Evolving emojis: extraneous or essential?
The Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year for 2015 was not a word at all, but an emoji – specifically, the face with tears of joy.
Oxford Dictionary revealed to have chosen this “pictograph” as the word of the year because it was the most used emoji of the year, and therefore chose to identify it as the “word” that best expressed the mood of the year 2015.
Emojis have transitioned from being used primarily while texting to a form of expression that has a place in many areas, even politics. Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and now front running candidate for the Democratic party, tweeted in August of this year, “How does your student loan debt make you feel? Tell us in 3 emojis or less.” While scrolling through Instagram, it is almost impossible to go down more than one picture without seeing some sort of emoticon.
Oxford Dictionary’s choice of an emoji for the word of the year, clearly illustrates a transition in language. Instead of using words to reveal emotions, a simple blush face or the angry purple devil emojis does just the trick to reveal one’s emotions. The emoji has become a sense of security, as it makes it is easier for the individual to really show exactly how they feel simply by attaching an emoticon onto their words.
Michael Hellard/Prowler
