The great emoji debate

[IonaMumsnet]

Afternoon everyone,

So: emojis. We've had a few questions about these over the last few days. Some of you love them and some of you loathe them. The truth of the matter is that they came into being as a side-effect of a technical fix that we did; we didn't set out to introduce them (and in fact, didn't expect you to discover them quite as quickly as you did ). On the question of whether they stay or whether they go, it's really up to you lot. We can get rid of them again; equally, if you like having them, we're happy for them to stay. Over to you ...

You are never too d to use emoji.😱 My Mum is nearly eighty 👵🏻 and uses them all the time.

This is what she sent me after watching Wimbledon 😬

Hi,

🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🚽☕️🍪🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾☕️🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🚽☕️🏆🏆xxmum

What's that first one Clancy after 'use emoji'.

Your mum is a woman of few words, ClancyMoped . I imagine the threads in Relationships or AIBU will be exploding with emojis. No no no. Maybe a gin one though. Bombay Sapphire sponsorship to go with Cadbury's, MNHQ?

I'd rather they went. Prefer just having the original MN ones...

Sparkling it's a shocked 😱 face

No. Just no.

Oh like The Scream? It's a weird one.

Get rid. I would prefer none at all but just the standard MN ones would be an OK compromise.

As as lazy bugged one of the things I like about them in comparison to the mn ones is I just touch the picture and it comes up..with the originals there are [ to find which are a pita on my iPad keyboard
Don't really care if they are here or not.

No not a fan, preferred the older limited options they were fine as they were.

Just seen Clancy's post above. Definitely get rid of them please they're awful!!

Jesus H, the written word is hard enough to interpret(or easy enough to misinterpret) as it is without adding random little pictures that may or may not mean what you think they do.

I use emojis all the time in regular messages. But I don't like them here.

There's not much a can't summarise.

I like the MN ones. I particularly like the face and wish it could be used in many other places. It is the best face of its kind!

I don't mind a few of the more obvious florid ones, but I can't see most of the little faces or symbols well, even on the laptop, and have no clue what they're meant to be.

I get that some people like them but then some people like to type LOL after every 2nd sentence as well and that's not very MN either, is it.

I can't use them as I mostly type on the laptop, hate using my tablet to MN and have a thickphone so no MN on their at all! But that doesn't mean I'm automatically averse to them, just because I can't do it - on the other hand. I do really object to seeing piles of poo all over the place, and those vom emojis, and a lot of the more esoteric I-don't-have-a-fucking-clue-what-that's-meant-to-be types.
SOooo - after all that blether, I guess I'll go with "get rid".

I'm with Thumb's blether.

Although I am averse to them as well. And loads are squares on my laptop, may as well be Greek to me.

I don't mind the little MN smileys - but please please get rid of those new emojis.

I really don't like them. they are stopping people having proper conversations and debates. And they don't always display properly.
get rid please.

Oh fuck them off, seriously, we aren't 13.

Just because every other site goes down to the lowest common denominator doesn't mean MN has to.

DH and I actually had a very interesting discussion the other day about when a picture based language will overtake words. Don't speed it up MN

I've also noticed an increase in the hunning. I don't mind a "fuck off you knob" but I do mind "Awwww hugs hun". If I wanted that sort of shite I'd be on Facebook for fucks sake.

Gosh I'm a bit grumpy today. I have a bastarding kidney infection and the cat keeps trying to climb the bastard Christmas tree that the DC talked me into putting up last night.

This being MN we'd need a cunt and a fuck emoji as well and that might be a bit coarse.

I really do not want to see those emojis reni2.

What Purple said.

I would prefer an outright ban, but a compromise might be to open up a juvenile playground topic on MN where emojis can be used. Those who like them can emoji each other there to their hearts' content and leave the rest of us in peace.

We can then also stick all the "Awww hugs hun xxxx" newbies in there as well, where they can stay until they learn to write like adults.

Lol, I think the fact that many MN's can't see the emoji is a good and proper reason not to have them but I'm not convinced that the aguments that they are too childish, 'lazy' or downmarket for MN hold true. Have you read MUMSNET! It's full of fucks, cunt, cockwombles, clich'y acronyms and pictures of Terry Wogans bulge'y trousers. It not exactly an intellectual higher ground just because it doesn't have sparkly tickers. 😀😬😁😀😬😁

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