Personal networks

Gold Quest - Emoticons and Emojis

Social Networking


Texting is a great way to keep in touch with your friends and family. There are a couple of problems with it though. It is missing something that is vital to good communication:  tone of voice and facial expression. Have you ever texted someone and they got mad at you? Texting, emails, and IM'ing are all ways that we can communicate without seeing or hearing each other. How can you convey meaning when you can't use these things? In one word, emoticons!

smiley  :)  Odds are that you have seen them before. In fact, you might have even used them before. But how often do you use them? Which ones do you use? Are there many of them? Let's go find out.

I Can Statements

  • explain the difference between an emoticon and an emoji
  • name at least three ways to use emoji appropriately

Key Vocabulary

Emoji: An emoji is a small digital image or symbol used to express an idea, rather than an emotion, etc. Emoji are broader than an emoticon and can include pictures of animals, transportation, and such.

Examples: A small owl image to represent being smart or wise, or shaking hands to represent friendship.

Emoticons: Emoticons are the use of text or keyboard symbols or a sequence of keyboard symbols to represent a facial expression or emotion. Emoticon videos are short clips recently being used by companies to promote their software or program.

Examples:  :-) representing a smile, :(  for frown, :'(  for crying  

Table: A table is a set of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns.

Play the Vocabulary Game to practice the Key Vocabulary


1. Learn about Emoji and how they are selected by Unicode Consortium each year. 

2. Watch this video to learn how Emoji are created. 

2. Take a look at this list of common text emoticons. You can also use Emojipedia on the web to look up Emojis. 

3. Open a word processing document and list at least three things you need to keep in mind when using emojis and when using emoticons..

4. Make a table below your list that has two columns. Label one column symbol and the other column meaning. Copy and paste three emoji's that would be appropriate to use, and type in three emoticons that would be appropriate to use.

Extra Credit

If you get done early, why don't you have some fun with emojis and emoticons? You can make a short story with them or maybe just a couple of sentences using them along with words.

Completing this Quest

Save your table of emojis and emoticons in your File Space and wait for further instructions from your teacher. 

Check off this Quest on the 21t4s roadmap 

MITECS Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students, and

ISTE Standards for Students

2. Digital Citizen