Who is already using emoji rhetorically?
This infographic was released via a number of digital routes, including Twitter and Facebook, by the White House Council of Economic Advisors in October 2014. The graphic discusses the current statuses of Millennials across the nation including, debt, education, and health-care. Although the information itself is nothing mind-blowingly exciting, the method by which they chose to convey the information is, and speaks volumes about the innovative ways the White House is choosing to reach its audience. The infographic is riddled with emoji.
According to Randy Krum, in his book Cool Infographics, “Humans are recognition machines. . . [v]isualizing data taps into this pattern recognition ability and significantly accelerates the understanding of the data.” (16) The White House has used what it knows about the target audience i.e. Millennials, and capitalized on something that is familiar and commonly used by them i.e. emoji’s. Furthermore, this awareness is heightened because, the White House has used emoji’s in the way they were intended—to replace words in text. This adds to the authenticity of the message the graphic is sending; as a genuine attempt to connect to a younger demographic in a language they understand. Thus, generating interest in the information the graphic presents. Krum goes on to say, “The human ability to see patterns and trends quickly is the major reason why data visualizations are so powerful as components of infographic design” (16). |
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This image was shared on www.ardensday.com/ which is a blog about parenting children with type I diabetes. One mother had the bright idea to use emoji so she and her child could communicate his blood sugar levels. The article gained rapid popularity and is being implemented into many school's nurse's offices so that families students and healthcare professionals can work together to make sure students remain health conscious while at school. |
Bill Nye, self proclaimed and widely praised "science guy" created this video teaching the theory of evolution using emoji. This video really proves just how rhetorically effective emoji can be when using the many different ways we have adapted it into our culture. The video uses it for replacements, extensions and attaching emotion to teach viewers about this theory.
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