Ironic or not, it’s poor taste IMO. I would be fine with seeing less of it. There are better ways to emphasize phrases. It always comes across as obnoxious and immature in any context.
I often feel similarly, but I could say the same about “IMO” - they’re just conventions, and as such, are entirely subjective and without intrinsic value.
If I were forced to choose between people obnoxiously enjoying a sense of community through styles of communication I don’t personally identify with, or people behaving “properly” by communicating in a conventionally acceptable way that is more familiar to me, I’m pretty sure I’d go with the former every time.
In a lot of cases, I’d actually argue that recent generations’ use of irony is part of a more sophisticated or complex form of humour (and even communication) that has been spurred by some of the less wonderful aspects of growing up today. I have no doubt that a lot of it is superficial, and anti-intellectualism is definitely a credible threat, but there is often more going on than what one might assume: consider, the people using the emojis will be the first to tell you they don’t really like emojis.
There’s something aggressive about this one, similar to writing in all caps. It evokes imagery of someone getting in my face to say something they don’t think I want to hear.
Yes, the “regular way” implies a sense of irony i.e. we recognize this is stupid, but it’s ok because none of us are being serious here.
Ironic or not, it’s poor taste IMO. I would be fine with seeing less of it. There are better ways to emphasize phrases. It always comes across as obnoxious and immature in any context.
I often feel similarly, but I could say the same about “IMO” - they’re just conventions, and as such, are entirely subjective and without intrinsic value.
If I were forced to choose between people obnoxiously enjoying a sense of community through styles of communication I don’t personally identify with, or people behaving “properly” by communicating in a conventionally acceptable way that is more familiar to me, I’m pretty sure I’d go with the former every time.
In a lot of cases, I’d actually argue that recent generations’ use of irony is part of a more sophisticated or complex form of humour (and even communication) that has been spurred by some of the less wonderful aspects of growing up today. I have no doubt that a lot of it is superficial, and anti-intellectualism is definitely a credible threat, but there is often more going on than what one might assume: consider, the people using the emojis will be the first to tell you they don’t really like emojis.
There’s something aggressive about this one, similar to writing in all caps. It evokes imagery of someone getting in my face to say something they don’t think I want to hear.
Meh. Not everyone is good at writing. Personally, I prefer the clap emoji to people using quotation marks for emphasis.
And then there are the people who double-space after a full stop like it’s 1914 — give 'em the chair, I say.