Random Thoughts 1

Hello! I wasn’t totally sure what topic to cover so I figured I’d talk about something that’s been swirling around in my mind the past few days.

Are you an emoji/emoticon user? When I say emoji/emoticon I mean things like 🫠😱🥰, or :p <3, or evenヾ(*'▽'*) and  (」°ロ°)」. I am an avid user of all of the above when I text. However, despite my constant usage of them, I never considered the variety of interpretations an emoji could have. Whenever I text someone, my brain naturally inserts different expressions that I think fit whatever I'm writing. After sending a message with emojis or emoticons, I rarely stop to think about why I sent that particular emoji or how the other person/people seeing the message might interpret it. I honestly assumed that everyone had a generally similar perception of the quadrillion emojis on our keyboards nowadays. It was recently brought to my attention that this is not always the case. In fact, I found out that even my friends and I have had entirely different interpretations of the same emoji we had been sending to each other. 

Just last week, one of my friends asked what I meant whenever I used the “🫠” emoji, an emoji that I find myself using quite often during the midterm season. At the time, I tried to explain that it was sliding/melting into the floor but could not articulate further. I have used the emoji in many scenarios and thus did not have a concrete definition behind its meaning. In one instance I might use the emoji to show my dread or embarrassment over something and my subsequent desire to disappear or melt away into the floor, and in other instances I might use it to just convey that I’m overwhelmed with work. After being unable to explain what emotion “🫠” actually represented across all the times I had used it, I started wondering what other emojis I had been using that could have multiple meanings.

To clarify, I don’t think that there is a wrong way to use emojis. However, since realizing that some emojis that are more widely used and thus more universally interpreted, I have begun to question how other people interpret some of the less straightforward emojis and emoticons. For reference, an example of a more universal emoji is the “🥳” emoji, which is a sign of congratulations or celebration no matter the context it is used in. On the other hand, emojis such as 🤩, 🥴, 🥲, 🧐, and 😋 could have different meanings depending on their context and who is reading them. Some other emoticons that could have mixed interpretations include :3, :p, T-T, uwu, (o^▽^o), (//▽//), (」°ロ°)」, ヽ( `д´*)ノ , 。゜゜(´Ｏ`) ゜゜。, (☆_@), Σ(°△°|||)︴, and ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌. I would love to hear your thoughts on what you think some of these mean! (for easier viewing I have included the emoticons below).

:3

:p

T-T

uwu OR UwU

(o^▽^o)

(//▽//)

(」°ロ°)」

ヽ( `д´*)ノ 

。゜゜(´Ｏ`) ゜゜。

(☆_@)

Σ(°△°|||)︴

┐(￣ヘ￣)┌