Overview
In the absence of physical cues like tone of voice and facial expressions, young people are increasingly using the materials provided for them for digital communication in unexpected or unintended ways to allow for more nuanced online communication. This is a new form of digital placemaking, as more and more our digital relationships and interactions hold a weight that rivals our physical ones. Through participatory research, this project explores how digital communication has evolved within the constraints of modern day messaging platforms, and how it can be furthered without them.
Insights Gained
- People (particularly young people) bend the rules of written language when communicating online to add nuance in a space where physical indicators like tone of voice and facial expression are absent. This can involve using punctuation in new ways, spelling words differently, using uppercase and lowercase letters in non traditional places, and using images, letters, emojis, and more to create hybrid emojis or reaction images that convey a hyper-specific emotion.
- Different digital communities use language slightly differently, with alterations to spelling, punctuation rules, emoji use, and the use of keywords.
- Linguistically these alterations by community can be compared to different dialects of the same language, as opposed to different languages entirely.
- The medium we use and the tools given to us influence the way we express ourselves. Interfaces for digital communication are constrained, and often more creative expression occurs in digital environments with fewer constraints.
Process
As digital communities develop and overlap, new systems and methods of communication begin to emerge - some widespread, some regional. I looked to understand these digital communities and the language that tied them together, using my own knowledge as a digital native as a starting point.
After sifting through a lot of internet content, I realized that the common thread I was interested in was the digital trend of combining and repurposing digital elements to create content that conveyed a more specific emotion or situation that could be evoked simply by using the base tools given to us by digital platforms (words, emojis, GIFs).
opportunity for intertextuality — internet allows for bottom up creative expression through the re appropriation of text, images, and memes
Examples: Reaction photos
Overuse of emojis
Layering
Hybrid Emojis
Japanese Emojis
In the past few years Japanese emojis have made their way into primarily english speaking digital communities. Due to the greater number of characters in the Japanese writing system, with several thousand kanji being in regular use, there is a significantly wider range of analog emoticons.
“Tools” from Current Keyboard
- QWERTY keyboard
- gifs (digital only)
- stickers
- emojis
Workshop Components
- Roll two emotion dice to come up with a complex emotion. Create an emoticon that conveys that emotion using QWERTY keyboard elements.
- Using the same emotion from the first activity, create an emoticon that conveys that emotion using IOS emoji components.
- Change the tone of basic phrases using punctuation post-it notes.
- Contribute to the Digital Dictionary.
Workshop Photos
Workshop Results
More workshop results to come!