()(-_-)()

I <3 to talk about ()(-_-)() and emojis. These symbols formulate a language used by teens when texting. It is a unique type of rhetoric that involves using art to express on's emotions,rather than words (The concept of this idea is either mad genius, or incredibly stupid. It can go both ways really). Everyday more and more symbols are being added and it's very hard to keep up. It has come to a point where if you don't know an emoji, you would search it up on Urban Dictionary, the Wikipedia of slang. When it comes to internet slang this is the go-to place for most adults (and some clueless teens). But a question that many may ask is: Why do these emojis/ ()(-_-)() even exist in the first place? 

Well, an answer to that  may be because we are limited on how we express ourselves. As social media becomes more and more advanced, our tendency to pay attention to something decreases. Youtube was created so that the whole world can share videos with each other, but recently Vine is becoming more and more popular. Vine is basically Youtube with seven videos. Snapchats are becoming increasing popular along with Instagram. Basically, our attention span has decreased to such a standard that maybe in future generations, Vines may not exceed three seconds. Like these social media sites, texting in as few words as possible has also become a norm. Pictures are worth a thousand words so why not use them?   

It is important to note the difference between an emoji and an emoticon/()(-_-)(). A emoji is a presaved image on a smartphone (that can help save the letter count) while an emoticon is a manually typed out image (for example <3, :), ;D). In my opinion, emoticons are more creative because you can create an unlimited number of expressions while emojis have a set, limited number of images. 

The addition of an emoticon has the power to change the meaning of a sentence entirely. Here are some examples:

 I'm going to eat early tonight :-)          (Happy face)

I'm going to eat early tonight :-(           (Sad face)

I'm going to eat early tonight :-||           (Angry face)

I'm going to eat early tonight ;-)           (Wink)

I'm going to eat early tonight :-D         (LOL)

I'm going to eat early tonight :-/           (Uneasiness)

I'm going to eat early tonight :-P          (Tongue out)

As the years progress on, who knows what is in store? Emojis are used more often than emoticons, and thousands upon thousands of different variations of emojis are being added on each day. Maybe in about twenty years or so, books may start publishing in emojis (I seriously hope not).