Emoji Musings from Edelman Millennial, Carol Yeung.

If you get what I mean, we’re probably from the same generation - born and raised in the digital age and heavily reliant on social media. Emojis have become an integral part of everyday communications for millennials in Hong Kong. #smileyface!

The rise of emojis can be explained in 2-fold:

 

1. Spreading a little bit of love – emojis made it easier to convey emotions beyond words, especially positive ones. Research shows that emojis amplify positive emotions and mitigate negative ones. While emotions are mostly lost or misinterpreted in pure texts, emojis provide a universally understandable cue for the tone of the message and help to stem a positive emotional response from recipients. 

2. Visuals are the future language – as communications evolve, we need tools that can express ourselves and increase social intimacy in a quick and easy way. With vast amounts of information flooding in every millisecond, millennials prefer a quick and easy way to absorb information. Emojis serve the purpose by making content more visualized and digestible.

Still don’t get it? Check these out:

Chevy’s emoji release http://www.chevrolet.com/crack-the-emoji-code.html

Sony's up-and-coming Emoji Movie http://time.com/3967098/emoji-movie-sony-pictures-animation/