BLOG POST #4 EOTO: History and Impact of the Emoticon :)

                                      

    Emojis. You may know them as the cute little pictures on your keyboard, used to add character to your daily text messgaes or convey a certain feeling. Everyone is consistently using the red heart emoji, or the crying laughter, but what you may not know is the history behind the emoticon as a whole. The truth is, emojis go back way further than you think. 

    The first emoticon was used in 1979 by an American computer scientist, Scott E. Fahlman. He suggested that :-) could be used to represent a smiling face or a humorous post on a message board, while :-( could be used to represent a frowning face, and a serious post on a message board. By definition, an emoticon is "a group of keyboard characters that typically represents a facial expression or suggests an attitude or emotion and that is used especially in computerized communications". The invention of emoticons was primarily to add emotional context to messages in limited online spaces. 

    In 1988, the first full set of emojis was created. They did not look like the emojis we know and love today though, they were rather simple. However, this set was a huge jump from the previous keyboard combinations. This emoji set was released in Japan, and contained over 100 emojis. Following Japans emoji set, in 1997, the first emoji set was released on a mobile phone. Apple was finally able to debut their full set of emojis in 2011 during the IOS 5 software update. Emojis have continued to grow in popularity since. Emojis are used everywhere; in text messages, emails, social media bios, and so much more. As of September 23, there are over 3,700 emojis in total. 

    Emojis have greatly changed our world. In todays day and age, sending a text message is almost more popular than making a direct phone call. However, one issue with text messages is the misunderstanding that can come with them. If someone where to say something sarcastic, you may not know if it's sarcasm or if they were being serious. With emojis, it is easy to add a simple smily face or grinning emoji, which makes it easier to understand the intentions behind text messages as a whole. 

    According to Everyday Speech's article, "The Role of Emojis in Building Emotional Intelligence", emotional intelligence it a necessary asset that allows us as individuals to navigate our complex emotions and relationships as human beings. Specific skills are crucial for emotional intelligence, including self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. People with higher emotional intelligence levels have been proven to have better mental health and higher levels of life satisfaction. Emojis provide a universal langugage to help make digital interactions more inclusive. Individuals are able to recognize emotions, develop empathy and perspective, enhance self awareness, practice self expression, and also promote emotional regulation and self control through emojis. By using emojis, we can choose emojis that reflect the emotions that we want to convey to another individual. This helps to promote a more balanced mindset. 

    Overall, emoticons have come a long way since they were first used on message boards in the 1980s, and we continue to see newer emojis on our phones with each and every update. Our world would be vastly different without the invention of emoticons, and could lead to the destruction of relationships because of misunderstanding. In a world filled with social media posts and text messages, emoticons are our saving grace.