EOTO Response: Presentation on Emoticons and Emojis

While I had the pleasure of researching the history and the impact of the iPhone, I found it very interesting to understand the nature of communication through the device. A big part of messaging on smartphones has to do with the introduction and constant use of emoticons. While I was familiar with most of the topics that were presented during the first EOTO project, I was unaware of the history of emoticons and emojis and just how much of an impact they had.

Mia Gazzara was the one who presented about emoticons, and she explained that there were arguments on who actually invented them. There were emoticons used dating back to a poem in the 1600s, but it’s widely regarded that Scott Fahlman was the ‘father of emoticons’. The increase in emoticon usage came as the internet grew, especially during a time where it was easier to send a smiley face rather than type out a sentence expressing a feeling. Over time, emojis came about, and the first Apple colored emoji came out in 2008, near the time that the original iPhone was released.

Emojis and emoticons have grown a lot since their beginning, with what started as just punctuation marks became linear images, which then evolved into animation and then eventually the emojis that are used today. Emojis have become their own form of communication, with people being able to have a conversation without words being written. Two people who speak different languages could have a full back-and-forth talk and completely understand each other through the usage of emojis. Emoticons have truly changed the way people communicate, and has definitely become a major part of messaging.