☆ENGLISH ONLY☆コミュのWhy do Japanese like to use lots of emoticons in their writings?

What do you think about this?
Let's discuss.

コメント(43)

最初
全て
最新の40件

前

[5] mixiユーザー 06月27日 04:58

Ooooh

I love using a lot of emoticons

They're fun~

[6] mixiユーザー 06月27日 05:21

I'd have to say that a generalization...

Everyone uses Emotioncons.....

And not just on Mixi either... MSN or AIM or any kind of Social Network.. It just helps express the sentence better.. In a visual way...

[7] mixiユーザー 06月27日 05:52

Is it a generalization? I don't know. I can say that from my perspective as a college kid who does a lot of correspondence with far-away-friends that among young people, I feel there is a higher propensity for japanese or in-japan friends to use emoticons in their mails than those who are/have always been in America. Of course I know Americans who do use them and Japanese who don't, but I do for some reason have a hunch that it is more common for Japanese people to use them.

So why is that? The way I feel about it, aside from making your writing fun and "cuter,"emoticons are really there to serve the purpose of making your message less ambiguous. Because you can't read tone from text, people need a little something extra to communicate to the reader that when they say for example "don't be dumb" they are joking, and not angry. The way I see it, there are two basic solutions to ambiguous writing. You either add more words to the sentence until the meaning becomes perfectly clear (e.g. "come on man, don't be dumb, you know as well as I do . . ." etc.) or you use emoticons. Now, why one person would choose to be more descriptive and the other express themselves visually . . . is a question that interests me. I think its probably a personal choice however, and I'm not sure that theres a cultural explanation for it really (or to say it more concretely, I think that if there are indeed more people in Japan who like to use emoticons, it is because there just happens to be more people in Japan who choose to express themselves visually, nothing more) . . . I'm not sure its really an answerable question, but it kinda interests me.

[8] mixiユーザー 06月27日 07:15

hehe. Sad that you had to write so much to clear up the
fact that you quite obviously know it's a generalization,
but still think it's an interesting one, worth talking
about, and may actually be correct.

Cheesh!

Hmm. Maybe a new signature is in order.

"The previous post may or make not any sense, and if you find it offensive, I apologize in advance. Any generalizations are my own, and you are welcome to disagree or agree as you see fit. Not that I have any right to determine that you are welcome, since you can clearly agree or disagree without my persmission to do so. If you find the topic worth discussing, your contributions are appreciated. If not, please understand that there may be those who would like to talk about this matter and don't desire hecklers. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. The subject manner may not be appropriate for all ages, and comes with no warranty as to suitability or interestingness. Some assembly required."

[9] mixiユーザー 06月27日 10:55

I like emoticons.

It's like a colorful array of sprinkles there to brighten my messages.

[10] mixiユーザー 06月27日 14:18

There are a lot of emoticons that i can't understand. It' kinds of new words that young people made. It's ok to use among people you know well
but, To people you don' know well it's not polite. You 'd better take care when you use the emoticons

[11] mixiユーザー 06月27日 14:28

i think it's because Japan is a country of manga. Older people tend not to use them because they were not exposed to manga so much and probably they can express themselves by words only. Younger generations are quite opposite.

[13] mixiユーザー 06月27日 15:22

　　　　　　　 __,,.;-''´;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;｀‐-､._
　　　　　　 r´;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;'ヽ、
　　　　　（;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:::::''''''''''''''''::::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;i、
　　　　　　`i;;;;;;;;;::'''　　　　　　.....::.;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;i　
　　　　　　　''''''/　　　　　　　　.......::::::::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;l　
　　　　　　　　/　 ,＿_ 、＿＿＿::::::::::;:::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;i 　　
　　　　　　　⊥ _ f ‐._´`i￣￣￣ ::::::: r´ ｀i,;;;;;;,l 　
　　　　　 r´. l_,.,i t, "~’j　　　　　::　　ヽ,　.ｌ;;;;;;i 　　
　　　　　'i､　|'~ﾉ ,ヾ-‐´　　　　　　 l ィ´, ﾉ;;;;ｌ、　
　　　　　　`-+イ､,・ .)、　　　　　　　`;- ´ ;;;;;;;ｊ　　
.　　　　　　　`::ﾉ ,=--､ヽ　　　　　　　　　／';、
　　　　　　　　`i ､==‐ﾌ　　　　　　　　,／　　ヽ--―--、
　　　　　　　　 `i、"´　　ノ　　　　.ィ´　　　　_.ィ´　　　,,＞ー-､_
　　　　　　　　　ヽ__, ,ィ"´　　 ,.ィ´　　　　,.ィ´ //　　／　　　''" `i、
　　　　　　　　〃´　 >- 、　／　　　　　／　 //　 /´　　〃彡ﾌ　i、
　　　　　　　 /　　,ﾉ　,=､ヽ/\　　　 ,:'´　　 /／ /　　　　／　　　 `i、
　　　　　　 /| l　ノ’／　　Ｙ　　\　／　　／　〈/　　_ .ィ´　　　　　　i、
　　　　　　ｌ　ｌィ´イ´　／　|　　　｀´　　　ﾉ　　 .ll　_.ィ´　　　　　　　　`i、
　　　　 .|　|　i.　／　　 |　i,　　　　　　/　　 .||イ　　　　　　　　

[14] mixiユーザー 06月27日 15:38

I think part of the reason is that Japanese writing in conmparsion to western ones has a more graphical nature. Like the Kanji characters have their meaning developed from the image rather than from combination of the alphabet. This may naturally lead to using more icons in writing.

[17] mixiユーザー 06月27日 18:38

Of course it's a generalization, but like most generalizations, it's true more often than not, and yeah, I think a lot of Japanese writing overuses emoticons.

>＠今: Older people tend not to use them because they were not exposed to
>manga so much and probably they can express themselves by words only.
>Younger generations are quite opposite.

It's funny, but I have only noticed overusage when comments, etc. are by women - particularly a kind of older woman who is trying hard to be "kawaii" or "onnarashii" and retreats from any serious discussion. We females can get away with that stuff when we're 18, but past 50, it just makes us look like airheads!

Anyway, sorry, but I really dislike the sissy-sweet MIXI emoticons, and wish they had a few that were a little more wicked/sarcastic in tone. Below are the ones that make me want to gag the most:

[18] mixiユーザー 06月27日 18:47

Oh c'mon, you should be able to put

and

to good use

[20] mixiユーザー 06月27日 23:19

what #17 said.

99% of the mixi emoticons are not only utterly useless but they also send chills down my spine when i see them. these emoticons must be the best thing since sliced bread though, because those who have the literacy of a three year old can now get their ideas across with a deluge of eyesores that is the mixi emoticons.

but seriously, mixi could do me a huge favour by allowing me to hide the emoticons from diaries because they are aesthetically challenged, and are insulting to the intelligence of the users who can actually write just fine using text only. the obvious issue with hiding the emoticons, of course, is that the majority of the entires you see on this website would be reduced to unintelligible strings of words, now without the visual aid of emoticons that some people so heavily rely on.

[21] mixiユーザー 06月27日 23:49

Hello!

My name is Toshiko. I just become a member of this community tonight.

To: Taro-san

Well, I'm living in the United States and I've been using American cell phones for couple years. I don't know about England, but American cell phones do have animations, pictures, and sounds to show our emotions. We can also change the font, colors of the letters, and the colors of the background. They are not as cute as Japanese pictures, but they are good enough for the people in the United States.

However, most American people do not use those options. I love to use the animations and pictures when I'm in Japan, but I don't really use them in the United States. The only time that I use those options is when I'm writing a birthday message or any other special messages.

My guess is that those animations, pictures, and sounds are quite new options in the United States and not very many people know about them. I didn't even know that my phone had such options until this last year!

Most American people just use symbols to show their emotions when they write messages.
For example, :) and :D are smiley faces, :( is sad face, :p is a face like this→

...etc.
I use these faces more often than using the animations or pictures. They are just like the faces that Japanese people used to use a lot.
For example, (^o^) and (^_^) are smiley faces, (ToT) is sad face... and so on.

I believe once American people realize that they can use those options to make their message cuter or easier to understand, they will do it. Just like Japanese people started to use them.

Well, I'm so sorry that my message became such a long message...

What do you guys think about my guess??? Does anybody agree or not agree with me???

[22] mixiユーザー 06月28日 00:26

Man I need to take a dump

[23] mixiユーザー 06月28日 00:41

In my country (Portugal) the number of people who Don't use emoticons in their messages is extremely reduced...

Of course, I'm talking about teenagers and people in their 20's.

After the 30's, people usually stop using emoticons. (but I know some exceptions!)

[25] mixiユーザー 06月28日 01:09

Okay, there was supposed to be a poo-poo emoticon at the end of my "i need to take a dump" comment, which I posted from my cell phone. I'm looking at the post now from a pc, and it's not showing the all-important poo-poo. Oh well.

I rarely use emoticons myself. I find the overuse of them to be a minor nuisance, and nothing more than that. The level of antipathy that I've seen here from some people is baffling to me, but I guess we all have our pet peeves.

[26] mixiユーザー 06月28日 01:15

I think, using emotions is a very natural thing for japanese.
If you dont use it, the japanese feel uncomfortable with it.
But actually I dont know why we started using it...
maybe its just because there are emotions..haha

[27] mixiユーザー 06月28日 01:23

because its cute

,isnt it?
Get a pale mail colorful is a sender's little hope that get u happier.

[28] mixiユーザー 06月28日 01:26

I cannot agree with the description that Japanese like frequent use of emoticons: it's a sort of over-generalization. As far as I understand and observe, emoticons are frequently used by women, young and old, while men are apt to fill the diary or emails with just letters. I guess that this is a difference that comes from that of gender, so that young men, if they like to behave in harmony with young girls, tend to use emoticons more often than those men without such tendencies.

[30] mixiユーザー 06月28日 11:49

I'm definitely digging these limited edition ones though

natsukashii.... www

[32] mixiユーザー 06月28日 16:22

swan (#28)

>> I cannot agree with the description that Japanese like frequent use of
>> emoticons: it's a sort of over-generalization.

Agreed wholeheartedly. That's exactly what I stated in #2. It's almost like asking why Americans love guns. Oh well...

[33] mixiユーザー 06月28日 16:54

I like the dead ones.

[35] mixiユーザー 06月29日 21:49

だいはど、thank you for your understanding. I was wondering whether or not my use of the term _overgeneralization_ may be appropriate in this context.

[36] mixiユーザー 06月29日 22:32

Why can we use some emoticons on skype or on MSN? I wonder who can use it

[37] mixiユーザー 06月29日 23:27

I use a lot of emotion in emailing my friends, as it is a good way to express my feeling. Without it, email may look like reserved and too cool.Also, sometimes it is useful not to too much frunk. When I say something a little bit negative, like " I would be late" " Sorry I don't like to do this" , I use emotion not to tell them it directly.

Email is totally difference with talking in face to face. It's difficult to notice other's true feeling and to tell them.I don't want to hurt people's feeling and be misunderstood by them..

In addition, emotion mark is cute.

[38] mixiユーザー 06月30日 03:05

I'm newcomer. Just wanna have a say.

Well, as I read the comment by 37tsas, I came to the conclusion that Japanese people are by and large poor at express their emotions than Europeans (or Americans or who ever). We are less skilled at use language such as 'wonderful', 'splendid', or 'briliant' in our daily conversation, nor do we have many emotional words in Japanese language as such, so we need to use emoticons to help ourselves understood better. Though maybe some (especially young) people think using emoticons makes their writings more cute.

Indeed, when I chat/e-mail/message with non-Japanese, only a few of them put emoticons in their conversation frequently, but the opposite with Japanese friends.

BTW, the word 'emoticon' sounds really Japanese. Just conbine words and make it shorter... hahaha

[39] mixiユーザー 06月30日 06:05

I asked this very question before, and here's the answer I got back from Japanese folks:

emoticons
- express emotions (☄ฺ◣д◢)☄ （笑）
- cute ♬(｡￫ܫ￩｡)

That's about it, I guess. And using flashy blinking eye-hurting emoticons is not solely Japanese thing, they're all over the Net: chat clients, forums etc etc. Japanese are a bit more creative, though...

(｡≖ิ‿≖ิ) ･*:..｡♡*ﾟ¨ﾟﾟ･*:..｡♡*ﾟ¨ﾟﾟ･*:..｡♡*ﾟ¨ﾟ･*:..｡♡*ﾟ¨ﾟﾟ･*:..｡♡*ﾟ¨ﾟﾟ･

[40] mixiユーザー 06月30日 06:32

＠今 (#11)

>> Older people tend not to use them because they were not exposed to manga
>> so much

I'm not sure how true it is. Comic books were literally all over the place as early as the 1970s. I grew up reading 5-6 weekly manga magazines, and I was not an exception back then.

swan (#35)

You're welcome. Glad to have someone who shares my view on this. :)

[41] mixiユーザー 06月30日 08:02

Thanks for the hasty generalization.

I use emoticons as well, though mainly in chats and to friends. I don't have a drop of Japanese blood in my body.

[42] mixiユーザー 06月30日 08:34

I guess this is because the language Japanese has(Kanji) ideograms and (katakana hiragana)
phonograms,too to use them. As long as emoticons are used properly, it is better than over usage of unnecessary abbreviations in the English text message like GF (Girl Friend)etc… You can see these tendencies in a teenagers’ text message.To conclude I guess the most important bit is, to understand the
TPO(time, place, occasion) of the conversation,　no　matter if　you use emoticons or not, being a Japanese. There is no necessity to overuse it, but its useful for purposes such as icebreaking,　etc.

[43] mixiユーザー 07月06日 01:00

>>Why do Japanese like to use lots of emoticons in their writings?

You talkin' to me?

ログインすると、残り12件のコメントが見れるよ