Imagine if you will a large, dark cave deep in the Indonesian forest. A prehistoric man sits watching his offspring vigorously begin to rub a pointed rock against one of the cave walls. He looks on as his son draws the outline of an animal that unfortunately for it, was killed for food earlier that day. His son finishes the outline and begins to fill in the prey with charcoal. After a few final touches the son looks back at his father, illuminated by the light of the fire. The father gets up and walks over to his son, he takes the charcoal from his son’s hands and begins to draw two dots with a with a line curving upward underneath, his son smiles and runs to eat his inspiration by the fire. What would you imagine the Prehistoric man’s message was to his son? If I were a betting man, I would put all my money on happy. You must be wondering why I am mentioning this as if it was something of significance, I mean; communication has become significantly more advanced since those days, right? If you said yes; you’re right. If you said no…you’re also technically right.
First, I want to marvel at technology in the 21st
century. There have been so many breakthroughs that have changed the world.
Electricity for one, Silicone, broadband…I could go on, but I’m pretty sure you
get the idea. Things have become so advanced that most of us don’t really
realize how far innovation and development has become. The first cellphone was
debuted in 1973, it has taken us a little over 30 years to be able to swipe
left on that weirdo on Tinder. Not only has it given thus that bit of fun, it
has also improved and revolutionized how we communicate with each other on a
universal scale. Conducting business across nations has become as easy as
clicking one button. I bet you’re saying, “Yes, we get it technology is ‘cray’
old man, let’s get to the point,” well, here it is; We have come full circle.
From those cave painters 35,000 years ago in Indonesia, to that “Bye Felicia”
meme you sent to your recent ex-girlfriend via whatsapp.
We are quite literally cave painting in the clouds. With
every meme we send, in lieu of an actual message with an explanation of your
feelings, we have resorted to sending emoticons, emojis, gifs, images and music
in order to communicate with each other. Which, in my opinion is actually
pretty cool.
Many people will be quick to judge and say that using these
things instead of actual text will dumb down our species; I say that it doesn’t
have to. Education is always a personal endeavor. If you don’t want to learn
anything new, you won’t. What need to shift our focus from shaming a particular
type of communication because it seems juvenile, to the desire for education
and growth. Now, the reasons I’ve joined the rebellion, are simple, I’ll just
list them to avoid rambling,
1
It allows a person to convey a real emotion.
There won’t be any miscommunication when someone makes you
happy and you send them a gif of Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air dancing the
“Carlton Dance.” There might be if you send the word “Yay” and forget to add
multiple exclamation points.
2
It promotes creativity.
Someone tells you to fuck off and instead of blind anger and
a reactionary response you may regret, it gives you time to think and be
creative with your answer. If you want it to be a series of emoji’s that tell a
story, or the song “Fuck You” by Cee-Lo Green. It gets your brain moving and
distracts you from a possibly harmful decision.
3
It’s fun as hell.
I don’t know about you, but I laugh my ass off when I find
the perfect gif for any particular situation.
I feel those are really solid reasons to appreciate the new
wave of artistic communication, and as you can see, I was able to maintain this
entire essay without the use of an emoji or emoticon…except the one in the
title.
