Contrary to popular opinion,
linguists know that texting isnât destroying the English language,
even if there arenât hard-and-fast rules. In fact, texting is a language
in-and-of itself, and like any language, it allows us to express exactly who we
are.
Think of it like this: the ways in which we format our words, how we respond to
our friendâs texts, and the emoji we choose when texting are the parallel
versions of our inflection, our non-verbal communication, and our facial
expressions, all of which are highlighted when having face-to-face
conversations.
Iâd argue that many of us text more in a day than we actually speak to each
other because one, pandemic-remote-work-life, and two, efficiency. Also, texting
is fun â we can play with grammar and words and emoji in ways that are unique
to our personalities.
And yet, Apple hasnât figured out how to improve these three functions that
would allow our truest selves to shine.
Formatting words
As someone who taught English to middle schoolers for over a decade, I canât
eloquently express how frustrating it is that we donât have the option in
iMessage to italicize or bold something as we type. In lieu of having the
ability to properly format words, we have subsequently replaced italics and
bolded
text with *double asterisks*, ~double tildes~, and my least favorite
alternative, capitalization.
Everyone knows that when you capitalize entire words you are technically
yelling, and words that are in all caps look aggressive, and I donât want to
alarm
anybody, nor do I want to be alarmed. Take a scroll through TikTok, and you
will quickly see exactly what Iâm talking about.
And look, Apple gave us Siri and touchscreen controls â I refuse to believe
that implementing the ability to format text would be difficult.
Tapbacks
The ability to âloveâ, âlikeâ, âdislikeâ, âhahaâ,
âexclaimâ, or âquestionâ a text in iMessage is a feature called
âtapbacksâ. You know what Iâm talking
about, because even if you have an Android, youâve gotten a text from an
iMessage user alerting you to the fact that your friend âlovedâ your text
about
Sundayâs Succession episode.
I like tapbacks for the most part â theyâre a quick, easy way to
acknowledge that youâve read someoneâs text. I often think of tapbacks as
âI saw this,â
or, âI see you.â That said, my qualm with them is that the six available
tapback options are extremely limiting, and we contain multitudes.
There is no reason that we shouldnât have a myriad of choices, much like we
do in an Instagram DM. If someone âhahaâsâ my text, itâs embarrassing
for both
of us, and Iâll never know if someone is actually laughing â a â
ð
â would be much more appropriate in that scenario.
What if I wanted to express discomfort, or an eye-roll, or a kiss? I canât,
and I donât know why that is. Iâm sure thereâs a reason related to coding
or
maybe related to what an Android user would see on their end if I tapped back
with a â
ð
â and their phone read, âLaura kissed _______â, but Iâd like someone to
make this work regardless.
At the very least, it seems Apple should allow us to have âfrequently used
tapbacksâ in the same way we have âfrequently used emojiâ, even if itâs
just
between iPhone users.
Emoji search function
When was the last time you went looking for an emoji using iMessageâs search
function? If youâre like me, and you find yourself too lazy to scroll through
the 3,361 emoji offered, you use the search function with embarrassing
frequency. 3,361 is a lot of options, and I need the perfect one.
Why is it that when I type âpreachâ into the search bar, nothing comes up?
Iâm trying to express solidarity with my friend who is lamenting on an
unseasonable
Michigan snow squall, and how else can I do that if not with the â
ðð¼
â emoji? I understand that I could scroll to find it (and I know I wouldnât
have to scroll that far!), but itâs not something that I use often enough
to know exactly where it is among other emoji, and Iâm busy.
Try typing âhandsâ in the search bar, and tell me that you arenât also
confused as to why the dreaded â
ðð¼
â emoji precedes the â
ðð¼
â emoji. Make it make sense.
Conclusion
We are texting each other with increasing frequency, yet our autonomy is
hindered by Appleâs iMessage options (or lack there-of) â these three fixes
would
give us an additional, welcomed sense of self in our current communication
landscape.
9to5mac
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