:)+:S+:P = not confusion for sure!

Hello readers,

Mystified by the symbols above? Don’t be. They are emoticons, the new-fangled wave of communication helpers. I find it interesting to share about emoticons because when I was chatting with my parents the other day through Facebook chat box; I found out that they were starting to use a lot of emoticons throughout our whole conversation and for them to use emoticons to express their feelings and expression, impresses me! I mean, come on, how often do see your parents using emoticons during a chat online or even in emails at the age of 60?

Emoticons came into existence when Scott Fahlman invented the sideways smiley face to accompany his online jokes in 1997 (ABC 2007).

(Source: bizmediascience.com)

Since then, they have developed from plain symbols to sophisticated graphics representing every emotion that you can think of.

Neverheless, did emoticons come to be of such importance in our online communication? According to Byron (ABC 2007), we tend to get the wrong idea about the emoticons of others in e-mail communications, due to the lack of cues provided in this online medium. Emoticons can truly save the day especially when we are jokingly saying something which can lead to a negative meaning to others.

I believe everyone would agree that a message with the use of an emoticon would sound much better in a conversation online. A simple statement, such as ‘I hate you!’ can retain its original meaning as an express of anger, or be transformed into a playful batter by the mere addition of a playful emoticon such as the one below.

(Source: emofaces.com)

The theories of meaning-making that was mention by Walsh (2006) are applicable here. With the use of emoticons, we are able to include connotations or meanings to plain text that could be interpreted in several different ways. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) however warn that images are too polysemous in their meaning, stating that, without the supplementary textual communication, the emoticon on top could be misguided as a mock, for the meanings it could potentially express range from sheer light heartedness to a flippant insult. Hence, while emoticons do add importance to the text they accompany, they must be used appropriately so that the actual meaning of our message could be conveyed.

In addition, one must reflect on the genres in which these emoticons are used. Different genres alter the way we understand texts (Schirato and Yell 1996), therefore the use of emoticons must be well thought-out depending on which cultural, or situational, context one is writing for (Halliday and Hasan1985; Schirato and Yell 1996). Let us take an example; to intersperse a company e-mail with emoticons would be considered unethical and immature, leading to a negative impression of the sender by the receivers. On the other hand, using emoticons liberally in a personal e-mail to a pal is not only appropriate, it is also very much encouraged as the visual cues would avoid misunderstandings and entirely pass on one's intended meanings.

In conclusion, emoticons can both serve or debilitate communication, depending on the context of its usage.

References

ABC.net.au 2007, ‘Emoticons and email etiquette’, viewed 9 June 2010, [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/2064342.htm]

Halliday, MAK and Hassan, R 1985, 'Language, context and text: aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective', Deakin university Press, Waurn Ponds, Victoria

Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2006, ‘Reading images: the grammar of visual design’, Routledge, New York.

Walsh, M 2006, 'The 'textual shift': Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 24-37.

Schirato, T & Yell, S 1996, ‘Communication and cultural literacy: an introduction’, Allen & Unwin, St. Leonards.