e204. Viral Grammar: Rhetoric, Semiotics, and Emoji

It’s the episode you’ve been waiting for! The one where we talk about The Emoji Movie! 😝 Ok… maybe not… well, a little, but for good reason. One aspect of popular culture we probably don’t think about very often is communication. Communication is the cornerstone of culture, on the internet or otherwise. In today’s world one of the most popular means of communication is the emoji. The emoji is ubiquitous. It’s not only integrated into our text messages — perhaps the most common type of communication on earth today — but increasingly into other more formal means of writing as well from email, to blog posts, books. And yet, somehow it feels juvenile and informal… almost silly. We all use emoji on some level or another, and yet we look down upon them; The Emoji Movie was doomed to box office failure before anyone saw a single trailer. On this week’s episode, Monica, Mav and Wayne are joined by Rhetoric of Emoji and literacy scholar O.W. Petcoff to talk about all things emoji. Join us as we look at the culture, semiotics, and linguistics of emojis as well as their uses in learning and literacy. How does meaning evolve in emojis and other visual languages? When is an 🍆 just an 🍆? How do emoji differ from other language styles, and what can we learn from their usage? What is language anyway? Listen and let us know your thoughts in the comments. Citations and Links: * This episode’s Call for Comments* Emoji Dick* Barnbrook * Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme* Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick* Follow Monica on Instagram: @monicamarvelous* Follow Wayne on Instagram: @tetroc2017* Follow us on Twitter: @voxpopcast* Follow us on Instagram: @voxpopcast* Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/voxpopcast* Subscribe to our YouTube channel* Make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever podcasts are found and please leave us a review!