Does 👋🏻 mean something different than 👋🏾? What about ✊🏿 compared to ✊🏻? In 2015, Apple released a new array of emoji skin tones. Instead of only white or Simpson yellow, emojis range 5 colors, from a pale white (👍🏻) to a dark brown (👍🏿). The addition of these emojis rectified…
The newfound popularity of emojis and emoticons can be attributed to the human need for nonverbal communication, representing language progression and evolution. They serve to imbue digital writing with imperative nonverbal cues that would otherwise be lacking. For the first time in history, Oxford English Dictionary (OED) “Word of the…
David Golumbia’s course “Challenging Media Studies” at Virginia Commonwealth University provides a topical survey of issues in current digital media studies. Dr. Golumbia passed out a list of dozens of topics that were possible entry points into the class. Students voted on which topics they wanted to discuss, and each…