Sometimes, communication isn’t about talking or reading.
Historically, icons—any sign or likeness that represents something else— were used to communicate a particular message.
Icons are used in modern times too. Think Mickey Mouse or the Smiley Face, that famous yellow circle with a smiley face in it from the sixties?
That bright and fun image was an icon of happiness.
These days, the smiley has a new face… and it doesn’t have a bright yellow background. In fact, it looks a lot like a colon and a bracket. : ) If you can’t see the smiley, tilt your head to the left.
The smiley icon evolved to fill a need in an increasingly digital society.
As society embraced the computer, the way people communicated changed. Email or text message became the norm, and the risk of miscommunication and misunderstandings increased.
One of the benefits of good old face-to-face talking is the ability to watch the other person’s face and register emotion such as sarcasm, humor, or anger. These emotions simply don’t translate in an email.
Enter the emoticon. The word emoticon is a portmanteau (a mashing together) of the word icon and emotion. Meant to communicate digitally when someone is joking or happy, the smiley emoticon turns 25 years old this year, which he’ll celebrate with a bunch of emoticon friends.
Check out this (by no means comprehensive) list of emoticons:
- Wink ;-)
- Frowning :-(
- Shouting :-@
- Yawning ;-O
- Indifferent :-I
.jpg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment