“He doesn’t use emoji’s when he messages.”
Chaos ensued. Something just didn’t sit right between me and the rest of the members of our sacred group chat; a group chat where my friends come together to talk about the daily occurrences of our lives; any particular emotions that need to be shared; and, the occasional analysis of our current love interests. This, of course, is all done with the excessive use of emojis. None of us could fathom how someone could converse via instant messaging without the use of round, yellow faces. Can the full meaning behind the message be conveyed without emojis nowadays? Think about it, there’s just no way a flirtatious text is complete without a wink or a sideways smirk. It’s just impossible. It’s the difference between ‘want to come over? ;)’ and ‘want to come over?’
However, with the new addition of this emotionless man in my friend’s life, all of a sudden, it became necessary to lay back on the emojis. In order to avoid bae from thinking of her as too childish or needy, the teary laughing emojis were replaced with plain lol’s.
And yes, not every lol is followed by a real life laugh out loud. And yes, not every teary laughing emoji is followed by a real life laughter that does, in fact, leave you crying. But sometimes, in order to make up for the lack of face to face interaction – a smiley face is exactly what you need to make the conversation a little more authentic.
Moral of the story – if bae doesn’t use emojis, he’s not bae. He’s the coworker whose number you have saved solely so he can cover for you when you’re running late for work. Dump him. Because a lack of emojis in conversation is a little bit like drinking decaffeinated coffee; it tastes the same as regular coffee, but it’s not exactly doing its job of making you feel the way you want to feel.
Energized. And full of life.
Of course, one can argue that not using emojis is a sign of true adulthood. Because only a real adult can understand a group of words without needing a quirky cartoon for added clarity. Emojis, however, are rather helpful in dictating serious conversations. Although, you may want to stray away from using emojis during really serious conversations – such as sending condolence texts with a broken heart when someone’s grandma dies. In that case, give them a call. Or pay them a visit. Making a casserole is also an option. Of course, if you’ve just sent out some passive aggressive texts about some overwhelming issues you’d like your roommate to work on (ie; picking their sh*t up from the living room floor), lightening up the energy with a few kisses and hearts would definitely help make things less awkward.
In an age of social media where miscommunication is an everyday problem for most users, sometimes the best thing to do is give your thumbs a rest and let your voice do the work. Because that’s where the true expression lies. Nothing will hide the bitterness in your voice when bae tells you about his spontaneous lunch date with his attractive coworker. Or the happiness/shock when your best friend tells you she’s engaged. So, maybe you shouldn’t dump bae. Give him a chance! A husky hello is sometimes all you need to get the full clarity of the message he’s trying to send.
But, when you do send that good night text at the end of that conversation; use a heart. You’ll thank me later.
How do you feel about emojis? Let us know in the comments below!
