An Emoji Tool to Support Victims of Cyberbullying.

February 9, 2016 4:59 AM

Emojis are like modern-day cave paintings: simple, direct, visual. And because visual images are processed far faster than text, emojis can be among the quickest ways to send a message of support or concern. Anti-bullying advocate Monica Lewinsky has partnered with Vodafone on a new tool set for teens. [VanityFair]
posted by Sir Rinse (21 comments total)

It's a good idea but those emojis are really lame??
posted by subdee at 5:25 AM on February 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

And like there's only two of them, in different colors.
posted by subdee at 5:26 AM on February 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

And all evidence (oral, ethnographic, archaeological, etc.) indicates that cave paintings are neither simple nor direct, and that there may be more than just visual aspects to their impact. To suggest that cave paintings are "simple and direct" is pretty paternalistic and infantalising, and starts the whole thing off on the wrong foot.
posted by barnacles at 5:36 AM on February 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

Yeah, those are...not very well designed. And it's a laudable concern, but kind of a baffling way to address it.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:42 AM on February 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

🐝💪

Seriously though, new emoji for a PR campaign seem like the most hollow thing possible.
posted by demiurge at 5:51 AM on February 9, 2016 [9 favorites]

Lame approach to a serious problem.
posted by mermayd at 6:02 AM on February 9, 2016

And all evidence (oral, ethnographic, archaeological, etc.) indicates that cave paintings are neither simple nor direct

That was my first take as well. Then I realized that she wasn't actually speaking about paleolithic parietal art, but in a more popular way about "pictures" by "cavemen."
posted by octobersurprise at 6:05 AM on February 9, 2016

Well, when we ran out of ribbon colors, new emoji seemed like the next easiest thing.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:11 AM on February 9, 2016

And because visual images are processed far faster than text, emojis can be among the quickest ways to send a message of support or concern.

While this is true for images that are designed to communicate clear messages, or by images of actual real-world objects, emoji seem at times to be almost purposefully designed to obfuscate meaning.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:14 AM on February 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

These don't really speak to me, but there is increased chance of success with the people they are made for: teens said emoji would help in a survey, and teens selected the designs.

Perhaps some additional support from good graphic designers could have improved the outcome, but listening to young people seems like the right step to take here.
posted by cubby at 6:16 AM on February 9, 2016 [4 favorites]

A) call out for ableist use of 'lame'.

B) what, they couldn't afford to hire a designer?
posted by signal at 6:18 AM on February 9, 2016

This anti-bullying emoji is better, and has a video with a Mark Mothersbaugh soundtrack to boot.
posted by SansPoint at 6:42 AM on February 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

From the original article: Last year a survey of 5,000 teens from around the world revealed that young people often struggle to find the right words to use when a friend has been cyberbullied. . . . and the teens in the survey confirmed that an emoji would be helpful. The teens, in turn, chose the two designs shown here.
posted by Sir Rinse at 7:10 AM on February 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Words are hard! [plastic smile, glassy eyes]
posted by entropicamericana at 8:06 AM on February 9, 2016

How is this supposed to work? Do they have Unicode code points for cross-platform standardization? Will there be a way for arbitrary people to both send and view the icon without proprietary extensions or limit use to private venues?

Sorry if I'm asking questions that are answered in the video, but after the site threw a popup at me followed by an auto playing video for Cover Girl that redirected me to the Cover Girl website before I could click the article's video, which was interrupted by an unskippable commercial for Grey Goose Vodka before I finally saw the fucking thing, only to discover it's not captioned so I have no idea what anybody said, they've exhausted any good will I have.
posted by ardgedee at 8:31 AM on February 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

The Unicode Consortium has a process for people to submit proposals for emoji. If they do get accepted officially, it'll have to be through here, and there's still plenty of time to settle on an official reference glyph for each of them. For me, the sticking point would be "Persistence" - is this emoji one that would keep seeing use after this campaign has ended? I really have no way to tell one way or the other.
It's likely that someone connected with this campaign has already gotten the ball rolling here and filled out all the proper forms, but yes, there's a way it's supposed to work.
posted by wanderingmind at 8:46 AM on February 9, 2016

As far as their claim for and the teens in the survey confirmed that an emoji would be helpful, I find this a bit weak. If you look at some results from the survey they cite, a large majority answered positively to "How likely or unlikely would you be to share with them an emoji that has been created to show support/
compassion for people who are being cyberbullied (e.g. on social media, via text message etc.)?" and they answered that it would be easier for them to use "words and emojis" than just words to express themselves to friends who have been bullied. I wonder why they didn't ask "Do you need a new emoji to express your feelings about cyberbullying, or are the ones you use already sufficient?"
posted by demiurge at 8:57 AM on February 9, 2016

I'm kinda continually amazed at how Lewinsky has bounced back from how she was treated, and is fighting the good fight.

Like most stuff that adults do for teenagers, this seems long on high mindedness and pretty damn short on actually listening to teenagers--it's a step in the right direction though.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:57 AM on February 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

How is this supposed to work? Do they have Unicode code points for cross-platform standardization?

It's just pictures. There's GIF keyboard apps out there that make it more obvious how this type of thing works.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:49 AM on February 9, 2016

This is nonsense.
posted by chaz at 5:17 PM on February 9, 2016

Quoting from the article: After a successful launch in European markets in September—and 80 million interactions with a geo-filter on Snapchat, over the course of three days—Vodafone is now set to launch the #BeStrong Anti-Bullying Emojis Keyboard App to expand that support, globally and among all major mobile carriers.
posted by Sir Rinse at 3:35 AM on February 10, 2016