Reading comments in different communities, I noticed that users hardly leave smilies. Why is that?
༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
I use them as a complement in my messages where I want to convey an emotion which isn’t obvious from the text itself. Like if I’m being self-deprecating in a joking manner, e.g. Not very easy to convey in text. But if I add some kind of smiling-ish emoji or something, it’s clearer that I’m not serious.
Overuse is cringe however.
If something isn’t obvious from the text, why not change the /style/ of writing instead of appending dissonant graphics? Make it obviously sarcastic or humorous, instead of leaving the users guessing if its satire or sincere expression.
Because it’s more effort to do and feels more artificial than using emojis. I’m not trying to craft literary masterpieces, I’m trying to have a conversation. With emojis, you get way closer to the feeling of a real conversation, where just the words are not the only signal that’s transmitted. Iirc there’s already some research into it, and it seems like people generally have started parsing emojis in text messages very similar to how they would parse tone of voice and facial expressions in a face to face conversation. I think it’s a great addition to written language, and you’re missing out if you’re not making use of it.
Edit to clarify: this applies to emoticons and emoji equally, even though I’m only mentioning emoji
