Emoji's 🤠💯🍞 and React's

To me, messaging online without the occasional emoji’s is a 😞 react.

It’s an ineffective way to communicate. And I observe more senior people and the non-digital natives – more prone to this form.

Once I hacked with a friend who never used emoji’s, and he told me he only uses emoji’s when talking to girls 😂.

Notice that 😂? Without it, that sentence could be interpreted in more negative or more serious ways.

the gap between IRL and online messaging

Online communication is better with emoji’s. You’re able to embed more ‘how’ with the ‘what’ you’re saying.

Consider, in-person communication – it has body language + speech that is rich in tonality, volume, pitch…etc. Whereas online messaging has content, but context requires more effort to embed.

Content: what is being conveyed Context: how it is being conveyed

People have naturally gravitated to the idea of providing more context in texting and messaging (expressing tone and emotions) as the internet has developed and grew.

Starting in 1982 with Emoticon :-) and :-( to Emoji’s (Unicode standards…) and now we have:

• React’s: applying emoji’s directly to messages
• Custom emoji’s: for your own unique niche and communities
• GIF’s: animated vibes
• Stickers: artsy vibes

Besides emoji’s, we also have abbreviations “lol, lmao…etc” and onomatopoeias “hahah, pfft, ehh…etc”.

why?

Just as you wouldn’t talk to someone without changing your facial expression and having body language – you shouldn’t not use emoji’s and react’s.

• convey more context
• react to messages efficiently (reduce others’ attention usage)
• better team vibes
• signal and vote (e.g. when multiple people thumbs up to a message)
• build more team culture (the magic moment of frequent and custom emoji’s)
• convey personality

All of these, the absence of which – have negative downstream effects and costs.

Here’s some of my frequently used and recent Discord emoji’s.

For example, That hugging emoji can help me convey any of these:

• I support you
• unlucky, I feel you
• here’s a platonic and empathetic hug
• yikes
• my homie all immediately, without having to use more words.

Takeaway

Use emoji’s and react’s! In your messages, to react to others messages, and even in informal docs.