A little while back, I was texting a friend from home. We were catching up and I told her that my grandfather had just passed away, so I’d gone to Florida for the funeral. Almost immediately, she texted me back a red heart emoji. When I saw it, I was touched. But at the same time, I was a little taken aback, maybe even a little frustrated that she hadn’t written something like “I’m so sorry for your loss” or “Let me know if you want to talk.”
Nonetheless, there could have been a variety of reasons why she didn’t say any of these things. As students, we are incredibly busy, so we may not have time to respond to every e-mail or every text with incredible detail. In fact, we shouldn’t expect these types of responses all the time, and I do not fault her for not responding with more than an emoji. They are, after all, there for us to use. So why wouldn’t we? But this moment got me thinking. As technology use is rapidly increasing and expanding, Facebook stickers, emoticons, emojis and GIFs have changed the way we communicate, but not necessarily for the better.
Ever since the advent of Facebook, its users have been clamoring for a “dislike” button to pair with the “like” button. And though there is no indication that feature will be an option any time soon, at the end of February 2016 Facebook gave its users the ability to respond to a post on their newsfeed by clicking on one of five emoticons. The choices? “Love,” “haha,” “sad,” “angry” and “wow.” Now, people aren’t forced to default to “liking” a post.
According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook added the emoticons because they want users to be able to “express empathy and make it comfortable to share a wider range of emotions.” Facebook Product Manager Sammi Krug said this gives users the ability to “authentically react” to Facebook posts, adding that this new feature is an “easy” thing to do that “opens a lot of doors.”
Zuckerberg and Krugs’ statements indicate that they see the solution to a lack of emotion over Facebook to be animated happy and sad faces. Now, not only can you “like” something, but you can also “love” something. But to me, these statements are problematic. Don’t get me wrong. I think emoticons and emojis have a place in our communication. In fact, it would be cool if someone were to “love” a picture and comment.
I believe an emoticon could be a nice supplement to a comment, but it shouldn’t replace one — especially if the subject is very important or serious. We need to think more about how we use these emoticons and emojis, as we often, too willingly, replace a written sentiment with a little animated face or GIF.
By adding these emoticons, some can express anger about a New York Times article regarding the shootings in Brussels, for example, by simply clicking on the “angry” face emoticon. And by making “reacting” this easy, I believe we lose truly authentic and thought-out written comments.
In this way, we are essentially telling people that clicking the “love” emoticon is the same thing as typing out “I love you” or “This is a great article.” Similarly, these emoticons also emphasize a one — size — fits — all mentality. Take, for example, the “wow” emoticon. By clicking that, you could be saying, “Wow, that is really terrible” or “Wow, this is amazing,” which can be problematic given that an emoticon can’t easily distinguish between the two, unless someone takes the time to clarify what it means.
Words allow us to convey different levels of emotion that an emoticon cannot. If a post pops up on your newsfeed about the passing of one of your friends’ loved-ones, I am sure it could make you sad and you may feel inclined to click the “sad” emoticon. But then, right after, if a news story about the closing of your favorite store pops up, that may also make you feel sad, but it’s likely a different level of sad. What are you going to do then? Click the “sad” emoticon?
To me, these events are different and elicit two different levels of sadness. I would feel odd using the “sad” emoticon for both and just leaving it at that. It is my belief that these emoticons don’t encompass all emotions, nor do they always do a good job of conveying what we actually mean to say without some explanation. That is where words can and must come in.
Although many see Facebook’s newest feature as a blessing, finally a way to more accurately express how you feel about something, I am wary to accept it without reservation. I would like to see the written word make a comeback. And the best way to do that is to give us fewer ways to hide behind GIFs, emojis and emoticons. Or if you are going use emoticon, maybe write a little something to go along with it.
Anna Polumbo-Levy can be reached at annapl@umich.edu.