Colon, hyphen, close parenthesis. I’m sure they’ve met them before 🙂
Emoticons – smileys made up of punctuation marks – have been decorating emails and text messages for many years. In the meantime, they are called emojis and have become colorful little pictures. 2623 different ones are said to exist. Through them, a new level of written language has been established. The usually yellow faces with quite a few emotional expressions visualize and complement the statements of messages. Animals, sports, cars and planes or food can also be found in the emoji catalog.
Almost everyone who uses a messenger uses the colorful pictures. Perhaps you also communicate with your child or others in this way, ending your messages with a wink smiley or a red heart. Emojis have a purpose. Written messages can never be as clear and concise as face-to-face communication, because you can’t see what facial expression the other person has while writing. Emojis can also be used to express your feelings in text messages and even more: associations can be evoked. If you write “I’m going on vacation tomorrow” and place an airplane, a sun and a beach as emoji behind it, it’s quickly clear: It’s going to the south. In addition, feelings and impressions are conveyed, receptions should be able to better empathize with their own situation. They are mainly used for people who are close to each other.
Children and teenagers also send emojis generously. In general, this generation is a lover of pictorial communication. So it’s no wonder that 70% of teenagers send texts with emojis to share how they’re doing. For children and teenagers, sending and receiving the colorful icons and images also simply provides entertainment and fun. They prefer to use face emojis, which reflect the emotional world directly and unfiltered. The most popular emoji is the “tears of joy emoji”. The kiss emoji and the emoji with heart eyes are also particularly popular. They transmit clear messages. Or not: If you ask children about their experiences with sending and receiving the colorful images, they find that emojis can also quickly cause misunderstandings. So the messages are not always quite so clear. Is the emoji crying or sweating? Is it tired or sad, amused or just happy? But they are especially helpful when writing with friends who speak a different language.
Surely your child will also enjoy decorating messages with funny faces or animals. Nevertheless, it should be remembered that too many emojis can sometimes make communication difficult. Make your child aware that misunderstandings can quickly arise in communication via the smartphone. If you are unsure how a message is meant, you can simply ask.
