
That Emoji Does Not Mean What You Think It Means - andygambles
http://gizmodo.com/that-emoji-does-not-mean-what-you-think-it-means-1770296372
======
dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11446047](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11446047)

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Strilanc
Notable error in the article. They say:

> _about half of the characters used on Instagram are emoji
> ([http://gizmodo.com/emojis-are-becoming-the-dominant-
> language...](http://gizmodo.com/emojis-are-becoming-the-dominant-language-
> of-instagram-1701819068#_ga=1.199050415.1606256242.1460027476) )_

but the linked article says:

> _As of March 2015, nearly half of all text-based communications over
> Instagram contained emoji._

That's a huge difference in meaning.

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bdz
Here is the paper

[http://grouplens.org/site-
content/uploads/Emoji_Interpretati...](http://grouplens.org/site-
content/uploads/Emoji_Interpretation.pdf)

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zeveb
So, I've been texting a gal for awhile. I use Android; she owns an iPhone. Now
I'm worried that I've been sending her the wrong signals.

Whoops.

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maxerickson
It's nice to see that comments sections are moving away from illiterate bile
towards performance art.

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vit05
As emoji have become more popular in the corporate messages, this could be a
really big problem. I usually contact my credit card operator in chat, and
they always include an emoji. Sometimes I really don't understand why they
send that smile that is looking as someone anxious. But know I understand
better.

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Dove
When I look at the emoji they show for the "grinning face with smiling eyes",
three of them strike me as being nowhere close to that description. But I am
especially intrigued that the three of them all fail in the same way: the
mouth is flat with teeth bared, like a growling dog. I interpret that as much
closer to a grimace than a grin.

What's really interesting about that is that it seems like a really unlikely
mistake to make. Grins bend the corners of the mouth upward, yes? Surely not
many people would say no? At least in the cartoon language of emoji, I would
have expected that to be universally agreed upon.

That suggests to me a common cause rather than independent error. Was it a
mistake that propagated through copying? Did one initial mistake become
established through usage as meaning something different from the specs?
Something else?

It would be interesting to know the lineage of these faces and to understand
where the mistake was initially made, and if perhaps it was perpetuated
intentionally. None of the other emoji have misconstrual measurements anywhere
close to that one, which suggests a story.

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draw_down
On the iPhone the difference between the "grimacing" emoji and the one
discussed here is extremely slight (the grimacing one has circles for eyes
instead of arches). The grimacing one is supposed to be the actual negative
one.

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cryptoz
[removed]

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Jtsummers
I'm not sure it's really changing, emoji gives us a tool for something many of
us did in grade school when writing notes. We drew faces and other things on
the messages. That experience has largely not carried over to computer/phone
messaging apps.

Besides, we've had smileys for ages as well. ^_^, :), :-P, D:, :-E
(bucktoothed vampire), etc. have all been around for a while and predate
emoji, which just give us a single character representation (and a variety,
several types of smiles and frowns and sweating and crying that can be used
for different things).

