Emojis have slid into your DMs

LOL: Lots Of Love or Laugh Out Loud? Is the emoji with two palms clapsed used to clap or to pray? In the age of rapid communication via cell phones, texts with abbreviations, shortened words and emojis convey thoughts with less effort and less characters. Texting has taken over the world as the fastest method of communication, a new language for younger generations.

Short Message Service, the first form of texting in cell phones, was the pioneer of sending short messages quickly from one phone to another. Shorter than a proper email, quick communication over text has become the tool for people with busy lives.

Originally limited to 160 characters, SMS users needed to pack whole sentences into a couple of phrases, which eventually gave way to an essentially new type of language, nowadays known as textism or textese.

“When I started using Instagram and social media, abbreviations were quite new to me,” sophomore Vrishank Chandrasekhar said. “But after a while, it’s easier to understand.”

To send messages quicker, run-on sentences and lack of punctuation are forgiven as long as the receiver understands the message like spoken conversation. Common trends include replacing entire words with one letter and acronyms for common phrases, though meanings may be confused through short and abbreviated messages.

“If it’s a more serious topic, and I accidently put an exclamation, it just sounds kind of off,” senior Teresa Chen said. “My friends might be a little confused, but I think they understand it anyway.”

How often do you swear?

gender groups, differ from swearing in their connotation. Words like “c—nt” and “sl—t” are rooted in antiquated views of women as promiscuous and contemptible. “B— tch” can be seen as both a slur and a swear word depending on the audience, rooted in misogyny, and used to refer to women who rebel against societal norms. Many women, however, have reclaimed such terms to signify a compliment or form of empowerment for other women, an example of how the culture of the present shapes views of swearing. Slurs such as the n-word, which were more commonplace in the past, are now widely seen as derogatory due to changes and increased awareness in societal standards. The current generation is increasingly well informed about racial prejudice and discrimination, and open minded in terms of accepting different cultures and treating them equally.

It’s no question that swearing is complicated. Its ethics, origination and intention are not only crudely defined but also constantly changing. The present culture has its own rules for the use of slurs and swear words, yet their precedent for use is never fixed. Regardless, these short and punchy terms are ingrained in the English language — their capacity for use is ultimately up to the speaker.

As convenient as texting is, short messages are often misunderstood; the same message with varied wording or acronyms can completely change how it’s perceived. With the increased usage of texting within younger generations, it is important to separate and distinguish conventions for both formal English and casual texting.

“Sometimes I do use abbreviations in real life too, like ‘BRB’ or ‘ILY,’ ”Elangovan said. “It’s easier to say and just sneaks into normal English.”

While textism can occasionally slip into formal English, textism can exist as a language in addition to English — a separate set of words that people communicate in.

Developed by cell phone developer and artist Shigetaka Kurita in the late 1990s, emojis further helped texters save characters in messages by depicting emotions, symbols and ideas in small images. Since then, emojis have evolved to become an essential part of communication and internet culture.

“When it comes to texting, words are really just words,” Chandraeskhar said. “There’s not much tone compared to emojis or sending a random video of yourself crying.”

Having multiple unique uses is part of the criteria for a new emoji, though it may lead to misunderstandings of the emoji’s meanings.

“Some people don’t use emojis because they think it’s extra,” senior Sruti Elangovan said. “If you’re texting you can’t really convey the same tone as actual speech, so if it’s light hearted, you might as well just add an emoji to show that.”

The camera is set up. The lighting is perfect. And… action!

While watching Youtube videos is an entertaining pastime, for sophomore Colin Chow and juniors Haley Tamtoro and Adithri Sharmi, creating their own content is even more gratifying.

Chow started his Youtube channel, Coin Cow, while bored during quarantine. While he’s always imagined being a Youtuber, he derived inspiration to finally fulfill his dream from the TikToks and consistent creators that kept him entertained from childhood to his time in isolation. Chow began by posting snippets of his life, from adventures with his friends to basic school work. Tamtoro’s vlogger roots also originated with quarantine, when she grew interested in lifestyle videos, and specifically, the artistic videography her favorite creators used. What began as a simple obsession with popular Youtubers led to an exploration of video production, opening her horizons to playing around with exposure and framing cinematic clips. She joined Youtube under the name heyyelah, pledging to herself that she would make videos at least once a month for consistency.

“I wanted to make videos, but I had no kind of excuse to do so,” Tamtoro said. “Youtube holds me accountable.”

Singer Sharma expanded to Youtube after establishing herself on other platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

For all three students, the process behind posting Youtube videos follows the same basic steps of planning, recording, editing and uploading. Nevertheless, each has tailored the process to fit their own habits. Tamtoro primarily films on her phone for convenience and portability, while Chow uses a Canon camera for higher video quality. From production to editing, the completion of a video often requires advanced equipment and editing software. Chow and Tamtoro have invested both time and money into video production equipment, and are committed to producing high quality content.

Chow can spend anywhere from a couple of days to a week editing a video, painstakingly color grading, trimming and adding visual effects to his clips on Adobe Premiere Pro. Tamtoro spends roughly a week editing her videos, mainly during the night with LED lights the only source of brightness in her room, as she reserves the afternoons and evenings for homework and other school-related activities.

Posting consistent content on Youtube is a difficult task, especially during the school year and periods of creative burnout — when content creators lack inspiration to start a new project. For Chow, Youtube is more of a hobby, a passion project and not a priority, so he mostly works on videos when he feels a creative itch. He aims to find a balance between Youtube and his other pursuits, especially by producing a mix of more labor-intensive, longer videos and shorter videos.

“Youtube helped me realize that even the littlest moments in my life, no matter how many views that they received, are worth remembering,” Tamtoro said. “Moving forward, I hope to continue learning more about video production so I can document my experiences with greater creativity.”