Most youths, including those of Goa, tend to prefer text-based conversations over calls or personal meet-ups. Most people don’t even meet in person at all to have meaningful conversation or to know what another person feels and the various online clubs created in Goa know that best.
“I started using emojis as soon as I got my first phone. I’m in a lot of WhatsApp pop culture clubs but I never knew it was influenced by manga.” says 17-year-old Arushesh Naik from Canacona. “I use the laughing with tears, smiling full moon, totem and crying emoji most often. They are kind of convenient because it helps me avoid certain conversations. Most of the time, I can just use laughing emoji if I don’t want to answer the text and call it a day. Sending emojis definitely made it easier to talk through text because it looks way better and it’s a funny way to communicate.” He also admits that though he prefers to use texting when talking to people, there are some things he can’t always get through with words alone. During these times, he believes calls are better. “Like, you can’t use emojis with your dad like you do with friends.”
Communication on the internet is fascinating. Everyday new terminologies appear from seemingly nowhere and keeping up with the times is difficult even for those who consider themselves as part of it. From handwritten letter to typed print via typewriter and then the computer to emails, text messaging and social media, technology has come a long way. One universal thing though, is the language of emoji.
The small cellular phones in the early 2000’s lead by the Nokia 3310 model was one of the earliest game changers with regards to text based communications. Emoticons had long been a concept by this time but its use in text-based communication had picked up with the use of cell phones. Prior though, in 1999 Japan, Shigetaka Kurita had already deigned the emoji so widely used today. The designs of emojis were heavily influenced by facial expressions and key visual symbols found in the popular Japanese manga and anime. Emojis like sweatdrop smiley face and the heart eyed smiley face were both influenced by popular manga character expressions.
For most of the 2000’s, Nokia dominated the telecommunication industry and extended into the popularity of emoji with Blackberry occasionally making its own impact on the market. After years of experimentation and attempting to connect phones to the internet, smart phones finally began to rise within the industry. And with smartphones, came a new age of instant communication. Along with this new age also came more socially anxious people that have begun to depend on these pictorial representations to get their thoughts and emotions across to the recipient.
“I started using emojis the day I installed my WhatsApp. I actually don’t know the origin of emojis, I just thought it was the creativity of WhatsApp IT Team.” says 21-year-old Uday Jadhav from Taleigao. “The most commonly used emojis by me is the sweatdrop smiley face and the laughing with tears emoji. If I could choose new emojis to be added, I would love to have ones for indoor games like chess, ludo, etc.” When asked about how he thinks emoji had affected telecommunication for him, he says, “I find using emojis convenient because it helps the reader to understand more about my reactions and feelings to the messages as they read what I’ve typed / texted. Many people nowadays use emojis more often than text. In this fast growing world, sending emojis saves a lot of time and doesn’t require much energy. Patience is required for texting without emojis.”
Anywhere you go, you will see someone on their phone with their thumbs tapping away. Text-based communication through WhatsApp and other social media apps has made it so that people can talk to more than one person at the same time. However, there are limitations when taking into account that only your words would be delivered but not your tone of voice. This is where emojis are more convenient in usage. In addition to this, the recently added feature of being able to react to text and images, people have ceased needing to think too long on their reply and simply press the heart to show their appreciation of a message.
“I might have some knowledge about the adaptation of emojis but I never gave to much thought into how they originated.” says Nikkita Kole, a 20-year-old from Siolim. When asked about how she felt about emoticons versus emoji, she answers, “I didn’t have to use emoticons. In fact, I don’t think this generation has to either. Emojis, as well as emoticons, were featured at the same time for us. On the other hand, if we thought back to our times without the everyday use of technology, then we are definitely the generation who drew emoticons on books and circulated them as a form of expression. Until the emoji was introduced through technology, our drawings were creative in the same form.”
Nikkita says that her favourite emojis include the crying one with ocean of tears running because it can express multiple meanings like extreme happiness or sadness or even questionable/ unexpected responses. When asked what other types of emoji she’d like to be added, she says, “Updates happen quite frequently but I would like to see an emoji that expresses thankfulness? Because we all use the hands that clap together but it’s having multiple interpretation, like praying and giving high fives.” Thought emojis haven’t made a huge difference in her personal mode of communication, she said that it does help the misinterpretation of some conversations. “I definitely think emojis have changed the way people communicate. Whether for informal or formal communication, most of the time, people will just add emojis at every sentence like it’s necessary. It also keeps conversations shorter instead of lengthening it with unnecessary pleasantries.”