Emoji Can Help Men Understand Women, Expert Claims
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Emojis play such a huge part in our conversations these days, isn’t it? Every single message we send, sometimes, even the official ones, we use the emoticons to express a little better. The use of emojis while communicating has become so intense that at times, people end up replying back with a single emoji to signal their reaction or their opinion about the message sent to them.
And if you’re someone who doesn’t use emojis, then you might as well be regarded as a cold man or woman. For those who don’t know, emojis were invented by a Japanese artist, Shigetaka Kurita in the year 1999. However, they weren’t used or adopted until 2010. It was in the year 2010, that the United Consortium recognized the 176 images designed by Shigetaka Kurita as emojis.
And then it was Apple who was the first one to introduce emojis on their keyboard in 2011 followed by Android in 2013. This is when emojis went viral and the rest is, well, history.
Emoji’s Role In Relationships
Many might dismiss emojis as small and unimportant little things. But right now, in the current world, they can be regarded as a connective between two people. Now, why do people use emojis in their conversations, especially couples? See, few use them simply because using emojis are fun and of course, cute! Some use it because it makes their communication job easier. For example, imagine typing a message “Great! That sounds good” instead, one can just send a thumbs-up emoji. Both mean the same right?
Even Vyvyan Evans, Professor of Linguistics and a Language and Communication expert says, “People who don’t use emojis are challenged in a digital context in the same way that you would be if you were unable to change the tone of your voice. If you don’t use them it might be because you don’t realize how much your messages are being misunderstood.” Vyvyan who also authored a book “The Emoji Code” which concerns about the same further adds that, “As online communication takes over from aspects of face-to-face interaction, we need to use emojis to better express ourselves, to help people relate to us and to successfully convey our personality” (1).
Emojis also help convert the bland digital world of communication into a much more fun one. Couples can go cheesy and not overdo things by using emojis instead of Plain Jane text messages. Now imagine someone sending you “Kiss Kiss Kisses Kiss Kiss” this would probably creep you out. But imagine if your partner sends a hundred kissing emojis instead, you’d blush in amazement, isn’t it?
Emojis Usage: Male Versus Female
If you’re a male and you have a female partner who uses emojis way too often to express herself. You’re a lucky man! We’ll tell you why…
There’s no doubt that females are way more expressive than their male counterparts; therefore, they use emojis more than men. Women usually are shy in nature and emojis help them to express their thoughts which they might otherwise not be able to do through words. And most importantly dear men, it helps you understand your woman’s mood in a better manner.
We’ll explain that with an example here. Now, imagine your girlfriend sent you this message: “What the hell?” What would you think of it to be? As her man, you’d probably start thinking in your head “now what wrong did I do?” Her message will make you worried. Now, at the same time, imagine your girlfriend sends the same message like this: “What the hell? (insert laughing emoji)” This message will convey that your girlfriend is laughing because according to her whatever message you sent her was funny! See the difference now?
Emojis help interpret the meaning of a message the right way! And oh! We forgot to remind you that a human brain processes images a thousand times faster than text. Even studies have proved gender greatly influences the interpretation of emojis and also usage of emojis (2).
While Using Emojis, ‘Context’ Is Everything
You need to understand that not all conversations call for the usage of emojis. And if you are just a beginner and have just started using emojis then here’s the basic rule: never start sending emojis to a person on your own. Be patient and wait until you receive an emoji in the messages. So, basically, what we’re trying to say is that emojis makes for a lighter mood of conversations. Imagine your partner is angry or upset with you and you send a notorious emoji to them? Things might get worse, right? Therefore, always make sure to use emojis only when the person who is messaging you has already sent them.
We always have this urge to use emojis in our official e-mail conversation at work with bosses or colleagues. Some of us even end up using them. However, let us inform you that a majority of working professionals think that it is highly unprofessional to use emojis while in official conversations.
Also, make note of the platform where you are messaging. Social media platforms and dating platforms are places where you can always use emojis. In fact, a study conducted by Clover, a dating app, states that when they conducted a study on their nearly 90 million users, they could find out that women were at least 5 percent more likely to respond message requests that have emojis in them (3).
Lastly, we’d like to tell that while understanding your partner better for your relationship, make sure you don’t overdo with the emojis. Also, be aware of the different emojis and their meanings. You don’t want to irk your partner by sending a wrong emoji, do you? Happy emoji-loving everybody!
