The crutch of emojis…And autocorrect

Originally printed in the pages of Simply Family Magazine’s January 2018 issue.

Never miss an issue, check out SFM’s digital editions, here! 

So, I'm a writer, right? I love me some words – real, made up. It doesn't matter; I love words and putting them in all the pretty places. Because of this deep affection for words, I find myself in a bit of a conundrum thanks to the wiles of new/fun/adorable advances in technology. I should start by saying that I’m the girl who is so far from being on board with abbreviated texting that that ship has sailed halfway around the world by now. I’m the person who uses all the punctuation and full words when texting. Case in point, I’ve only recently embraced the actual usage of “Ok,” instead of “Okay,” and that only happened because I looked it up and “Ok” is apparently the preferred version. Ok…If you say so. (It just seems so wrong, and kind of mad). But I digress. The point: you might never see an “LOL” or a “luv u” leaving my keyboard, but there is something else lurking in this new age of ever-changing technology that I have embraced with gusto. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…

Emojis.

I LOVE emojis. So much. It’s kind of a problem. Help might be needed. I didn't really recognize it for the crutch it has become until I felt disproportionately sad about not being able to use emojis in ALL of my writing endeavors; like professionally, not just on social media or in texting. A small wave of panic washed over me recently as I wondered, “Will people really understand what I’m trying to convey here without that glorious little yellow feeling-expresser?” Which took me back to where we started: “You’re a writer. Use. Your. Words!”

Oh, riiiiiight. My words. Yes, good call.

Between a growing dependence on emojis and how autocorrect has utterly spoiled us (when it’s not driving a person completely batty), it’s a wonder anyone can string together any kind of coherent written thoughts. Surely I’m not the only person who’s annoyed when I’m typing on an actual computer and it doesn’t just automatically tack in the apostrophes or read my mind on what word I’m aiming for. So spoiled.

Maybe we are spoiled and maybe the emojis and autocorrect and abbreviated texting might have become crutches, but oh, what a fascinating time to be alive! (See, I could really use a “Beaming Face with Smiling Eyes” emoji here).