In a world full of emoji’s and cryptic messages formed of only 140 characters, it’s easy to get lost. What is the value of real emotion? What happens to emotion when we’re no longer using long form words to explain how we feel, rather we’re selecting the funniest/wittiest emoji that pops up at the bottom of our text screen. As a 24 year old woman, I can definitely admit, I (at times) fall into this category. But with that said, does this make everything get lost in translation? Does the modern day emoji devalue emotion as a whole?
Merriam-Webster defines emotion as ‘the affective aspect of consciousness.’ When people could ask you at any given day, ‘How are you feeling?,’ it’s all part of emotion. Perhaps people confuse the use of an emoji as an emphasis, replacement or quick fix for an implementation of a feeling, for the actual feeling itself. Imagine if there were no such thing as emojis, think about what life was before them. Sounds so completely pathetic, right? Just the other day I posted a Facebook status just using ONE emoji and that’s it.
Sometimes my explanation behind solely relying on emojis for expression derives from the fear or anxiety of actually putting my thoughts out there. If I am able to admit this, just imagine how many people do not. Perhaps the reason for your inability to express your real, complete emotions is because your mind is completely cluttered. It’s easy to get caught up in real life scenarios that get thrown at you all at once: paying your student loans, car payments, satisfying your parents’ expectations, etc.
While the pressure of conscious responsibilities can be the reason for someone choosing to express their thoughts or emotion through an emoji rather than actual words, the unconscious or unclear mind can be the reason for that as well. Let me unpack that for you. How many Instagram, Twitter, FB posts have you seen in your feeds lately with the captions just being emojis of drunk people. Lets be honest, it happens A LOT. A clouded (or drunk in this situation) mind, prevents you from being able to form actual thoughts, therefore only allowing you to provide thoughts through an emoji. I AM NOT KNOCKING BEING DRUNK. I love a drink (or 17) every once in a while, as long as it's done completely responsibly. AND I can probably tell you that I've posted pictures this way before.
What are your thoughts on replacement of emotion with emojis? Lets just get honest with ourselves for a minute. Like I said several times, I have been in positions when I've tweeted an emoji in replace of my emotion and thats what has got me thinking about this. I'd love to hear your thoughts so be sure to send me a
tweet or leave a comment. Thanks for reading! -Brit.
