodness knows.

Hopefully the evolution of soshul meedya will consign these things to the great recycle bin in the sky so we can get back to wondering if the person we have just chatted to is a cross dressing Sikh who was being sarcastic (other religions are available).

I'm off in my shop to calm down now,

Mick

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

I'm going to cut across the grain and present the other side of the coin. It's a "let's run this up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes" situation.

Very sad, but after we reach a certain age all new things are bad. I believe this is more to do with growing old than the actual value of new wotsits, whatever they are. Only time will tell if a new emoji is useful or not, sadly grandad's opinion matters not one jot.

That the value of my opinion is disintegrating under my feet is deeply upsetting. The world moving on challenges my self-worth. I am constantly reminded that I am yesterday's man, and that a lifetime of experience does not reliably meet new challenges.

I remember laughing out loud when a Judge didn't know who the Rolling Stones were. Now I haven't a clue what music Millennials are into and care less. I have become the Judge.

I'm still at the stage where watching the world shift under my feet is mostly amusing. I can laugh because my mum can't send emails and wants to write cheques, but it's not so funny when she makes a painful journey to the bank only to find she's wasted her time. Today's Bank Branch is no longer fully staffed with experts working for an experienced and powerful Bank Manager! In her youth a bank branch was a quality destination capable of sorting out drop-in problems. Not now.
It's not funny at all when I find myself discombobulated by modernity, and this is happening more and more. Terrestrial TV is fading because most people have shifted to online media. Gas Central Heating won't be an option for new houses after 2025. It is the beginning of the end for Internal Combustion cars are we know them. Cash money is on the way out – most people rarely use it. Almost nobody still writes personal letters – they send emails and texts. I had an irritating complication buying motor insurance last year because I thought I knew the system and didn't – it had changed just enough to leave me in the dust. Smart Meters, Globalisation, Climate Change, the Internet revolution, creaking economies, geo-political shifts, trusted brands going out of business, and illness. No wonder I don't want anything to do with it!

However, it's an old old story. The Romans despaired of modern youth. In our own time, teenagers in the 1940s disapproved strongly of the next generation of rock and roll Teddy Boys. In their turn they disapproved strongly of Hippies, who grew up to be horrified by the ridiculous antics of the 1970's. And so it goes on forever. New kids change what the previous generation did and it's natural for the old boys to resent it even if the change is an improvement.

My fear is of turning into an authentic old-fart. These are retired gentleman convinced that all problems can be fixed by winding the clock back, blissfully unaware that's impossible, and that their ideas are well past their 'Use By' date. Not because they're stupid ideas, but because change has undermined their value.

Emojis are only interesting because they rub salt into the wound. A pox upon them – I'm only just coming to accept emoticons :- (

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 17/07/2019 10:52:27

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

When reading Facebook on my iPad, I get lots of adverts from Red Bull. Being youth-oriented, they tend to include many emojis in their text. I find them really annoying because of the way we actually read: not word-by-word, but scanning several words at a time. Coming across an emoji embedded in a sentence forces me to stop, translate the emoji into English and put it into context in the sentence. A huge waste of my time! Perhaps they are just like learning a new language: once the brain understands them, do they just scan with the surrounding words?

And don't get me started on texting abbreviations such as "ur". I read the sentence "Where is ur bag?", for example, as "Where is you are bag?". End of rant…

[Kiwi BlokeParticipant @kiwibloke62605]

Don't despair, Dave. Wisdom comes with age. We can cast our pearls and smile at the antics of the young. They don't know any better, poor, semi-literate dears, although the arrogance of youth blinds them to this. I note that these ridiculous pictures-instead-of-difficult-words have been inflicted on the world by Apple. Well, you don't have to live on Planet Apple…

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

Points to make :-

1. It is an Apple initiative – 'nuff said!

2. These are new children's toys – let them play!

3. A great deal of today's written output (amateur and professional) is in dire need of amplification for meaning!

4. As a fully qualified 'old fart' myself, Dave's (S O D) description is very wide of the mark on a personal basis.

The oft-used example of the Judge's 'out of touch' query is, as I suspect Dave is aware, solely due to the need for recorded evidence to be understood by all – not just by the socially limited 'pop-culture'

standing by for 'incoming'

rgds

Bill

[Andrew EvansParticipant @andrewevans67134]

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

I work with blind and visually impaired children and when these emojis are properly introduced they will be totally accessible by users through a screen reader and provide a useful 'shorthand' to those who use a screen magnifier as well – on phones, tablets and computers. Looking at the full list, manual as well as electric wheelchairs are included.

I don't use emojis much, and social media even less (except this forum!!) but then I did not grow up with access to them.

For those that want to use them fine – it is often only by accident that they are included in posts here and they can be easily edited out if not needed.

Nick

PS the examples shown here are .jpg images and do not register with a screen reader – the real thing, when introduced in the autumn should.

[JAParticipant @ja]

Dave

Aristophanes, an ancient Greek, wrote a play in about 400BC about a group of boring old men who sat in the forum and moaned about modern life all day.

The Wasps is still performed today so old men must have some relevance.

Edited By JA on 17/07/2019 12:48:08

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Who 'owns' emojis? Is Apple entitled to release them? Can we release some ME related ones? (not that I can see a point in that).

I agree about the white on grey and similar badly selected combinations. I have a problem with it at work and try to point it out where I am able to point out that it fails to meet our company policy on access for the visually impaired. (which doesn't actually mention it but they probably won't check).

[Author]

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