How do emoticons help in communication? A few sentences of my commentary in one of the popular science articles.
One of my former MA students asked me for a few sentences of commentary on the subject of emoticons. Her text appeared on the portal of Radio Złote Przeboje (Golden Hits), where she works. She asked me three questions: How important an element of communication among young people are emoticons? Are they a big problem in intergenerational communication? If so, how can this problem be solved? A few sentences of my answer.
Image by freepikEmoticons in the lives of young people
Emoticons are not so much an important part of young people’s communication as a commonplace. Because it is their world of communication. Abbreviated, and at the same time containing maximum information about, among other things, their emotional state. Emoticons took their start from a certain economy of communication. When text messages started, we were careful not to exceed a certain limit of characters, otherwise it would cost us to send another one. So, an abbreviated language was invented, which then became widespread on the Internet. For young people, it is a sure indicator of their generation and communication style. Zetas are economical, avoid unnecessary words, express emotions boldly, and want to quickly move on to other communications.
Emoticons in intergenerational communication
By the elderly this language is sometimes incomprehensible. For me as a representative of Generation X as well. But this is due more to choice than reluctance. I limit myself to 🙂 Other emotional states I try to express in Polish. Sometimes it can be poetry. This is also a form of striving to economize language. I’m a little concerned that emoticons are a return to Paleolithic drawings from Lascaux. They impoverish language. But communication is all about exchanging values, ideas and emotions. By the same token – if we know what we want to communicate to someone, especially a loved one – words will be found in any language such as English. Also, emoticons in such a perspective are no obstacle, if we remember that this is only a slice of the possibilities that language gives us. And above all, if we are aware of ourselves and our message.
How do emoticons help in communication? Practical advice for “elders”
First of all, let’s not be afraid of emoticons. It is worth knowing their set in order to understand the young. But let’s also not try as “old” to imitate the young in communication. They expect us to be authentic. I for one would love to talk about writing handwritten letters to friends and loves from my student days. It seems that creating such young-old models in exploring our own worlds of communication and media is just the basic advice. We can learn a lot from each other and, above all, discover together what communication is for.
